Christchurch and District Model Flying Club
 

How to fly off water

Rick Bell’s 84” span Short Sandringham from the Ivan Pettigrew plan takes off from “the Pond” at Chilliwack, May 2010. There is nothing in modelling quite like the sight of these big lightweight models flying slowly round, alighting, taking off and performing just like the real thing. They are simply beautiful. And there were four of them there that year!

I must have had over two hundred flights off water but this does not make me an expert, and believe me, if I can do it, so can you!

A floatplane is the simplest to fly off water. It will weathercock into wind if there is a breeze and then as long as you keep the model straight with the rudder, it will accelerate, get “on the step” and very shortly afterwards, reach flying speed. At this point you will need to pull back the elevator to increase the angle of attack of the wing and “unstick.” Faster than you can read this, you will need to ease off the elevator and then fly a circuit as if you were at Strawberry Field.

Flying boats will also weathercock into wind, but they have a complication in that until the ailerons are effective, one of the tip floats will be  in the water and will want to turn the plane quite sharply in that direction. You have to use rudder to keep straight, and ailerons to keep level until the plane is on the step and the floats out of the water, then just follow the procedure outlined above.

So far, pretty much as if you were flying off grass. In fact, all the water planes I have built can fly off grass without any modification at all—a very good reason for building (or buying) a waterplane.

Landings can be very splashy/bouncy but don’t need to cause any damage other than to your pride. The perfect water landing, where the model just skims the surface until finally settling down is one of the most pleasing aspects of the hobby. Rather than trying for a 3-pointer onto the grass (which will indeed result in a large but harmless splash as the water fights back), keep the motors turning all through the final approach and land with power on, only backing off the throttle when you want to come to rest.

And don’t do as I do, do as I say!

Malcolm MacKendrick make a perfect approach and landing on a cold February morning at FL1, Longham.

Photos by Glen Woodford

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