Topic: Herr Aquastar build

i thank you for your kind word...


Now who wants to see a 1/3 scale a la Skyraider

First water flight today...and i had to empty a good bit of water out due to not sealing the hatch...whoops . it was a bit blustery and so i only had one quick flight, before the "Parky" came and expelled me, but even with a bit of water sloshing about inside, it took off fairly well in the chop, and after a quick circuit, landed equally nicely.
However due to weather cocking into the wind, and not wishing to submerge the said item, i had a bit of a struggle getting it back to the side .
Still, all in all, a good third flight and although i'll have to retrospectively fit the side strakes and seal it up a bit better, i'm happy with the result

Great, baptised at last  :sm99:  Nice one.

Update on the aquastar, Last time I flew (watered) it it was quite choppy and the motah kept cuttingout, until finally the smoke escaped from the ESC.
having put off the repairs for  while i took a trip to the NEW BRC shop...totally splendid and just near enough to the Metro centre (retail hell hole) to drop wifie and kids off and meet up 1/2 hour later
amongst a few other bits, i bought a new ESC, came home, thrappled it all together and...nowt , not a skinless sausage :(...harumph.
Now I had previously tried a different and older brushless esc which i found under a magazine in my workshop and had forgotten all about.
So that was soldered up and nowt, but in my infinite wisdom i thought that that ESC must have been b*lloxed so thought no more about it.
When i hooked up an old brushless motor to the new esc, it worked fine, so I must have burnt out the motor as well as the ESC, still at £15 last year it was a decent combi, it just needed a few more amps on the esc to cope with the water going through the prop and stalling the motor.
So upshot is, new motor and ESC installed in the plane, although I'm not sure that this motor is a s powerful as the old one .
But having held it in my sweaty mitt with the lipo giving it what for, there's enough to drag it staggering into the air...oh, hold on, that's just my poor piloting skills
test flight tomorrow.
hopefully i'll have two planes to test fly, then it's a case of knocking up a wing walker for my stearman.

You will be at Loch Insh then

Well I've just been told that Kielder is cancelled, so when is loch Insh?

Just checked it out on the map...blinkin' flippery, it's a bit far north!!
perhaps Loch earn would be better

Tain't far North, it's just little a little bit North and East of me. We do get some of the nicer guys from Englandshire making it a bit of a holiday. Loch Insh splash-in 8th 9th September.

 A welcome to Loch Earn awaits you.

Where are you at? I'm originally from Arbroath

...and when's the next loch Earn Splash in?

Where are you at? I'm originally from Arbroath

Just down the road (sort of....) 

I live in Ellon, 16 miles north of Aberdeen... my family is mostly from Perth originally. You sent me dates of these aquatic flyins didn't you?? I'd still like to come have a look 

.....then build a PBY or Sunderland knowing me 

I must have them stashed somewhere then...?

I sent your PM back to you with all the dates in 

yup...gottem

Just thought I'd resurrect this thread for a min as I'm almost finished another Aquastar. I was offered a good price for the last one, but decided that another wouldn't go amiss.
The difference being that this one is having all sheeted wings and Fuz, with glass cloth all over too. So it'll be a bit more robust for flying off the grass, I've also added strakes to the front...pics to follow...

yay, any pictures bg...

Looks good. I suggest that the "strakes" should have sharp edges, not the round. This helps the water "shear" and helps the craft break free of the surface. Problably still work though 

Is it too late to add a water rudder?

Might make taxiing a bit easier? 

The rudder sits in the water and is plenty responsive enough...cheers

Note to self...don't try and glasscloth and Poly-c 1/32 sheeted wings...they warp...a lot...

Note to self...don't try and glasscloth and Poly-c 1/32 sheeted wings...they warp...a lot...

Oo-er

I was going to Koverall and Poly-C these.

A no-no?

1/32" skinned on top surfaces only.

I sheeted both the top and bottom of the wings in 1/32 balsa. I started by glassclothing and poly-c-ing the bottom of the wing.
It had been smooth and flat prior to me starting, but upon application, the 1/32 just got bumpier and bumpier. I had to strip it all; off and now i've just used solarfilm

I deffo won't be doing that again. perhaps without a water based varnish or by using resin instead you wouldn't get that problem. i reckon the water based PU varnish was the culprit.

Wossat your building btw? 

A Supermarine Seagull from a Traplet plan.

It's a real stop-start job. 

Very nice HT. Always good to see something just a bit different or unusual.

Lots more unusual floatplane stuff here....    IVAN

Very nice HT. Always good to see something just a bit different or unusual.

Lots more unusual floatplane stuff here....    IVAN

Ivan is my hero.

I really tried to follow his example of building light and using brushed motors, gearboxes and NiCd/NiMh but, in the end, as the weight was going up, I weakened and went brushless and Lipo.

Paul

Almost done and looking ready for the water, just got a couple of small jobs to do then I'm on the lookout for a puddle

Looking great BG! 

Any problems keeping your battery and ESC cool?

I'm a bit concerned because my battery is going to be in a sealed compartment.

Paul

i'll let you know after the weekend

I flew this at the club field yesterday, apart from the silicon hinge on the rudder getting caught and slightly detached.
The ESC and Battery seemed ok.

I also sealed the fuz/wing joint last night by using a small amount of 'Isopon' car filler and then a very thin smearing of silicone.

Should be entirely watertight now

I flew this at the club field yesterday...

The ESC and Battery seemed ok.

Thanks BG 

Pretty little thing! 

Note to self...don't try and glasscloth and Poly-c 1/32 sheeted wings...they warp...a lot...

Apologies for being so late to this thread.

Yup - been there, done that

I found out later that if I first applied a coat of cellulose based sanding sealer then the Poly-C they didn't warp.

HTH

Nice looking model, BG! Paul, I'd have thought you'd have finished yours by now

Richard

|Latest ipdate from the pondside...
Does it R.O.W.?

Does it boll0x


Hmm, more thought req'd 

Paul, I'd have thought you'd have finished yours by now

Richard

Side-tracked with the glider Richard. 

I've got two half-finished models now, instead of of one finished one. 

It sits quite low in thwe water and doesn't have enough 'oomph' to get on the step, so a lot of water is thrown up into the prop. it's a shame because it flies well enough and I could just hand launch it and then land in the water...but twhere's the fun in that. i think I'll try a bigger propr and higher rated ESC. It currently has a 5 x 5 and has room for 6" probs, so as i can't seem to find a 6" prop, i'll just cut down a 7 x 5 which i have handy.

3-blader? 

With the bigger motor...a definite possibility