All you floaters who were once beginners . . .

[Warbird_ace]

How many of you made your first perfect water landing? I was just curious what the success rate around Canada is.

I just put my Pt-40 on floats, made 3 trips to the beach, but never touched the water. Reasons? 1. windy and cold. 2. forgot my wing elastics on my work bench. 3. field battery dead, flooded engine, the usual.

Hoping to get out this weekend again.

- - - - - - -

How did you make your rudders?
I tried metal but couldn't get them to soldier together. tried plastic, but they fell off, and they were too short. Now I'm using coroplast with elastic on moveable rudders. Hit bottom, they get pushed up out of the way. No more broken rudders!! It actually works great too.

[nony]

lots of "arrivals" before getting anything resembling a decent landing. The planes are heavier and more draggy with floats, and tend to have a higher sink rate - a touch of power in the flair fixes that...but it is stuff like this you have to learn.

Ernst makes a ready to bolt on set of rudders of plastic...you can also make a set from sheet brass soldered to music wire.......

[4*60]

As above just to reinforce the points. Touch of extra power on approach and landing and Ernst rudders.

[britbrat]

3/32 light ply, with Tyvek for hinges works really well. If the lower portion of the skeg/rudder is ramped, you don't need flip-up rudders. This also helps flight characteristics, so that an auxiliary fin may not be necessary

[SpadHawk]

Hi Guys, here is a set of pvc rudders that I made from scratch and control with fishing line.
http://www.rccanada.ca/bb/album_pic.php?pic_id=655

http://www.rccanada.ca/bb/album_pic.php?pic_id=654

these work very well. I made the whole assemby from pvc downspout. asmall piece of carbon fibre rod and 2 wheel collars for each.

[Scale Freak]

I will be putting floats on my Otter eventually, and wonder if you need to be able to retract the water rudders before takeoff and landing as the full size do, or is this unnessary in the model size?
What is any ones experiance?
Dan

[nony]

You can have them retractable if you want, but the only advantage is that it brings you closer to full scale practice...there is no operational need to do so.

The disadvantage is that it adds the weight of another servo, etc. and some of the smaller planes are already weight challenged.

[Scale Freak]

Thanks Nony,
That will simplify things a bit.
Dan