Whats the best beginners seaplane?

[CHELLIE]

Slow Stick w/floats Flycamone V2

[idealhobbies]

Originally Posted by CHELLIE

LOL a spinning rod and reel with a tennis ball, makes a great retriver lucky you with all the lakes, i love to fish and BBQ fish Take care, Chellie

Here you go Chellie...My 14 year old brought in a double catch. Boy was he proud of himself!

[CHELLIE]

Good Catch BBQ them, and wash them down with a few Cold Miller Lites

[AeroCat Man]

Check out our Polaris and Aqua Cat. Both of these are excellent seaplanes with the added benefit of being able to fly off grass or snow. They are true "4 Season" planes!

Scott

www.ModelAero.com

[shimsham]

Hi Guys. Can anyone tell me where i can pick a multiplex mentor up in the states,quite expensive in the UK.

[Jim Casey]

Originally Posted by shimsham

Hi Guys. Can anyone tell me where i can pick a multiplex mentor up in the states,quite expensive in the UK.

http://www.hobby-lobby.com/mentor_hi...18538_prd1.htm

They also list a float set for it.

[pefozzy]

Don't forget the Hobbyzone SuperCub LP- the floats for it are very reasonably priced and are quickly exchanged for the stock landing gear in a minute or two. I bought one last weekend and have been very pleased with the water performance. Of course, stock it is a very gentle flier and isn't capable of very aggressive acrobatics.

[warhead_71]

If you can fly 4ch, I think the GWS Tiger Moth 400 is also a very easy-to-fly float plane. Adding GWS floats to it is a no-brainer... just add a rear gear-clip and plug in the floats.

[motoguy]

Originally Posted by pefozzy

Don't forget the Hobbyzone SuperCub LP- the floats for it are very reasonably priced and are quickly exchanged for the stock landing gear in a minute or two. I bought one last weekend and have been very pleased with the water performance. Of course, stock it is a very gentle flier and isn't capable of very aggressive acrobatics.

I'll second this. My SuperCub became my first float plane a week after I purchased it. The SC purchase the first time I've flown my own RC plane in 10+ years. The SC seems to be a good learner float plane (if I can learn to do it...), and it sure looks pretty, too!

[Fast Guy]

Another good one.

click here to watch the video

[Jim Casey]

Well flown, FastGuy!
Too many float videos are offered where the pilot can't land a floatplane.(Splash!, skip, Splash!, skip, Splook.......)
Your landings were immaculate!

[Fast Guy]

Originally Posted by Jim Casey

Well flown, FastGuy!
Too many float videos are offered where the pilot can't land a floatplane.(Splash!, skip, Splash!, skip, Splook.......)
Your landings were immaculate!

Thanks, easy plane to fly, makes you look like a better pilot than you are.

[KeninAZ]

OK, I just found this thread out there which also contains information about making the floats for the SS I have. I might already have my own answer but I would be interested in hearing about others too.
Thanks Chellie!

Originally Posted by CHELLIE

IMHO a Slow Stick fitted with floats would be the best beginners sea plane. WHY?
1. super lite
2. does not need a lot of power to unstick.
3. flies slow to land
4. Cheap

[ripster327]

Great question. I have to agree with the reply by "jimsp" dated 2-27-2006. The "flying boat" version of the GWS Slow Stick is the perfect OTW trainer. The flying boat hull and peripherals can be obtained directly from Jim Spencer. You must go to his thread. I never had flown anything before except for some rather unsteady flights with a gas trainer. Then I built the Spencer kit around the GWS SS. It's the easiest thing to fly due to super-low CofG and slow, scale-like speed. Here's my configuration:
1. GWS SlowStik Glider (you won't need the brushed 400 that accompanies the powered SS).
2. Jim Spencer's flying boat hull kit
3. From Heads Up RC (an extremely economical supplier of great stuff):
a. 2410-09Y brushless motor ($9.95)
b. GWS EP1170 prop
c. Power up 20 amp ESC
d. 1500 mAh 3S LiPo Batt
4. Cirrus MkII 4-channel receiver and xtal
5. CorrosionX. Immerse the motor, ESC and receiver/xtal in this green hydrophobic oil for two days and you're good to go for the season of flying.

I get up to 20 minutes of flying and touch-and-go's per battery. Excellent combo for beginners.

For more info and some pics, see my thread "Slow Stick Flying Boat" dated 08-09-2009.

[Tony A.]

Is there anything a Slowstick can't do??? I have one that I used to get into night flying and love it. Never really thought of putting floats on it. Slowsticks make a great beginner ________ (insert plane type of choice...trainer, night flier, and apparently float plane)

AeroCat Man mentioned the Polaris and Aqua Cat a few posts back. I have both and can tell you that they are truly all purpose planes. Excellent on the water and just as good off the grass. I would not recommend them for a beginner pilot, but for an experienced pilot they would certainly be very good beginner float planes.

Here is a video I made last year of my Aqua Cat. This was my very first flight off water ever.

click here to watch the video

And some pics of my Polaris that also doubles as a night flier....

[ripster327]

Tony A.,

Beautiful flying! Nice Aqua Cat. Thanks.

[Tony A.]

Thanks!!

[eflight-ray]

I would also go along with recommending a Polaris. Mine is scratch built in depron, also flies of grass really easy, (wet or dry), so you don't need water all the time. Looks and flies like a jet fighter, quite aerobatic, and 100% fun.

[Bill G]

Originally Posted by Jim Casey

I'm going back to the original question:"What's the best beginner's seaplane".
If you are a beginner to RCflying the answer is to learn to fly where you can walk to the plane until you can place your landings. That means wheels and landing on terra firma.

I you are able to solo and reasonably comfortable flying, then my suggestion is to add floats to the plane with which you are most comfortable.

Pretty much what I did. Started out on a GWS Beaver, and then added the floats to it.

[ripster327]

Bill G,

Nice Beaver and a good looking job on the floats. I've got one on my building table as I write this. What is your power system? (motor/batt/esc/rx)

Paul

[Jim Casey]

I flew a slow-stik yesterday with a jim-spencer-like foam hull addition.
HeeHee! what a hoot!
Very easy to fly, and landing is pretty much just pointing it toward where you want to land, and chop power. The glide slope is just about the same as an approach slope-I think it would land itself altho I always flared-it's really easy to grease in a nice-looking landing.
I flew from wet grass and puddles on our (fabric) runway. With the power this one had, it was a little tough getting it to start moving, but touch and goes were easy.

[pistnbroke]

Tony.A and eflight-ray,

Both of your builds are great, I witnessed a Polaris flying Saturday 3/11/12 for the first time. A great flyer and now is one of my "must have" aircraft, it is so versitile and I would think a fantastic build for someone like myself to start with for flying from water or grass.

I just have to see someone in the drawing office to see if they will print a plan for me

Regards
Ian

[road king 97]

I see most of the water flying big hitters are here already ,makes me feel good to see others with the same addiction as me.lmao Modelaero has posted in another thread that they will be selling a ARF polaris very soon for around 150 and so far it looks great. There are a number of free plans out there for water birds if you want to build your own and tons of arfs big and small ,high priced and not. Alot of this is realy is in your lap ,if you fly well on your own now or are you still learning .Have you built planes before or only ARFS . If you need plans for some seaplanes i have plenty to give you for a free download(foam and balsa) ,as far as a arf you have to pick one that you feel you can fly well . There have been some great arf recomendations from my water brothers and sisters so far . joe

[kenchiroalpha]

Hi
How about a Flying Hydro?
Take care
Yours Hank

[road king 97]

Originally Posted by kenchiroalpha

Hi
How about a Flying Hydro?
Take care
Yours Hank

Here we go again Hank! lol How about a german plan for a float plane?The middle one is a magnum reloaded and a epp foam kit will be ready by x-mass from a company here in the states for around 70 bucks . joe