*Unofficial* FT Sea Duck

Sero

Elite member
At this point I have so much video footage of the seaduck it would take me days to edit it all and put it up! Over 50 flights on that one!
Nice! Such a nice flying bird. My son fly my first one more than me but had a bit of a mishap with it. Building my second one a bit different, it's going to have a removable wing.
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Nicklar

New member
My second build the Sea Duck whoop, 25% scaled plane...although technically a quad. I pitched the rear motors out to 45 degrees to make it handle like a plane. Total cost: $32 including crashed tiny whoop size drone
 

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Hubert

New member
Started my second one too, the elevator fell apart on the last one, and the wing was drooping pretty bad. Flew really nice though so I decided to get another. I'm at the point where I need to install the elevator servo. I really don't like the way they do it in the video, has anyone done it a different way? I think if I got some thicker pushrod I could just connect it directly without the little guide.
 

Sero

Elite member
Started my second one too, the elevator fell apart on the last one, and the wing was drooping pretty bad. Flew really nice though so I decided to get another. I'm at the point where I need to install the elevator servo. I really don't like the way they do it in the video, has anyone done it a different way? I think if I got some thicker pushrod I could just connect it directly without the little guide.
I've seen some photos with the servo further back with the top sticking out so all the linkage is on the out side.
 

Sero

Elite member
Making progress, Just need to build the pontoons and do the electronics. Currently weighing in at 2.2 lbs, should be about 3 lbs complete. Nice part of the removable wing is I can access everything easily.
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Sero

Elite member
I like the design update, reminds me of the c-2 greyhound a bit. Just watch for issues with the rudders hitting water on takeoff/landing!
Yes you read my mind, I was concerned with the tail hitting since it is a bit lower than the original. I since made a new horizontal stabilizer (first one I made had too much surface area) and I raised the vertical fins and inch.
 

Jaxx

Posted a thousand or more times
Sero,

I love what you did with this build. How hard was it to make these modifications? It looks incredible!
 

Sero

Elite member
Sero,

I love what you did with this build. How hard was it to make these modifications? It looks incredible!
Thanks Jaxx, I'm pleased with the results!
I mostly just measure out and make plans on poster board and sometimes make a part out of cheaper FB first if I'm concerned about fit/ finish.
 

Headbang

Master member
I really like the mods you did. I have been messing with the plans for a second more 3d seaduck. I might have to consider some of those design elements.
Got 2 more flights on my original duck today! Can not believe how well it holding up.
 

feliponcho

New member
Got mine mostly finished last night, still got a few quick things left to do besides paint. It's been a fun build, but at the same time I am glad it's almost over with so I can start flying it. :)

I only have 1 little complaint which I had sort of worked around... in the video there is emphasis on keeping the wiring short (which I understand since it is a water plane) and the receiver is more towards the rear of the fuse. If this were the only plane on my transmitter I wouldn't care about that, but where I have a computer transmitter and different planes I'd think that receiver placement would make it a royal pain to access when you would need to bind your receiver. I ended up mounting my receiver towards the front of the fuse on the wing...basically almost directly above where my battery will sit. This will make easy access when I need to bind that receiver. And really my ESC servo wires were the perfect short length like in the video but with this, I had to add about a 6" servo extension to them. Like I said, small complaint, but worked around it ok. :)
I made the mistake of leaving the receiver back there and now can't reach it for binding a new transmitter. Has anyone put some hatch somewhere to reach out that receiver without compromising water proofing?
 

w1lp33

Active member
I made the mistake of leaving the receiver back there and now can't reach it for binding a new transmitter. Has anyone put some hatch somewhere to reach out that receiver without compromising water proofing?


I’ve cut a square out, done what I need to do, then Reglued it in and covered it with packing tape. Messy solution but if you only need to get in there it’s not the end of the world.
 

Headbang

Master member
I made the mistake of leaving the receiver back there and now can't reach it for binding a new transmitter. Has anyone put some hatch somewhere to reach out that receiver without compromising water proofing?
Same here. Mine is bound to my dx9 forever!
 

Sero

Elite member
If you can access it, put a servo extension in the binding port and have the extension end accessible at the battery hatch.
 

feliponcho

New member
I am using a sport receiver, it has a button for binding. Can you share a picture of where you made the hole
I’ve cut a square out, done what I need to do, then Reglued it in and covered it with packing tape. Messy solution but if you only need to get in there it’s not the end of the world.
could you please post a picture of where you made the square cut? I am thinking to do a hatch similar to the battery hatch for the receiver
 

w1lp33

Active member
I can post one on Monday, I’m out of town for the weekend. I cut a square in the bottom of the fuselage near the rear, basically right underneath where I had the receiver mounted so I could reach my hand in
 

feliponcho

New member
I can post one on Monday, I’m out of town for the weekend. I cut a square in the bottom of the fuselage near the rear, basically right underneath where I had the receiver mounted so I could reach my hand in
Thanks! I made the hole in the bottom, near the back and then covered it with tape. Btw, I found out the duck needs structural reinforcement in the area around the round "window" and the wings. I used some carbon fiber bars to reinforce that area. I also 3d printed the whole engine mount (power pod) because I got tired of the firewall getting loose (especially when using a 4S battery) when the propeller touches water or some loose weed when taking off from grass.

This is the 3D model for the power pods: https://www.tinkercad.com/embed/jbTV16W13z8
 
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mfoo

New member
Dear friends.

I just finished my FT Seaduck and took so many helpful tips and ideas from this thread, so I registered here to share my project.

A couple of years ago I re-started my RC hoppy with racing quads so I wanted to have a waterplane with FPV to cruise around our vacation-lake.
The Seaduck came in perfect as I love the cartoon series a lot.

It comes with TBS crossfire, a GPS, a Caddx Turtle V2 and a Matek F405 wing flight controller running iNav.
I like the 3D printed cowlings a lot and also printed one in yellow PLA, but at the end it feeled too heavy to mount and fly.

Fiddling with the electronics, differential thrust etc, was kind of challenging although the betaflight background helped a lot.
But wiring and mounting everything gave me more than 1 headage. I ended up designing and printing what suited best, like the camera or the VTX antenna mount.

I tried different VTX in my "lab" and ended up with a whoop VTX from eachine as the Unify (HV/Nano) just became too hot and I wasnt able too mount + cool them properly.
The VTX is now mounted on a aluminium strip and comes with a headsink to operate internally. If that doesnt work on longterm I will cut the hatch and create a air duct.
Smartaudio is set up, as well as the caddx RX/TX so I can start/stop recording or change settings through my radio.

The fusselage bottom and side walls got some epoxy+GFK enforcements, similiar to what Titan176 did. It added ~30g to the fusselage weight.

The cardboard got a bit sanded and a acrylic matt paint in classic tailspin colors but I decided to paint the windows instead of using the stickers.

Due to the weather I did not maiden it yet and I still work on the iNav settings but I already fell in love with it :)

thanks to Josh and the FT crew to make this happen and everybody here on the board for the good inspiration and knowledge.

cheers
 

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