Xeno7 Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 Basically, I want (ordered by how important it is 4 me): 1: Retractable landing gear, so it can land on water (gear up) and then takeoff and land on land (after lowering landing gear) 2: More-or-less waterproof, and sea proof. I might fly taking off from the sea sometimes (last summer I found some almost completely deserted beaches. Like id get lucky to have one other person there! and they would work perfectly for RC planes) (rogue waves flipped me over a few times, let alone an RC plane. never quite understand how to predict those waves, and I am unlikely to get a perfectly flat sea) 3: Decent flight time (10ish min, both more or less accepted) 4: Decent control (not like acro plane level, but neither a slow glider that takes ages to turn) 5: Space for my FPV and ardupilot I'm not interested in vertical capability, but climb rate needs to feel decent Doubt that those 5 wants of mine could be satisfied and also get a plane that looks nice... I've searched on google for a plane that does these things, didn't get many good results. Note: If it can be flown on a 3S 2200 mah 35C, or a 3S 3000 mah 35C, that is a valid argument to forget some of the things I want on the plane I might go DIY if such a plane doesn't exist but never made a DIY plane. Am I asking for the impossible? A quick note: My tundra V2 has floats. I should be happy w it except that what is wrong with wanting 2 float planes? Budget would probably be around 200-400 usd, mayby 500. Ill also probably end up getting a plane (either one someone suggests here, or another one I find till then) closer to summer. Sorry for occasional weird english Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun Walsh Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 Polaris lander? No undercarriage. Take of and land on water or grass takes a4s battery but if you swap the motor to a higher kv it will run on a 3s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Wolfe Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 Maybe this may meet your requirements Loening OL-9 Its been on my build list for years as I have the original plan, just have to work out how to make the jack screw retracts. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Skilbeck Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 I have an old Dynam Catalina, doesn't have landing gear but the "hull" is plastic so it will take off and alight from grass as well as water. Flies on a 2200 mah 3s and being a twin would be fairly easy to add a FPV camera. The Multiplex Shark might also be a good option if you could find one. clip on undercarriage of "hull" so easy change from land to water, runs on a 950mad 3s so might be a bit small. We built 2 off these last year, based on an old 0.25 design I had, but redesigned for electric, 3,000 mah. Water only but would quite easy add plug in landing gear. Still to be test flown .............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 But what is it Frank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xeno7 Posted March 31, 2023 Author Share Posted March 31, 2023 That has gotta be one of the coolest and unique planes I have ever seen... Grass won't work 4 me. Road takeoffs. And I have had several failures wuth trying to make planes with no landing gear takeoff from road. It is either road, or hand launch (which I prefer to not do), or water Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xeno7 Posted March 31, 2023 Author Share Posted March 31, 2023 FYI. What I mean is that I should be able to takeoff from a road, fly to the lake (pretty short distance, have a certain place in mind with a road and what appears to be a large concrete area that is unused - mayby itll fill with water at some point?) and land on the lake. Or mayby takeoff from sand and land in sea. Mayby not. Sand would clog stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel R Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 (edited) A few full size exist that can do this. Maybe some inspiration from them? Grumman made a few flying boats with retractable gear: Duck Albatross More info... http://www.airvectors.net/avgoose.html I think you'd need to accept the retract gear as being quite high maintenance. Regular retracts are enough work - making them waterproof is a whole other level. Worth noting with the Grumman designs, the wheels retracted "above" the sealed float, and into a separate area which was not waterproof, and could easily drain out in flight. Edited March 31, 2023 by Nigel R 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel R Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 (edited) ... Edited March 31, 2023 by Nigel R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J D 8 Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 Plane in Frank's pic looks like the Good old Puddle Duck. A simple retract like that fitted to the Grumman Sea Bee [ someone find a tidy pic of one perhaps ] could be fitted, just an axle through the fuselage that rotates to place wheels down for land and up out of the way for water. They do not fit into wells but just stay out in the air. An arm to the axle and a servo to move it should work on something like the Puddle Duck. Tail wheel in base of water rudder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel R Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leccyflyer Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 ....and in model form, my pal Derek's Grumman Sea Bee amphibian. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Gorham_ Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 Republic Sea Bee? Not Grumman... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leccyflyer Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 Aye - that's the one 😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J D 8 Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, Alan Gorham_ said: Republic Sea Bee? Not Grumman... I knew that, bit of brain fade. Thanks Alan. Some nice pics there Nigel, showing UC in both positions. Cheers, John. Edited March 31, 2023 by J D 8 more info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J D 8 Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 (edited) Funny thing my first post on this subject no longer in the thread! Odd, load again and it is back. Edited March 31, 2023 by J D 8 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul devereux Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 The Icon A5 is an attractive plane, suitable for modelling: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Bullit Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 My Joysway Draganfly/Hobbyking Skipper will take off and land off grass,sand,water and ice. No gear and flies around 8 mins mixed throttle,could do ten if taking it easy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon barr Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 Didn't someone like ST models do a Seawind with retracting gear? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xeno7 Posted March 31, 2023 Author Share Posted March 31, 2023 I know this is a weird mix of things but mayby ill try to combine icon a5 + that grumman albatross (sorry spelling went out of the window idk why but im fried) and 3d print it have a 3d printer I think it would be easier than cutting foam for first time - been 3d printing some time and attempted a 3d printed plane - gave it up as it was taking very very long and it turned winter but ill try to finish it this summer (it is a long range efficent style plane with some acro mixed in but no landing gear or water land capability) think 2 prop, wings like the grumman albatross, 2 deployable... floats? attached to end of wings, and a heavy duty trike landing gear (i accept the high maintenence, but what do u mean?) and mayby a v-tail (more likely T tail). servo heavy with the deployable floats, landing gear, etc but I dont mind that 3d print splinters/cracks on impact: that is OK, I can just 3d print a new part, would take less time then re-attaching the Tundra's nose with hot glue and duct tape (nose fell off 3 times in various accidents, ranging from poor battery performance creating stall, losing signal without explanation very high up, and I think the 3rd time it was the gear catching on a rock or stick during landing, when I misjudged my speed quite a bit) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Fry Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 Zeno, are you going to fly this FPV? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Vaitkevicius 1 Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 I'm in the process of putting together an Anderson Kingfisher 1/4 scale flying boat that will do some of what you want but not everything due to its size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Robson Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 The lower picture in Nigel's post is captioned albatross, it is actually a Grumman Goose. Sorry to nit pick, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J D 8 Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 Yes, a Goose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xeno7 Posted April 1, 2023 Author Share Posted April 1, 2023 All my planes have fpv on them (analog, I'd like digital, but I'd rather invest money into plane than digital fpv, which is expensive) , even tho I don't always use it. Questioning my sanity from yesterday. Where do I even start with designing a 3D printed seaplane? Never did a project on this scale (wingspan might end up being ~1m) - but it might be fun. Don Fry if it feels like I'm wasting ur time then don't answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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