RE: Great Planes Seawind Water Takeoff Tips
At least with the little foam version, the seawind likes to fly fast and has a pretty high stall speed. Combined with a big planing surface on the hull, it likes to skip when taken in too fast. My biggest complaint is that it's very easy to land too fast, causing a skip. The plane now is moving too slow for the elevator to work, so it noses over and splashes in. This wets the electronics, requiring a rescue boat. I am not saying it can't be landed, I have had numerous good landings with mine. But it is not forgiving to minor errors. If I skip and try to gun the engine, the high mounted engine torques the plane over increasing the problem. This does not happed with a seamaster because it is a longer design with much lower wing loading. The seawind is a very pretty design and when in the air it's stable and quick, but I do not enjoy touch and goes with it.
Posted on: 9/10/2012 4:49 PM by Author "lupy" in the forum "Seaplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11224278

RE: sig Aqua-Star electric conversion question
there are a lot of threads on this plane, including e conversions, do some searches and they will pop up. The biggest problem this plane has is a lack of hull displacement resulting in a low position in the water and difficulty ROWing. Anything over 22oz will likely have problems. There are also a lot of threads over on the other rc forum.
Posted on: 6/1/2012 7:09 PM by Author "lupy" in the forum "Seaplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11103210

RE: OK guys, another
very pretty, There must be some way of taking the gear lose, maybe removing support from the inside?? I would get the gear off somehow, glue the wheels up in the retracted position, swap out the wood props for plastic and throw it on the water. It's too nice to keep on land.
Posted on: 2/25/2012 10:03 PM by Author "lupy" in the forum "Seaplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10976118

RE: 49 neptune value hobby motor to weight?
No!, don't give in to the slime side of the RC Luke! .... Seriously, it's hard to tell what is wrong without a couple of tests. Did you lose all control? or only motor? My first thought is a jammed servo, maybe from a frozen control surface. Most of these esc's have 1-2A bec's, but small servos can draw that much when jammed, overheating the system and causing shut down. Using a separate battery will cover, but not really solve the problem. At least on my Neptune II, the control rods were not usable, I replanced with fiberglass rods for flexibility, and made sure the elevator tube curved as smoothly as possible. First test: Run the servos around smoothly while holding onto the esc, if something is binding, you should feel lots of heat in 15-20 sec. If you move the sticks a lot, the bec will heat up anyway, so be smooth. Next: I would bench run it at half throttle for 3 min, not moving control surfaces, , Keep an eye on the motor, as it may get hot becuase of lack of airflow (weird with a prop, but it happens). See what the esc is doing, If it's super hot, then something is wrong with your motor setup. It would be nice to have an amp meter on the motor and servos to see what the system is drawing
Posted on: 2/11/2012 6:46 PM by Author "lupy" in the forum "Seaplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10954810

RE: 49 neptune value hobby motor to weight?
It seems a little heavy to me, but the basic seamaster design is very forgiving on weight. The tip floats help trap air under the wing. If you look at the Wigdon, the new GP twin, it is listed as 64-72 oz for only 375sq inches of wing. The neptune has a slightly shorter wing, but it's quite a bit wider, and at least claims to have 500sq inches of wing to the wigdon's 375. Easiest places to save weight are in batteries, motor and servos. You didn't mention what you are using now, but anywhere you are using full sized gear, you can reduce and save weight. If the plane is ready to fly, and you know how to fly, I would just throw it in the water and try it. You can get used to taxi, getting up on plane, doing big power slides on that flat bottom. Be sure your battery is secure and the mount is strong so it dosn't go through the hull if you bounce hard. If you find yourself in the air, just keep your speed up untill you have a chance to get high enough to try some low power stalls, that will give you an idea where your stall speed is. Alternitivly, you can just come in for a landing, hold at about 12" off the water and just let it slow down, adding elevator untill it plops down. At that hight, even if it stalls, it will just land. The neptune will not catch a tip float, so it's a pretty safe plane to just fool around with. Hey, just noticed you are in Wa, if you are near me, you could bring it over and fly it off the small lake I live on.
Posted on: 2/10/2012 10:26 AM by Author "lupy" in the forum "Seaplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10952847

RE: First Float?
Seawinds are tricky to land, they tend to skip and nose in. In the air they are very fast and smooth. A light acrobatic plane such as a 300 on floats is probably what you want.
Posted on: 1/24/2012 9:44 PM by Author "lupy" in the forum "Seaplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10926298

RE: float fly pond sizing
I would think 50m long by half that wide would be absolute minimum for seamasters and skilled pilots. One of the things I love about flying off water is that the landing area is huge, so more is better. It dosn't have to be very deep at all. A foot or less would work fine. Smaller planes could land in less area. We have 3 docks, spaced at 50 ft intervals and I can do two consecutive touch and go's in the space between them with my capricorn. I am always suprised how far a plane can stay on step with a hot aproach though, esp when it's headed for something solid..... It would help if the beach was forgiving and not a cement wall.
Posted on: 11/25/2011 5:13 PM by Author "lupy" in the forum "Seaplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10828958

RE: seamaster engine mount from plans?
When I converted my seamaster to electric, I decided to go with the lightest mount I could design, that would also carry some of the strength down to the thicker plywood portion of the pylon. I settled on two pieces of angle aluminum that sandwitched the pylon and provided the 4 bolt points for the motor. On my Lanier mariner, I went with a shorter bracket, as the pylon was strong enough all the way to the end. I think as long as you locktighted them, maybe glued with epoxy, the angle to wood joint would be plenty strong. The long standoffs might be too twisty for a glow motor, but they should be shorter than I used, so they might work. Esp if the plan shows the motor mounted right to the firewall. I have always been more comfortable with metal than wood, so building the transition from vertical pylon to firewall out of wood blocks seemed like un-needed work. Don't know how you want to mount a tank, my seamaster just used two dowels pointing back from the firewall, but they could be attached to the pylon just as easily.
Posted on: 11/17/2011 8:06 AM by Author "lupy" in the forum "Seaplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10816379

RE: seamaster engine mount from plans?
I vote subfin. that's how they did in on the Lanier Mariner and the newer seamaster clone, the Neptune and Neptune II. I like it better with the sub fin, as my old seamaster's fold away one was always folding away. If I tightened it, it would stay for a couple of landings, then the balsa would give a little, and loosen up again. I supose you could glue a brass tube and rub plates to keep it tight, or add springs, but it's so much easier to just add the sub fin and extend the rudder down. The only reason you might not want it is for grass take offs. I sometimes drag the tail a little if I am doing STOL drills and on grass, it might hang up. In the water, it's kind of cool to come in on a low slow pass and drag the tail for 5-10 ft. I have never hung mine on anything in the water. I expect it would do better than an overtightened brass rudder hitting something. At least there is a subfin to kick the tail up before something hits the rudder. On the motor, that's almost how the electrics are mounted, but it seems like a lot of bother for glow given how many mounts are available. I would just buld light, and not sweat it too much.
Posted on: 11/9/2011 11:47 AM by Author "lupy" in the forum "Seaplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10804399

RE: GP Seawind Electric from saltwater?
I would try almost any other seaplane than the electric seawind, Mine always ends up with water inside, the cockpit overhangs at the front, so any little wave that gets near there makes in in. Also, the tandancy to nose in on a skipped landing has made it my number one plane for needing a boat rescue. They fly great in the air, very quick and smooth, but landings can get hairy unless everything is just right. I converted a Twinstar a while back, and that is much more forgiving, and stays dry better My seamaster stays very dry inside, but it is balsa, so once salt did get in, you would never get it out.
Posted on: 11/6/2011 8:21 AM by Author "lupy" in the forum "Seaplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10799248

RE: Electrified Northstar
There are a lot of reports from MFG's warning not to add length to the battery side of the esc, A number of people have also reported heat, fires and explosions from doing this. Others have done it without issue. I know it's a pain to add wires to a Northstar, but that might be part of the solution. I also think the 10X10 prop is stalling at low speeds. On my Neptune and Mariner (I know, not as fast) I used to run a 12X10, but went to a faster motor with a 12X6, and had lower amps, better thrust, same top end. Given how cheap mid line outrunners are these days, you could try several to see what works best. For almost 1100watts you should have plenty of thrust and shouldn't need 75% throttle to stay in the air. You may be saturating your magnets which will burn a lot of power and not give much back. Do you have an RPM reading? Laddie, curious what prop you were using, that Axi is a pretty slow KVA motor, but a very nice one.
Posted on: 10/13/2011 6:55 PM by Author "lupy" in the forum "Seaplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10764179

RE: Electrified Northstar
sounds like a heat issue, the eflight is a nice esc, but that's pretty close to the limits. I use one in my neptune with a eflight .32 and 4s at 40A max. there is only a little airflow, and after a 4500mah flight, it comes back pretty warm, but has never cut out. With 6s, and 52A, unless it's right out in the wind, I think it will cut out. In extreme cases, some of these will cut power to the RX too, so be carefull. I had a Plush 60 catch fire using the rated 6s at only about 20A. I have been kicking around bulding an electric NS myself. They look like a lot of fun. I don't need blistering speed, so electric should work fine. Keep us posted. Ken
Posted on: 10/12/2011 10:44 AM by Author "lupy" in the forum "Seaplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10761659

RE: CL 415 ARFs back in stock today
I like the sound of 4 strokes, a twin would be really nice, but given sound concerns on my lake, I opted a few years ago to fly strictly electric. For the price of two saito .70's, you could easily put together an electric package from hobby king with a couple sets of batteries. Especially for a sport model, the Chinese mid level stuff is pretty good these days and you don't need anything better than 20c batteries. I know the Lipos don't last forever, but I was shocked at how expensive glow fuel has gotten, so I guess it's a trade off either way. Some of the things I really like about electric are not having slime on the plane, not having to start them, and not having to worry about a stalled engine in the middle of the lake. I also like being able to stop the motors if I need to wait for someone else to land, or boaters to clear the area.
Posted on: 9/8/2011 8:07 PM by Author "lupy" in the forum "Seaplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10708128

RE: CL 415 ARFs back in stock today
Thanks for the heads up, I have been torn for quite a while now on this plane. It's a very cool looking model, and the price is very cheap, but the quality has me holding off for now. How is your's going? How about the weight?? I am planning on water only operation. I fly only with electric motors these days, so I like to keep an eye on weight.
Posted on: 9/8/2011 3:46 PM by Author "lupy" in the forum "Seaplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10707740

RE: New seaplane from horizon
The video switches back and forth from shots of the real Icon to the model. A little deceptive, but at least in some of the shots, the model looks very real. Maybe that was the point. This is a cool little plane, but they must be feeling a little crowded given all the other versions that popped up over the last couple months. At around $275 for a 52" wing plane, they are also nearly the most expensive, but if it's PNP, then there will be a market. I hope they have waterproofed the electronics or they will be getting a lot of them back.
Posted on: 8/3/2011 5:19 PM by Author "lupy" in the forum "Seaplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10654007

RE: Neptune ARF advice on 1st seaplane? Construction tips?
so did you get your's from Value Hobby? It's a nice price, at only $129 or so delivered. I might just pick up a spare for when I make a fatal mistake. Given the wierdness of the Chinese suppliers, this plane might suddenly vanish.
Posted on: 7/31/2011 8:19 PM by Author "lupy" in the forum "Seaplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10648590

RE: Neptune ARF advice on 1st seaplane? Construction tips?
Sorry you are having so many problems with your Maxford Neptune. I will be curious how the two compare with each other. I have been Flying my Maxford version a lot this summer without the camera, and I am very happy with it so far. Even without using a towel on the wood dock, the orig covering is still holding up fine. I am using electric though, so if something comes a little lose, I can just dry and re-iron. Back when I was using Glow, the combination of oil and water really took it's toll on covering. After flying it this summer, I can really see how the Seamaster got to be so popular. It's the only seaplane I have seen than just won't ground loop, is almost imposible to nose in on a skipped landing, If built light, it slows way down on landing. I spend half a battery yesterday trying to get a tip to grab, I landed at a 45 deg tilt in a turn to catch a tip float, and the float just pushes the wing level. I took off in a skid turn, leaving the tip on the water, still wouldn't grab. I can see how in bigger waves, or with wind it might be possible, but compared to my Lanier mariner, this is so much more forgiving. While no expert at 3d, I am getting some knife edge flight that actually looks like knife edge, and I am getting braver at inverted. I don't quite have a 1-1 ratio, but it's pretty spirited, and will fly a good long while on a cheap 4X5000 20c and a .32 eflight with a 12X6 APC.
Posted on: 7/28/2011 5:55 PM by Author "lupy" in the forum "Seaplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10643955

RE: Is the Rx-R Seawind any good
Probably a good thing it was out of reach, if I had been there I would probably have tried to grab it without thinking and cut the heck out of my hand. There sure isn't much foam holding that pylon in place.
Posted on: 7/21/2011 9:16 AM by Author "lupy" in the forum "Seaplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10631914

RE: Neptune ARF advice on 1st seaplane? Construction tips?
I have the II version from Maxford and I haven't had a problem with the covering. It's not as nice as monocote, but I have done several hundred take off and landing runs without a problem. Maybe you got one covered by a newbe. If the seams arn't overlaped right, even good covering will strip off on a hot landing.
Posted on: 7/11/2011 4:11 PM by Author "lupy" in the forum "Seaplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10616742

RE: Seaplane ARF's
I have a foam seawind, while it flies like a little dart in the air, it makes landing and taking off much more of a chore than I like. With suden power, the seawind will rotate and nose in. If it skips on landing, it's tricky to save without stalling. The seamaster clones like the Neptune are much longer, so they don't pitch over as fast. If I come in too hot or steep and skip, I can just bliip the throttle, pull up and come around again. The seawind also has a pretty high wingloading, this makes it fast, but it won't float around on landing. If you like the seawinds looks, it's a cool seaplane. Just not a good first seaplane. Look at the videos, you will almost never see someone screw up landing a seamaster, but there are plenty of wild landings and take off videos with seawinds. Seamaster owners aren't better pilots, it's just a much easier plane to land and take off with. If I set my elevator trim just a little high, I can take off and land hands off with my neptune.
Posted on: 6/25/2011 6:27 PM by Author "lupy" in the forum "Seaplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10592193

RE: Neptune ARF advice on 1st seaplane? Construction tips?
That stock mount is too light, as with most of the chinese hardware, it's not to be trusted. I don't understand why Maxford bothers to include it.
Posted on: 6/18/2011 6:31 PM by Author "lupy" in the forum "Seaplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10580978

RE: Neptune ARF advice on 1st seaplane? Construction tips?
What happened was that I had just gotten a 3X5000mah lipo for the Seamaster. The front hatch on those is really tiny, and the battery just fit through the hole. I was in a hurry to try it, so I just stuffed it in, and it ballanced fine. I had some foam in there to keep it from sliding fore aft, but there was some play up and down. I didn't use velcro because I didn't want to get the battery stuck in there. I wasn't going to do loops, just a few test flights to test CG. On take off there was some wind, and bigger than usual waves, so I was holding some up, as it broke free, I neutralized up, but the thrust was still high, so it pitched over just enough to smack the next wave. The battery must have lifted off a little, then hammered it's way through the light ply. The battery went to the bottom, but since the connector popped lose before it got soaked, the esc was fine. Since the wing was still whole, and the seamaster has several water tight chambers in the hull, it floated fine. Before I re-covered the hull bottom, I made a battery tray to better support and hold the battery up and away from the hull. The Seamaster and the neptune are both designed as glow, and the hull isn't really designed to hold against forces from the inside. Most electric planes have some sort of battery holding tray built in. Velcro probably would have helped, but It's tricky getting it to pop loose when there is so little access and I didn't have a strap or tail attached to the battery yet. I just hadn't seen struts done with a quick link like that before, didn't mean any offense. It is a cool way to allow for quick removal and adjustment. Mine came out square, but I spent a lot of time screwing around adjusting things before I drilled the holes. Having an easy way to adjust the length would have been nice. Does the fuse link go all the way through? or are there two of them?
Posted on: 6/14/2011 3:57 PM by Author "lupy" in the forum "Seaplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10574117

RE: Neptune ARF advice on 1st seaplane? Construction tips?
Glad to see yours getting close Oberst. These Chinese planes are really hit and miss quality wise. Mine looked pretty good, but I wish they would have included two square feet of covering and a front wing gap covering piece instead of the crappy hardware. Mine did come with a front hatch. I added another hatch in the opening to the rear of that for better battery access. They do fly without a lot of throttle, with electric, I can just deadstick. WIth glow, a slightly high idle might keep it in the air ;-). Those are some whacky tail struts, but whatever works. At least they are adjustable. Now get it in the air! Terry, your stab incidence must have been way off, again, strange quality problems. Glad you didn't lose it to the cap blowing off. What scorpion motor did you use? Any damage in the splash down? I built a little tray to hold my battery up off the hull. I had a battery break through the bottom once on a badly bounced takeoff with my old seamaster.
Posted on: 6/13/2011 5:01 PM by Author "lupy" in the forum "Seaplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10572197

RE: Neptune ARF advice on 1st seaplane? Construction tips?
I used .098" rod on mine, looks plenty strong. I bent the little brass brace pieces around a drill bit of the right size, then glued and wrapped with kevlar thread. I expect nylon would work too. I spent a lot of time playing with the exact place to screw the braces in because I had already fixed them for length. Mine came out right, but If I was doing it again, I would make the brass pieces a little tight on the rod, but slidable for final length. Then screw the brace to the stab and fuze, then adjust brace length for straightness and square before gluing and wrapping. Even a little error in mounting can pull the stab out of square or warp it, being able to adjust for brace length would have saved me a lot of time. My rudder is just a little longer front to back than the origonal. It dosn't seem too sensitive to me, but then I use expo. At higher speed, It will knife edge OK, but it's no 3d machine. I replaced the push rods with fiberglass rods, I thought they were too sloppy sticky. I also smoothed out the path for the elevator rod to avoid some kinks. The origonal Seamaster uses a Sullivan flex cable. If you look at the pic, the supplied tube and the origonal push rod are both there, I just slipped a black fiberglass rod through both of them, and it seems to have a lot less sticky, slop than before.
Posted on: 5/27/2011 1:09 PM by Author "lupy" in the forum "Seaplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10543358

RE: Help me... lost my Seamaster
Stock full sized servos are so cheap now, I generally just trash them once they have been in a big crash. It's pretty wierd to have a control horn just break like that. I would check the others to see if they are brittle or something. Nylon horns should not break like that even in a really bad crash. The idea of it breaking in flight, for no reason is pretty hard to see. I would look to a dodgy servo or something. My 8U futaba radio, in PCM mode will enter lockout if the ch7 servo is moved to more than 120% of normal travel in one direction. If I set it to 119% everything works fine. No Idea why, and it's not a range issue, a non PCM RX does not have the issue. Almost caused a crash when I was paning the camera on my Neptune II. Strange combos of events can sneak up on you, and when something goes wrong, it's hard to figure out what happened.
Posted on: 5/26/2011 10:05 AM by Author "lupy" in the forum "Seaplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10541599

RE: Neptune ARF advice on 1st seaplane? Construction tips?
I already replaced mine and tapered it some towards the rear. It has a dozen flights or so on it so far without any problems. Maybe 50 landing and takeoff runs, lots of side sliding turns. It's still solid balsa, but just tapered more. At least on mine, it was a really heavy slab, with no taper towards the rear. I had some experiance with my MarinerII, and that is even lighter. Both stick down into the water to act as a rudder at low speed. The new one is about half the weight. You can see it in post #33 above. I wouldn't go to a built up rudder or anything too flimsy, but the stock one seemed wrong on such a light plane.
Posted on: 5/25/2011 2:12 PM by Author "lupy" in the forum "Seaplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10540201

RE: Neptune ARF advice on 1st seaplane? Construction tips?
Wow! that's a pain. I will be curious how you like the version 2 over the version 1. Depending on what piece of wood they used for the rudder, you might want to replace it. Mine seemed pretty heavy. The wing sure is light compared to my old seamaster wing.
Posted on: 5/24/2011 4:57 PM by Author "lupy" in the forum "Seaplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10538754

RE: no pitch change with throttle reduction
I have a fun flyer that had to have pitch up at full throttle, the floats added enough drag to pull the nose down at high speed, at normal speeds, it didn't seem to make much diff, so the result was pitch up on throttle reduction. It's been a few years since I flew it, so don't remember all it's tricks. It did shed an aileron and most of the tail in a high speed flutter while I was fooling around. Big flat ailerons tend to flutter.
Posted on: 5/23/2011 2:08 PM by Author "lupy" in the forum "Seaplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10536599

RE: Lanier Mariner 40 MKII >> REPAIR <<
Sure looks nice. Everytime I see your progress, I think about rebuilding mine. Mine just needs a new wing and horiz stab, so maybe I will get to it eventually. One thing to think about on your tip floats, I found that if the trailing edge is sharper, they tend to come unstuck from the water easier when coming up on step. I put little depron rectangles on mine to make a temporary test, and the sharper rear edge made a noticable change in mid speed water handling. I know that they have a built in step, but this seemed to help too. Hope your flight test goes well.
Posted on: 5/22/2011 11:58 AM by Author "lupy" in the forum "Seaplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10534436

RE: Aqua-Star Seaplane by Herr Eng.
Kievlanin, you mentioned something a couple of posts back. You said that the tip floats might be adding to the problem because their step was behind the CG. Are your floats dragging on a take off run? That may be part of your problem. They should not touch once you are on step. You could try shortening them some. Also, it's still not clear to me, does you model get up on step? So it's moving fast and planing across the water?? This is an important point. If if never gets going fast enough to get on step, then your problem is mostly one of hull volume, the hull chines in the directions will help, up thrust may help a little. If it's on step and moving fast, but won't rotate to take off, then you need to try up thrust on the engine, and make sure your tip floats are not touching. Adding hull volume won't really help this problem much.
Posted on: 5/3/2011 7:09 PM by Author "lupy" in the forum "Seaplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10500179