Fly Baby Floats (oz6632)

About this Plan

Fly Baby Floats. This plan shows floats to fit onto the 72in Fly Baby design (RCM #798). Note this plan is labelled 'sheet 3 of 3'. Because previously this plan has been included as part of (as the 3rd sheet of) the Fly Baby (oz5837) plan.

Quote: "Fly Baby on Floats. By The Twin City Radio Controllers.

PART II. The Fly Baby plans include three different undercarriages. Virtually everyone flies with wheels on their model airplane, and snow ski's are great fun in snow for those who dare brave the cold. But neither one of these methods provide the thrill experienced by flying with floats. A great choice for a model float plane is the Fly Baby since the full scale Fly Baby has flown with floats. The model Fly Baby far surpasses the regular sport model, both on the water and in the air.

Float flying is basically the same as flying with wheels except for a couple of techniques:

(1) Use up elevator to keep the front tips of the floats up during taxiing, take-offs and landings. Letting the tips dig in when moving fast is almost a certain flip-over.
(2) Attempt to make turns while taxiing only while moving slow or moving fast on the step. At any speed in-between, the floats are too deep in the water and consequently resist turning.

The fly Babes flown off the water by TCRC Members have had no modifications except to attach the floats. A few precautions are in order, however. When building, be sure to use a waterproof glue throughout. Adding a couple coats of dope wouldn't hurt either. That is, ail over the airplane structure inside and out before covering. To keep water out of the fuselage at the wing, use whatever wing fuselage seal is handy. And last but not. least, be sure the radio and engine work 100%. It is much more fun to taxi out, take-off and fly. and taxi back without having to hassle with a boat to retrieve a balky airplane.

Those of you who have read this and haven't been motivated to pursue float plane flying, gain the pity of those who have tasted of its fun. Dig in and be determined to get in on it.

Float construction. Before starting construction, sit down and just look over the float plans. Even though the construction is simple, it is reassuring, when building, to know how pieces are supposed to relate to each other.

To speed up part cutting, use this idea: Use double sticky side tape to hold two pieces of wood together where duplicate pieces are to be cut.

Start construction by cutting out two crutches and two sets of bulkheads. After some careful cutting there should be two identical crutches and two identical sets of bulkheads. To avoid confusion later, number the-bulkheads. Assembly can proceed by simply applying glue to the surfaces to be joined and slipping the bulkheads in the appropriate slots on the crutch. There is no need to pin anything to a building board. Just be sure that the bulkheads are square to the crutch and that the edges of the bulkheads are flush where they intersect the crutch on the top and bottom. If not, trim to fit.

Cut the 1/8 plywood sub-floor according to the plan. Draw a centerline on the sub-floor. Glue the sub-floor into position with the crutch directly over the centerline. Masking tape is excellent for holding parts in position while glue is drying.

Select two matched pieces of soft 1/4 sq x 36 in balsa for the top stringers. Glue a stringer on each side of the float with the center of the stringers length at F6. Tape the stringers to the bulkhead to hold them while the glue dries. Continue gluing the stringers to each bulkhead ahead of and behind F6, holding them in place with masking tape. Pay special attention to keeping the crutch straight while drawing the stringers up to the bulkheads. After the glue has set, remove the tape. Select a soft 3/32 sheet of balsa for the top deck and cut it slightly oversize. Glue the top deck into position and use tape to hold it.

Go on to gluing on the bottom stringers just as you did the top stringers. When the bottom stringers are glued in place, cut to size and glue in the 1/8 sq balsa supports on the aft side of F6 to support the planking..."

Supplementary file notes

Article, thanks to hlsat, JHatton.

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