Topic: Herr Aquastar build

This is my new project...
I bought this at an excellent price due to the weak dollar, and am going to go brushless rather than 049/061 slime power.



The Motor and ESC was bought from BRC at a stupendous price (yes, I am a tight git), and according to the stats, a 2s pack will provide 14 oz of thrust  with an 8x6 APC 'E' prop...sounds good enough to eat... ::cc

The quality of the laser cutting is impressive, first time I've seen it  and I'm well happy with it



the quality of the strip and sheet wood is excellent too

Hi Graeme

A clubmate has one of these with a brushless/lipo in it. Goes very well, and doesn't seem bothered by a bit of wind despite it's small size. I think he uses a 2s 900mah lipo. Flies for what seems like 10 minutes or so.

I recently bought the Sig Sealane kit, which was designed by the same person, and is virtually identical but about 50% larger. I'll be using one of the new Irvine (OS) .46's in it.

P.S. Have you maidened the Cessna yet?

yes, i flew it at the weekend...lovely
I saw your mate there too, i think, he was flying a Ready 2, Aquastar and his Banana Boat?

BG, you need to have a word with Shane. You have got yourself a plane that is also a boat 

Still looks like rather a lot of wood bits for a Chrissy tho.....

Not at all Wumman...dinnae be daft...easy stuff

...a bit of quick work with the cyano and...

Yes Graeme, that's him. He had an ARC Cessna until quite recently, but it got damaged beyond repair in a landing accident!

I saw the Ready get damaged

After a bit more work with the sanding block and razor plane, you end up with a boaty sort of shape which is pointy at the sharp end...there's bound to be a nautical term for it...




This is an excellent quick build

Coming along nicely Graeme. It's very like the Sig Sealane. In fact I'm inclined to think it's actually the same model, but smaller.

Looking good mate 

you end up with a boaty sort of shape which is pointy at the sharp end...there's bound to be a nautical term for it...

There is   "sinkable"   its full of holes ! 

Shane

more photos on the way...this is such an easy build, it's going together too quickly...

Hmm, looks like the 8x4 prop will foul the front pointy deck bit...Unless I can get a 3 blade 7x6 elec prop...

still...

these are the tip floats in progress



...and here we have a wing, with NO AILERONS...this'll be a first for me...oooerr...an R/E virgin





I'm thinking about a T-Tail conversion for this, and closed loop for the rudder???

I think the T-Tail is a definite possibility...I'll try to keep he weight down at that end tho'

latest pics...

Blimey  thats going together quickly !
Looks a good one as well 

Nice building work mate 

Shane

Blink, and you miss something. Good stuff Graeme! 

it's a very quick build kit...but the wing tips are rock hard and will be a pain to shape

What does it weigh in it's present state Graeme?

8 oz or 225 gms in new money

...and i added an extra rib bay...just because i could...there was excess spar and LE/TE material, so rather than cut it off, i knocked up a couple of extra ribs...and slid them on...sorted

it's a very quick build kit...but the wing tips are rock hard and will be a pain to shape

Thought you'd got a Netto sander. 

Pat

Should be interesting...the tip blocks are already attached to the wingtips

Bad planning BG. 
Detach them carefully - you're only going to break them off anyway if you try to carve them in situ. Then replace them with lighter wood whilst you're at it. 

It's a nice looking floatplane reminds me of the Colonial Skimmer/ Lake LA 4. 



Pat.

I think that's a plan Pat...
i also noticed another FUBAR...I've sheeted the innermost bays to different widths ...whoops...still, a bit more sheeting done tonight and it's all fixed, smoothed, sanded and filled, ready for the next step
it's a bonny wee plane 

right then, tips sorted, sanded and re-attached
All covered now except for the tip floats, and i ran out of tape to hinge the elvator...poop, So that's a trip to the garden centre for some UV resistant greenhouse tape tomorrow then
I also need to stick the windscreen on, tried and failed this a.m. so another attempt scheduled for later.

Now i need to start fitting out the waggly bits and getting the motor pod shaped up, in which I want to enclose the ESC so just the motor leads protrude through the wing, which i may yet convert to a bolt on jobbie.

Seeing as how one of my lipo packs changed from a 3S to a 2S after an arrival, i may well try and fit that into the Fuz and prop up the brushless to a 3 blade slowfly prop and get some serious draft behind this for ROW.
Then it's a case of putting the strakes in to deflect any water coming up into the prop or driving the nose into the water, for which these planes are notorious...





...as you can see I'm on a roll here

nice to see some colour on her at last Grahame

nice to see some colour on her at last Grahame

  For the first time I actually thought about a colour scheme, rather than slapping on the first bit of film I came across in my bitsa box, i reckon it looks OK

cockpit applied, wing band dowels sorted, servos and control snakes in...just got to knock up the power pod now ...and balance it, then it's off to the pond

I like the idea of banding the tip floats on, they always look a bit precarious to me. 

 .@.

P.S. Is that hatch and screen nice and watertight?

P.S. Is that hatch and screen nice and watertight?

...not yet, but they will be. i'm going to seal the hatch permanently when it's all balanced up

just about finished now, a little lead from the wing to the lipo req'd and then test flight sometime soon

here's my mate Geoff/Jeff, holding the finished article just before that first flight..... , what a handsome guy






and...





following the first flight...




...which was a hand launch over the club field...




here...




is the state...





of the airframe .....







Wahey...!! it flew BEAUTIFULLY ...I'm as happy as a happy thing...now to try it off the water

Nice one BG. 

And what a great landing that must have been. 

Pat.

...one of my better ones

I like the look of that.  Nice transluscent blue covering is it pro film?

Dunno, i was given it with some free stuff...it looks, feels, goes on like, tastes (?) like Solarfilm

Excellent stuff Graeme.

All you need to do now is to scale the plan up 50% or so, and build a bigger one for a 52fs!

Nice build mate  and good to know it flew well 

Congratulations mate