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Float Flying
This page contains all our collective knowledge about
flying off water, which ain't
much!
Here are two programs to aid you in float sizing for your
particular aircraft
You can download and run them on your
computer, or run them directly from this site.
Each program will
ask you the distance in inches from the propeller to the rudder hinge
line.
After you enter this number, click calculate for the
measurements.
Dual float setup FloatDes.exe
One main float with two small pylon floats Pylon.exe
You'll need this too, it's the key to the measurements Floatnew.jpg
For those of you into scratch building, here is a picture illustrating general design principles
NOTE: You need this file,
VB40032.DLL, in your
c:\windows\system directory in
order for the
two float programs to work.
You can download the file by clicking
this link. VB40032.DLL
Save it to your c:\windows\system directory, and then try the
programs again.
You may already have this file, because many games install it
automatically.
Check out the following site for exceptional float
flying information:
THE BASICS OF FLOAT
FLYING
by Ironsides,
with contributions from Skip Pothier and
John Hawkins
Q and A
1. Where does the step go? Seems best at the
CG or 1/2 to 1 inch behind the CG.
2. What about wing incidence? You should have
the tops of your floats parallel with the center line of the wing.
For
example, on a flat bottomed wing, make the floats parallel with the bottom
of the wing.
3. How far in front of my propeller do I put the tip of
my floats? About 2 inches in front of the propeller should keep
the
plane from nosing over when you throttle up.
4. What kind of propeller should I use?
PLASTIC.
5. Do I have to buy expensive floats? No. You
can make your own with dynamite and nails. Just kidding.
You can make
your own by using a hot wire cutter, and cutting slabs of white foam to
the proper shape.
Then epoxy hardwood into them for gear attachment,
and sheet with balsa, or cover with low temp film.
more later..... |
