Are there any float planes that need no modifications to transition from water to ground landing?

[Xeno7]

I could afford digital fpv but why? My analog fpv system has decent range already. The money I'd have to put into digital fpv could buy another plane

[Don Fry]

Xeno, I’m not thinking you waste time. Everyone has dreams.
But you tell us you want to fly this FPV, and you are a lone flyer. I don’t know what country you fly in, I have an idea the North American sub-continent. I don’t know the law where you are, but in Europe and the United Kingdom, flying an aircraft FPV is legal, if you have a qualified spotter with you. You can look up the relevant laws on line for your jurisdiction. 

[John Lee]

20 hours ago, simon barr said:

Didn't someone like ST models do a Seawind with retracting gear? 

Yes they do Simon and very nicely it flies too. It appears to fit the requirements perfectly.

 

http://www.ripmax.com/Item.aspx?ItemID=A-STM180

 

[Xeno7]

Don Fry,

I looked up the laws in my country before I got into RC planes and drones so don't worry about that.

Yeah im a lone flyer, more or less. Excluding spotter / "visual observers". My english is not best and this is around the 3rd time when I said something with a certain intention, and everyone else understood im doing something mad, crazy, or both.

Tundra V2 is also a plane I like to fly non-fpv because it can turn around sharply enough that it stays quite close. When I fly further (literally anything more than 200ish m!!) I struggle to figure out which side the plane is tiliting/rolling - idk what I did to my eyes but I need glasses and I can't distinguish left side of plane from right side when it is too far and flying at a 90 degree angle from me.

FPV gear stays on plane for simplicity tho. 

 

I do power off my FPV if I'm not using it by not connecting it to the plane battery. 

 

With a gyro id probably be able to get much closer to that 500m limit without risking losing control - its basically like I think it was rolling to the left, correct to the right, and it turns out it was rolling to the right originally and spirals straight down (happened to almost all my planes at least once).

 

@John Lee ill defiantly check that plane out. Definatly interests me. Could mount an FPV camera in it's interiour, that way the camera would not get swamped when landing

(if nobody has understood this yet, I want to get into water landings but never tried so far. Ill try landing on water w the Tundra pretty soon. I'm obviously not buying a water landing capable plane before testing it out w the Tundra V2)

 

About the lone flier thing? Had some friends interested in planes last year. Seems like they found different hobbies this year. Not my job to what happened to their rc planes, mayby they'll get them out again soon

[Frank Skilbeck]

Going with the Tundra is a great idea they work very well as a float plane, and being a float plane you get negligible water ingress into the fuselage so your electronics keep relatively dry. Making a flying boat fully water proof needs more effort, on mine I just position the electronics to keep them out of the water the best you can. You don't say where you are flying off, but fresh water is much kinder on the electronics and other fittings than seawater.

 

I have mounted a GoPro on my Catalina but not flown it FPV, some video on here 

 

 

But go for it, flying from water is great fun.

[Frank Skilbeck]

On 31/03/2023 at 12:33, kc said:

But what is it Frank?

The original was called a Shark, the guy who'd designed and built it had copied his hand drawn plan and I bought a copy off him, this was some 35 years ago, mine flew on an OS25FSR and Fleet radio gear. It had a tendency to dip it's nose down on the water when you powered up as though it was going to dive, but waggling the rudder brought the nose up and let it get away just fine. 

 

So this plan was used as the basic outline, but modifications include

 

- New wing section and slightly increased wing span

- Wider fuselage at the front, which will hopefully counter the submarine behaviour 😛

- Pylon mount for electric motor

- Battery bay and hatch.

 

Still to be test flown.

[Xeno7]

Nice plane!

 

 

[Xeno7]

Got a lake like really nearby. Actually it is more of a river? Something like stationary river (don't ask, I have honestly no idea why no water flow)

And I saw a good place on the beach where I might fly from one day, but I am NOT looking forewards to sand/salt in everything, so mayby ill just do lake/river takeoffs.

 

Then again, the Tundra has large wheels and a large(ish?) clearance from the ground - it might be able to not get sand in it, + if it doesn't get wet (aka no sea landing) the sand won't stick

 

[simon barr]

2 hours ago, John Lee said:

Yes they do Simon and very nicely it flies too. It appears to fit the requirements perfectly.

 

http://www.ripmax.com/Item.aspx?ItemID=A-STM180

 

Seems the amphibian idea is no longer a requirement, John.

[Xeno7]

@simon barr

Wat????

 

EDIT:

If 1: u meant that I mentioned that I have a tundra with floats, and I would use that as a float plane, well I was talking about a new plane id like to fly apart from tundra

2: I am very confused

Edited April 1, 2023 by Xeno7
More info

[simon barr]

40 minutes ago, Xeno7 said:

@simon barr

Wat????

 

EDIT:

If 1: u meant that I mentioned that I have a tundra with floats, and I would use that as a float plane, well I was talking about a new plane id like to fly apart from tundra

2: I am very confused

Just seems to me that a lot of the models mentioned don't have retractable landing gear in model form, and you originally specified a model that was a float plane with gearthat could be dropped to exit water... Iwas just pointing out that the Seawind would do exactly as you asked.

[Xeno7]

Ok. 

I thought u meant that... 

Ah. Reread ur message and understand what u meant now. 

[eflightray]

Doesn't meet the requirements regarding wheels, but flies well off water or grass.

 

 

 

Ray (eflightray)

.

[J D 8]

 During WW2 in May 43 a Royal Australian Ar Force Sunderland landed at Angle airfield near Pembroke, it landed on the grass because its hull was badly holed. Getting it from there was another issue, gaps made in hedges can be seen to this day.