How about a Furey Lake at FF15?

[crash bandicoot]

Earlier this year I was watching the video on the JR indoor, and saw the small pond they made suing some PVC piping and a tarp. And I thought to myself, you know, we could do the same thing at flitefest and have a small lake just made of some pvc and some old tarps. And even maybe paint the Flite Test logo on it so you could see it from the air. Just an idea. If I make it up there this year, I'm even willing to help. I was thinking it could be in the area by beginner line down by the helis. There was an open slot there, of course if more people show up this year, they may need some additional spots for beginner pilots.

 

[Grenadapult]

I started posing this question months ago. I have it on good authority, that Austin is thinking about it. I'm sure the downside would be a large patch of dead grass. I'm flat dying to see some seaplane action. I suggested contacting local landscapers, to see if someone would donate or offer a discount in return for 4-5 thousand people seeing a sign that says who set up the masterpiece.

 

[ExperimentalRC]

Over half of my fixed wings are seaplanes, so I would like to see this.

 

[crash bandicoot]

If they only leave the tarp down for the 4 days of Flite Fest I bet that the grass would live. I hope at least. I have an Icon A5 and I love it. I also thought that it would be nice for some beginners to lean float flying in a reasonable and merciful environment. It took me two aircraft and some lake time to learn how to fly on the water.

 

[AkimboGlueGuns]

My Drake II is still looking to get its feet wet...

 

[Grenadapult]

I have a 63" Puddle Twin, colored like the Sea Duck from TaleSpin. I love all things nautical, and would probably just set up a lawn chair at the side of the pond with a cooler next to it. LOL!
I would also gladly bring an RC boat to recover any airplanes that tip over on landing or takeoff.
In all seriosness though, I would imagine the grass would be insed of 24 hours, MAYBE 48. The best hope would be that the water would only need to be 12 inches deep, causing minimal pressure on the grass. That would depend entirely on how level the area was. Perhaps the Fury's would like a real pond, as in "big enough to fish in" in which case perhaps some agreement could be reached with Flite Test to pick up part of the bill for excavation? Though I am quite certain that near the grass runway would be out of the question.

 

[Balu]

Why not raise it up from the grass by using a little (ok, a lot) foamboard (or wood) for a frame and some kind of tarp?

 

[ScottyWarpNine]

The area is pretty flat, so I'm sure with a little wood and a large roll of plastic a pond can be made only a few inches deep and as long as is needed. I think 20-30 feet should be enough for my 1/4 scale cub

 

[AkimboGlueGuns]

heck yeah, the drake only need s about 1" deep water to takeoff from. Nice flat bottoms make for good seaplanes.

 

[earthsciteach]

How about a wading pool?

 

[colorex]

I suggested this for FF 2014 - but oh well doesn't matter to me if I'm not able to go anyway

 

[Grenadapult]

Do we have any updates on Furey Lake?? I had some beautiful injection molded floats given to me, that appear they'll be a perfect fit on the Storch.

 

[SnowRocker88]

Our company was doing some testing with a big hydrotester we built. To catch, and hold, the water we had what they call a 'berm' (or a 'spill berm'). It is basically just a giant tarp with floating edges. Fairly simple and I bet you could buy them for fairly cheap. That'd be a good option. Pools would be too but it seems like they'd be either not long enough or way too wide for what you wanted.

Then again, you could just build a big frame out of particle board or something and line it with a tarp and fill it with water. Would be completely custom but the downside would be that you'd have to dismantle it when you were done. A berm would just roll up and store until the following event.

 

[Grenadapult]

Fantastic thought. Then the fun comes back year after year. The only problem I would foresee with that system, is that the shallower it gets, the more level the ground has to be to set it up. I've been to the STL Boat Show, and seen where they usually build a trout pond for kids, out of haybales, and a pond liner... and stock it with fish!

 

[willsonman]

I hope I can at least float test my Sikorsky project on this. Not sure if anything would be large enough for me to use it for take off or landing.

 

[Grenadapult]

Well, its been nearly 3 weeks. Do we yet have a definite "yes" or a definite "no" regarding Furey Lake? I'm only so antsy about it, as I have a Seaplane in design stages, but also several other projects. I would hate to mis-prioritize.

 

[abieex]

I don't think you will get an answer here in the forums. Try to contact them thru the website as they just don't hang here very much.

 

[Balu]

I think we have a definite "maybe".

 

[Grenadapult]

Boy, there sure are alot of Flite test episodes about Seaplanes lately. I'd love to see Peter's harpoon boat in action at Flite Fest 2015! If only I knew whether I should or should not try to fit the giant seaplane into the car for the 12 hour drive. ...

 

[ScottyWarpNine]

Boy, there sure are alot of Flite test episodes about Seaplanes lately. I'd love to see Peter's harpoon boat in action at Flite Fest 2015! If only I knew whether I should or should not try to fit the giant seaplane into the car for the 12 hour drive. ...

I've been looking around at some stores to see if I could find some simple ideas for a water strip. If we could get a yes or no I would be willing to pitch in for some materials to make it happen.