Antique and Old Timer Floats (oz7619)

About this Plan

Antique and Old Timer Floats. Plan showing construction of 15in long floats, only.

RCM # pl-598. Derived from Illustrated Plans Guide page 07-005. Published in RCM May 75. Designed to complement the Playboy Sr (oz7835) design, RCM-597.

Quote: "Flying R/C old-timers falls into two categories, that of contests with various and sundry rules and Sunday Flying. After trying a loop, a few touch and go's, you get way up there, cut the engine and see how many thermals you can catch. But, you find you want something else to slip in-between. Wait until you put floats on old faithful!

There are floats available in kit form, made of plastics and even plans for floats in RCM, but these modern floats do nothing for the aesthetic value of an old-timer or antique. While doing research on another project in the Flying Manual Aviation's 'How-to-Build' Handbook for 1933, I ran onto a set of seaplane floats designed for the Pietenpol Air Camper by Sam Rabl. These floats, weighing only 32 lb, were for home-built planes up to 600 lb of flying weight. In the article were 6 pictures of the finished floats for various planes and all 6 pairs were different from the plans, so I guess if those early flying builders could experiment, so be it. These are my experiments in the model float field.

Build a pair, and the first take-off is one you will remember forever. Push her out into the lake, then add a little throttle to see if she will taxi. Try a water turn or two to see if the water-rudder is effective, then aim her upwind. Pour on some power, a little more, just a hair more, and up she comes out of the water like a giant water bug on stilts, kinda skittering across the water leaving a pair of twin wakes. With a splattering of drops on the surface she is airborne and climbs gently into the sky.

Joining the crowd at the lake or the beach is easy - the floats aren't that difficult to make. These are two important things to keep in mind, however, if you are flying from salt water: Stay away from steel fittings whenever possible. If they are necessary (and landing wires are) clean them, then coat with zinc chromate and paint with a good fuel proof color. Second, you are in a new medium - water - and it can get in almost anywhere, so protect your radio - if you get it wet in salt water, always have fresh water to wash it immediately, not later when you get home... "

Update 08/03/2017: added article, thanks to RFJ.

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