Super Cub, flown by Don Costello, on late finals. The 1/4 scale World
Models aircraft is powered by a pair of 6S, 5000 mAhr batteries
in parallel, driving an EMS Redback 5065-380 motor that
turns an18x8 gas prop via a 60A ESC.
fuselage can have some other adverse effects.
Read on about Laurie Baldwin’s experience. Pretty
much all that I have said here is common sense really but a bit of thoughtful preparation can help ensure that you have a happy time flying off the water.
Another good suggestion from Laurie is to ensure that your electric model is fitted with an arming plug so that, if it does need to be retrieved by
boat after a mishap, it can quickly and easily be
made safe without needing to be dismantled by
your retrieve crew. An arming plug can be made
by using a Deans female plug (or similar) in series in the positive battery lead. A short-circuited
male plug is inserted to “arm” the model. See the
picture nearby.
TWIN CITIES FLOAT FLY
Don, about to perform a textbook landing on water with the Super Cub. Recommendation is
to gently fly the model on, using a very shallow approach and maintaining just a little power.
a perfect and watertight fit with the wing. Anything
else that you can do to keep the water on the outside of the model will help. Incidentally, don’t expect joints in heat-shrink film to hold up well to
immersion in water. Painting over the joint with a
clear waterproof sealer might help. Laurie Baldwin
reports that sealing covering joints with clear sticky
tape is unobtrusive and effective. He also uses
plasticine to temporarily seal gaps and is experi-
menting with using a circuit board waterproofing
spray to protect ESCs and other electronics.
Anticipate the possibility that, in spite of your
best precautions, one day you might get a little
water sloshing around in the bottom of the model’s
fuselage. You can minimise its impact by mounting
your ESC, receiver and servos higher up and making them as waterproof as possible. Of course, a
bit of water running backwards and forwards in the
Picture perfect! Tony Gyoles’ 1500 mm span Sopwith Pup. The model and floats are
from a Flair kit. It’s powered by a Turnigy 5055-77 motor and a 6S, 4500 mAhr battery.
This event is held each year at the Table Top
Reserve, Lake Hume. Laurie Baldwin attended the
last one, the Twin Cities Model Aircraft Club’s 29th
annual Float Fly. He has kindly provided photos
and details of some of the electric models. This is
not an electric event and in fact, the majority of the
models flown there have internal-combustion engines. Nevertheless there were a number of electric models present and Laurie reports that these
performed very well. One of their strong points of
course, was their reliability. Other than after the
odd very heavy “arrival” occasioning damage or
flipping the model over, all were able to be taxied
safely back to shore. Engine failure is almost unknown with electrics. Electric motors don’t stall if
the prop throws up a little spray.
Laurie flew two models at the Float Fly. One
was a Twin Otter, fitted with floats for the event.
Other than the floats there were virtually no modifications to this model to adapt it to water flying.
In spite of this it performed perfectly durin