Great Planes Seawind Seaplane EP

[mpotter187]

Anyone have one of these yet I just noticed it on Towers site today. I wonder how it flys and if its durable being all EP foam? Seems like a rough landing on water may cause a crack in the hull and sink it. Here is a link as well http://www.towerhobbies.com/products.../gpma1169.html

[Fly Time]

Sharp looking airplane! I'm thinking about getting one too. I wouldn't worry about sinking it though. It's made of foam so you probably couldn't sink it if you tried. I would be more worried about flipping it over in the water and shorting out the electronics.

[John C]

My LHS got one in and the co-owner grabbed it and took it to the pond. Report is it flies well, rolls & loops, etc. He got it about 900' out and lost signal with the small Rx he was using and dunked it, shorting out Rx and BEC. It's about ready to fly again from what I understand.

I'm going to look into one as well, but it will be a couple of months out.

John C

[rcplanecrasher]

I saw one fly this past weekend at the Midwest Regional Float Fly. It was set up with the recommended motor and battery. I handled on the water way better than the glow version. It flew very well, the pilot did every trick in the book including rolling circles. The flight times were very long with mostly aerobatics. Touch and goes and landings worked good. The pilot said it handled winds better than expected.

[killickb]

Got one of these last monday, flew today off of short grass. Used the 950 motor, APC 8x6 prop, 1800 pack, 18 T'bird ESC. Only mod was to make the water rudder a single bolt mount able to kick up above rear chine for land takeoffs. Did mount wing with 4-40 bolt instead of the screw ---looks like the blind nut or nylon tube is tapped for 4-40 although that seems strange for an offshore kit ??
Anyway flew perfectly with cg at aft limit. Easy take off from grass, very stable in air. Does all expected manouevres including outside spins. Inverted with little down required. What was great was it's pitch stability essential for smooth water landings -- now off to the lake!

[agshane]

Have had the Seawind for about three weeks and have flown it almost every day. It was setup with a Rimfire and ESC as spec'd by Hobbico. It is guided with a Spektrum DX7 and powered with a 1300 mah lipo. Waterproofed the electronics with CorrosionX.
The Seawind will takeoff from grass or water with equal ease! Flies in the wind without any problems what so ever. (10-12mph).
The Seawind will stay in the air about 9 to 10 minutes at 1/2 throttle. Aerobatics, no problem, water landings, a little nose up, no problems.

The only thing you must remember: No hard throttle increases when flying slow or taking off on the water and be sure to hold full up elevator on the takeoff run. Other than that the plane flies like it's on rails and very, very smooth!

[rcplanecrasher]

Yup, I got one of my own. As others have said, it flies great with no bad habits. After several flights off water with nary a bad landing, the wing came off in flight. The resulting crash broke the fuselage, tore the motor mount loose and peeled the hull bottom plastic strip off. The autopsy showed that the wood support for the wing screw had separated from the foam and the wing jumped into the prop. All damage was fixable and it is back in the air.

[kawika1kalina]

I got one about three weeks ago. It took one evening to put it all together. Then I had to wait a couple of weeks to try it out due to bad weather.

Last Monday was my first chance to give it a try, the lake was glass smooth.

I taxied around for a bit, adding a little more throttle each pass, everything ran smoothly and looked good. I brought it back in to do a last check before take off, ever thing was working as it should.

Taxied way out to my right, turned it around so it would pass and lift off in front of me. With elevator up full and adding throttle gradually to 3/4, it passes me like a rocket, but still on the water, added more throttle and then more and finally it lifts off, but not climbing, went to full speed and it climbs to about three feet. By now it is getting way out there and I can't turn for fear of dipping the wing tip in the water, I throttled back to land it. Suddenly there is two big splashes and the plane looks like a duck feeding on the bottom, nose down, butt in the air. Now I'm thinking I killed it and I'm wondering how I'm going to get her back to shore.

Slowly the plane rolls upright, but it don't look pretty, something looks twisted. I tried the throttle and the plane moved, so I brought it back to shore. It's then I find that the tail is cracked wide open on one side and the elevator is in the full down position. I try the radio and all controls worked but at full up the elevator looks at level to slightly up.

Back at home, I fixed the tail with a little epoxy and then worked on the elevator, I thought maybe the cable to the elevator came loss and slipped at the servo, but everything was tight, so I readjusted it to the point where it would work like it should. The cable is now a 1/2 inch shorter and I can't figure out why.

Anyway, I haven't tried flying it sense the repairs were made. Winter is almost here and I'm working on adding skis to a couple other planes.

Still I would like to know how that cable could stretch to affect the elevator to go full down.

Anyway that is my experience with this plane, it can only get better.

Dave

[RocketMan]

Originally Posted by kawika1kalina

Anyway that is my experience with this plane, it can only get better.
Dave

That is quite a gripping story Dave! I am searching for the 'perfect' winter plane and the Seawind looks like a candidate to me. Uncontrolled behavior like you experienced however would freak me out. I will be very interested to know how your next flight goes!

RM

[rnkeng]

Anyone know who has the Seawind EP in stock?? Also on the CorrosionX, which are you using Agshane??

[Fly Time]

Originally Posted by rnkeng

Anyone know who has the Seawind EP in stock?? Also on the CorrosionX, which are you using Agshane??

Here's one:

http://www.chiefaircraft.com/rcmsec/...s/Seawind.html

I'm assuming they actually have it in stock, but not certain. Chief Aircraft is actually a full-size aircraft part supplier. Didn't realize they sold RC stuff, but it looks like they actually have a pretty good selection.

[Fly Time]

Hey rnkeng, I see my Google search notched me a "Thanks". So did Chief actually have one for you? If so I'll look forward to your flight report. This one is still on my wish list, but I may wait for warmer weather to actually put one in my hangar.

On the question of CorrosionX, I read in another thread that you should use the regular or standard product, not the heavy duty stuff.

[stevecooper]

ya'll can Build one for 20$, two chunkers and a GWS float, sounds like they fly about the same, I had a run of bad luck with G.P. but this new one they got does looks good! your bub, stevecooper

[Fly Time]

Hey my bub stevecooper, looks good! You are a master of workin' foam! You should go to work for one of the ARF sellers and build prototypes. I know a guy out here in Seattle that does that and makes a nice living messing around with model airplanes all day long!

[stevecooper]

D Payne: your to kind my bub, I'm just an old man with to much time on his hands, I invite anyone to build theses planes, I'll even help, my favorate part of this sport is hang'in with my bubs on wattflyer an share'in nutty ideas,your bub, stevecooper

[rnkeng]

D Payne..... Chief doesn't actually have them in stock, but says the order is due in in early Dec, so I'll let the backorder stand until I get it or find it elsewhere. Thanks again for your assistance.

[John Havrilla]

Hey guys, I have about 100 flights on my little Sea Wind now. I can't explain how much I love this plane. I'm using a hand made motor that might just be slightly stronger than the recommended motor. I'm also using a spectrum system and 2100 3S TP Light battery. I fly for at least twenty minutes aggressively and have plenty of battery left. You need to get the balance exactly right on this ship or you won't be happy. In the air the plane is more like a pattern ship than a sea plane. This thing can do anything except a nice knife edge. Absolute fun, and even everyone else that I know feels the same way about it. I've flown in 10-12 mph winds also and the plane handles nicely. I'll be trying it off the snow pretty soon.
John

[LAbelle44]

I got mine in September, used a slighly larger Scorpion than the recommended motor and the stock prop. The wing mount sucks, I re did mine so it would stay on. As a low time pilot i flew it off the grass at my club field a half dozen times before I tried the water. No mods, just flew it and was astounded by the way it flys, very stable, a little fast but not terrible. Now have a dozen water flights and LOVE it. Cant wait for spring to get it on the water again!

[John Havrilla]

Hey 44, What Scorpion did you choose? I also have a Scorpion 2215 and a 2221 (Both kits) that swing the standard prop at about 9,500 rpm's. (13-14 amp draw) I was thinking about using one of them on a second plane. This prop and the HD style props cavitate for me at this speed. I'd like to find a stiffer prop like and APC that isn't so heavy. Does anyone know what the rpm of the suggested motor is with the standard prop and a 3S 2100 mah pack is?
John

[John Havrilla]

Oh, by the way guy's. I've been flying off the snow. I think it works better than water. I experienced some major trim diferences though. Maybe because of the cold changing the size of the foam or something. But great fun.
John

[Fly Time]

Originally Posted by John Havrilla

Hey 44, What Scorpion did you choose? I also have a Scorpion 2215 and a 2221 (Both kits) that swing the standard prop at about 9,500 rpm's. (13-14 amp draw) I was thinking about using one of them on a second plane. This prop and the HD style props cavitate for me at this speed. I'd like to find a stiffer prop like and APC that isn't so heavy. Does anyone know what the rpm of the suggested motor is with the standard prop and a 3S 2100 mah pack is?
John

A 3S 2100 mAh pack will put out about 12 volts (as will any 3 cell lipo regardless of capacity). The suggested motor is the Rimfire 28-30-950. It's a 950kv motor, so RPM at WOT should be 950 x 12 volts = 11,400, assuming the prop doesn't have to work too hard to get there (I can't think of any reason why a recommended prop and motor combo would not run at max RPM).

BTW, if anyone has a different understanding of how this works, please speak up. As my "custom user title" says, I only THINK I know the answer!

[LAbelle44]

John, I am using A 2215-18 and a 3S1650. I did some testing (but dont put too much on it,I am still refining my procedures)
100% throttle 14.10 amps, 11.14 volts,7560 RPM,158 watts. I am not sure why the RPM is so low from what I expected, the scorpion chart shows it should be about 9600.
but it does fly nice! , had my instructor fly it and he indicated plenty of power was availible.Using a scorpion 25 amp ESC and the supplied 8X6 GP Prop
Hope that helps!

[Mark Wood]

Thanks, LAbelle44! That was exactly the information I needed. I did my first float flying yesterday with a 25E UltraStick and E-Flite's 25 floats. GREAT fun!
The owner of a LHS dropped by just after my flight and had a Seawind along. I was so impressed that I asked him to get one for me on the spot. I have a Scorpion 2215-18 also and Neu 3s 2100 packs available and was wondering if they would work in the Seawind. You answered my question mjust in the nick of time. I might try an APC SF 8x6 prop as it's likely a bit more efficient but it really wouldn't be much of an issue there, eh?

mw

[John Havrilla]

Hey D, I don't think so. I would think the KV of a motor is given as a no load figure. If you have a motor doing 9500 rpm when you're giving it 10 volts, you can certainly estimate what you might have at 12 volts, but you'd never get that with a prop on it. Especially with an 8-6 on a motor of this size. I thought I saw somewhere that people were getting about 7,500 rpm with the stock motor.
Check it out some time.
Happy New Year!
John

[John Havrilla]

44, I don't think you're off the mark with your Scorpion 22-18. My guess the performance you report would be about equivalent to the Rimfire. Maybe someone with a Rimfire would give us a bench mark, if it's not in the thread someplace already.
I wound one of my Scorpion kits to be a 22-15-20 which is just between the stock options. My KV is almost exactly 1000. I usually get much more wire on the kits than the stock winds. I think I got 7 strands of #30 wire as apposed to #32 wire on the stock wind. This may give me a slight advantage on performance. I just tried a two year old 2100 mah Thunder Power 3S battery and got 8,500 rpm @ 14.8 amps with the stock prop while the battery was running @ 11.3 volts. Running the motor from a power supply @ 12 volts gave me an rpm of 11,969 (no load). When I added the prop and adjusted the supply to 12 volts again the rpm was about 9,000 rpm.
I think I'll put this motor on the Sea Wind and put the hand made motor that's in it now back in the plane that it was designed for.
Hey stop letting us instructors have all the fun flying your planes. Get them sticks under them thumbs of yours, and have a ball. This plane is great.
John
John