Arcfyre
Elite member
To get the cub to fly sweet and take off/land just as sweet you need to firstly consider the extra drag of the floats and so a bit more thrust is highly desirable.
Next there is the weight to consider and so you may need a slight bit more main wing incidence, (not too much though(.
And finally the floats should have a "Step" to help break surface tension and allow the plane to rise up on the "Plane" when running at speed over the water. The step is the point of contact with the ground in the same manner that wheels are the point of contact with the ground for a normal ground take off. The Step should be slightly FORWARD of the planes CG for a nice take off.
The biggest issue with flying off of floats is that they are fitted incorrectly and often too far to the rear. In the extreme if the step is too far aft the plane can somersault nose first into the water on landing or even on take off.
Just what I was taught!
Have fun!
I was using the FT designed floats for the scout and cub. The main issue I had with them was that the stock landing gear attachment did not set the correct incidence angle of the aircraft relative to the floats. The nose of the aircraft was too low and it was very difficult to take off, even once planing on the step.
I increased the size of the foam holder for the front mount of the landing gear and it gave me the proper incidence angle. Handling was much improved and I've had several successful flights.
The reason I like the scout better than the cub for floats is just because I feel the scout flies better to begin with, and is better able to cope with the additional drag of the floats.