Floats for my E Flight Supercub 25e

[bfeist]

Hi all,
I'm looking at modifying my new Supercub to take floats. I have the floats from my original E Flight J3 cub but they don't naturally fit.
Various threads on RC Groups say that floats for it should be about 28" or 29" long.

I've found two different suppliers of floats:
http://www.seaplanesupply.com
http://www.maxfordusa.com/hz-40-fiber-floats-3.aspx

Maxford charges $50 to ship to canada 

I'm feeling inclined to try to get the J3 floats modified for it.
Any suggestions?

[piker]

Is the Super Cub the same size as your old J3?  If so, and assuming the weight of the new plane isn't significantly more, I'd just build a new set of struts for the old floats.  Possible?

Robert

[bfeist]

The e-flight floats are 27.5" in length. This post on rcgroups (http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1630289) suggests that the supercub needs 29" or 30" floats. You can see the supercub in the video having trouble on the eflight j3 floats, but I think he has the step to far forward.

I'm tempted to build a mounting system and try the supercub with the eflight j3 floats I already have if you don't think they're too small and not buoyant enough.

Ben

[bfeist]

If you look at this guy's landing on the j3 cub floats they do look a little small. I can't tell if his bouncing is due to pilot error or a fundamental problem with using these floats. Opinions?

Chapter 2.mpg(2)

[piker]

Looks like the floats would be O.K. to me.  The bouse was a result of too rapid a decent in my opinion.

BTW, I have the trailer lid boat ready to go.  I'm wondering if we should have a small float flying get together this weekend.  Sunday evening perhaps? 

Robert

[bfeist]

Hi guys, I split the rest of this thread off into Other Events. Organizing a float-fly will probably get more traction there.

[piker]

You just didn't want me to hi-jack your thead 

[Papa]

Hi Ben,

did you see this on the MAAC site?

http://www.maac.ca/articles/view_article.php?artid=4

jack.

[bfeist]

That's a great resource. Thanks!

[bfeist]

Well, I bit the bullet and mounted the floats. I had to bend the stainless steel float struts in a vice to get the angle of incidence right. I recovered a ventral fin from my old cub and made up mounts that hold the struts in place in a groove and screw into the fuse.

Then I broke down and painted them to match the Super Cub   We'll see if it flies tonight at Frenchman's Bay with Rob (See Other Events section if you're interested in joining).

[bfeist]

Might as well add the rest of the photos

Fire! Fire!

[Ededge2002]

Wow Ben although bad it looks like it survived. I bet if it had the fire on land there would have been more damage.  What caused the fire?  Did the packs ignite from getting wet and shorting?

[bfeist]

I think the ESC shorted due to being submerged and in turn shorted the Nanotech battery which delivered all of its power in a short. The current was so high it desoldered one battery lead and two motor leads. When Rob pulled it out of the water to put it into the rescue boat it started shooting flames. He dunked it back in to douse the fire. In his words "Good thing there was plenty of water on hand".

You're right, on land it would be a write-off like Michael's big Spitfire that burned to nothing that day. The motor looks ok but I'll only know when I try to spin it up. The receiver wasn't submerged but might have gotten a jolt from the short. I'll have to test it too. The first order of business is to wash the interior with white vinegar to get rid of the $$$ smell.

Ben

[Tomahawk]

Did you use anything to protect the electronics from the water, like Corrosion X?

Chris

[bfeist]

I didn't before but I will now. Not CorrosionX though, it's only temporary. I'm going to get some conformal coating for a more permanent solution.