Sup guys! new member here

[blane.c]

All I have on wheels.

 

[blane.c]

The rest.

 

[Brünner]

Capisco, purtroppo non ho particolare familiarità con la messa appunto dei motori aeronautici, ho iniziato da poco a studiare la progettazione dei velivoli, e anche le mie nozioni generali di aeronautica sono abbastanza scarse, come ho accennato prima ho accesso limitatissimo a risorse di ogni tipo, però credo di avere un grosso "vantaggio" posto nel fatto che sono un ottimo saldatore e ho dimestichezza con la saldatura dell'alluminio; quello dell'idrovolante alla fine è un passatempo, un modo come un altro per fare qualcosa sennò il tempo mi sembra non passare più, volevo realizzare qualcosa dallo stile classico, un idrovolante a scarponi tipo il caproni ca 100. Ero orientato ad un pietenpol air camper però "convertito" ad idrovolante, anche se sinceramente non so nemmeno se è possibile una cosa del genere...

Alright, better switch to English so that others will be able to help you out.

Knowing how to weld is indeed a great advantage, and you have another one: your age. And since you're living on a tiny island it has to be amphibian, period. However welding won't be much useful if you want to go for a wood construction, the only time you'll weld is probably when making the engine mount.
Another thing is to choose something which has already been built with floats. You could theoretically mount floats on almost anything, but you need to re-calculate the W&B, drag, how much power you need, engine, tanks, etc. It's not a small modification.
The Zenith 701 and many of its derivatives can be made with floats successfully, as many have already done. That's a proven design. It's all metal though, not wood.
The delta trikes can use floats as well, and that's probably the simplest construction there is. But you have to buy the wing, it requires special tools to stitch the sail.
Consider how difficult it is to get materials and tools, even though it's a tiny island it's still part of Italy, not some God-forsaken place. You also need a place for building it, not too big but not too small either.

Lots of things to consider, but you are doing the right steps. Don't get discouraged, we're here to help.

 

[Fullmetalwelder]

All I have on wheels.

Hi! Thank you very much for your help, I'm starting to understand some things by reading all this material, and with your help I thing I'm getting closer to a decision.

 

[Fullmetalwelder]

Alright, better switch to English so that others will be able to help you out.

Knowing how to weld is indeed a great advantage, and you have another one: your age. And since you're living on a tiny island it has to be amphibian, period. However welding won't be much useful if you want to go for a wood construction, the only time you'll weld is probably when making the engine mount.
Another thing is to choose something which has already been built with floats. You could theoretically mount floats on almost anything, but you need to re-calculate the W&B, drag, how much power you need, engine, tanks, etc. It's not a small modification.
The Zenith 701 and many of its derivatives can be made with floats successfully, as many have already done. That's a proven design. It's all metal though, not wood.
The delta trikes can use floats as well, and that's probably the simplest construction there is. But you have to buy the wing, it requires special tools to stitch the sail.
Consider how difficult it is to get materials and tools, even though it's a tiny island it's still part of Italy, not some God-forsaken place. You also need a place for building it, not too big but not too small either.

Lots of things to consider, but you are doing the right steps. Don't get discouraged, we're here to help.

I'm actually starting to "understand" how those things works, I've done some research and found that there are some Pietenpol with floats but not the ones with model A engine, looks like a flat 4 (I guess it's a continental (?)), also by searching on the forum I found out that is possible and kinda easy to put floats on a fly baby; I would not consider the trike since getting aluminium or basically any kind of metal is a nightmare and it cost more at least five times more than on land. I've decided to keep learning about aeronautics because I wanna do some math about the floats on an hypothetical Pietenpol or any other aircraft, so I can be sure it works before I use all my money and time. The next thing to learn is how to make sure a plane can take off and fly I guess ahah

 

[Brünner]

I'm actually starting to "understand" how those things works, I've done some research and found that there are some Pietenpol with floats but not the ones with model A engine, looks like a flat 4 (I guess it's a continental (?)), also by searching on the forum I found out that is possible and kinda easy to put floats on a fly baby; I would not consider the trike since getting aluminium or basically any kind of metal is a nightmare and it cost more at least five times more than on land. I've decided to keep learning about aeronautics because I wanna do some math about the floats on an hypothetical Pietenpol or any other aircraft, so I can be sure it works before I use all my money and time. The next thing to learn is how to make sure a plane can take off and fly I guess ahah

I see, I was not aware of this. There should be plenty of ferries getting there, I thought that getting materials would be only slightly more expensive.
Keep in mind though that wood for aeronautical construction is not cheap at all, sadly.

 

[Fullmetalwelder]

I see, I was not aware of this. There should be plenty of ferries getting there, I thought that getting materials would be only slightly more expensive.
Keep in mind though that wood for aeronautical construction is not cheap at all, sadly.

No not at all really, there are only 2 ferries per day coming from Milazzo, the other ones come from other island, for the emergencies we have an heliport but it's not for civil use. For buying special things like aluminium I would need to reach out someone that sell it and than paying him an extra because he needs to pay special couriers that are authorized to travel on the ferries.

 

[blane.c]

Rigging.

Why floats are rigged the way they are

 

[cluttonfred]

Given the materials issues I wonder if a kit would make the most sense. Then you only have to pay for one shipment. I have always liked the Flylab Tucano. It’s been around for many years and is well-proven including in hard uses as a trainer. There is even a factory version (HD3A) with amphibious floats.



www.flylab.it

 

[Fullmetalwelder]

Given the materials issues I wonder if a kit would make the most sense. Then you only have to pay for one shipment. I have always liked the Flylab Tucano. It’s been around for many years and is well-proven including in hard uses as a trainer. There is even a factory version (HD3A) with amphibious floats.

View attachment 121331

www.flylab.it

This one looks super dope, I kinda have a strict budget, but I think I can stretch it a bit, anyway I'm gonna hit them up just to make an idea of what they sell and how I can use it, I wonder how much the floats kit could cost, anyway thank you very much for the suggestion!

Rigging.

Why floats are rigged the way they are

Now that's also super useful! On my aeronautics book it doesn't say anything about them...
Anyway thank you very much, I appreciate

 

[Erik Snyman]

This one looks super dope, I kinda have a strict budget, but I think I can stretch it a bit, anyway I'm gonna hit them up just to make an idea of what they sell and how I can use it, I wonder how much the floats kit could cost, anyway thank you very much for the suggestion!

Now that's also super useful! On my aeronautics book it doesn't say anything about them...
Anyway thank you very much, I appreciate

Hello and welcome. I was 20 yo many many moons ago, so please forgive the ignorance, but what does "so dope" mean? Is it the same as "cool" or "kiff"?

 

[Fullmetalwelder]

Hello and welcome. I was 20 yo many many moons ago, so please forgive the ignorance, but what does "so dope" mean? Is it the same as "cool" or "kiff"?

Hi! From what I know, I think it means something like "cool", don't quote me on that because English is not my native language, I learned it because where I live there are a lot of English speaking tourist during the summer time and it made his way in my vocabulary, I really hope that it means "cool" because I used it so many times ahah

 

[WonderousMountain]

It means the proposal gives a Dopamine rush, so more like Rad.

 

[Fullmetalwelder]

It means the proposal gives a Dopamine rush, so more like Rad.

Ahm now I feel really dumb for saying it, I'm sorry for my crappy english

 

[Dana]

"Cool" sounds less juvenile than "so dope"... but then I'm just an old fart so maybe I should say "groovy"?

Don't sweat it though, your english is just fine.

Another cheap aircraft, though not a seaplane, is the Bloop and related designs.

Bloop News

 

[Riggerrob]

Ahm now I feel really dumb for saying it, I'm sorry for my crappy english

Your English is good enough to communicate with us on this website ... so quit apologizing.

One factor to consider about a wooden hull is that you will not be able to leave it in the water for long periods. The wood will absorb water and become too heavy to fly.
Plan to land near a marina with a ramp, then haul your little seaplane ashore every night.
It helps if wings fold to reduce storage space on land.
Yes, most wooden-hulled flying-boats (Anderson Kingfisher, Volmer Sportsman, etc. get an extra layer of fiberglass, but that is primarily to prevent punctures when you hit floating debris (wood, trash, etc.).
Even the tightest of composite (fancy fiberglass) floats need to be pumped out before every flight.
Water condenses even in rubber fuel tanks, so remember to always do a thorough pre-flight inspection before any flight.

 

[Riggerrob]

Dear fullmetalwelder,

How easy is it for you to import aircraft-grade steel tubing?
I wonder because every airplane includes a few machined and welded components: engine mount, landing gear, control bell-cranks, wing struts, etc.
Once you have plans, you can start cutting and welding metal parts while waiting for shipments of wood, plywood, fabric, etc.

I looked lovingly at an Avid Catalina and it is still near the top of my list of favorite little flying-boats. Catalina has a welded teel tubing fuselage floating on a composite (fancy fiberglass) hull and fabric-covered wings. Sadly, Avid quit selling Catalina kits in 2001.

 

[Riggerrob]

Dear Fullmetalwelder,
I would avoid the Pietenpol simply because it is a crude, 1930s design. Even the 1930s vintage Piper Cub has been upgraded numerous times to the point where is still one of the most popular float-planes for back-country flying. By "back-country" flying, we mean, short lakes high in the Alaskan and Yukon mountains. A dozen factories will cheerfully sell you Super Cub clones for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Note that the 1960s-vintage Anderson Kingfisher uses a pair of wings "borrowed" from a Piper Super Cub.
Volmer Sportsman uses wings "borrowed" from the similar Aeronca Champion or Chief.

OTOH Wag-Aero will sell you plans for a Wagabond Cub-clone for only a few hundred dollars. Wag Aero will also sell you as many pre-fabricated (e.g. welded) parts as you can afford.
Currently, the best performing STOL, amateur-built, float plane is the Barrows Bear Hawk. Bob Barrows designed his Bear Hawk series to compete directly with Super Cubs, but his airplanes cruise a bit faster, etc. All the Bear Hawks start with welded steel fuselages covered in fabric.
Any seaplane that you build will need to be able to do short take-offs and landings (STOL) to avoid pounding in waves. The slower the take-off speed, the less pounding in waves.

 

[blane.c]

 

[Fullmetalwelder]

Your English is good enough to communicate with us on this website ... so quit apologizing.

One factor to consider about a wooden hull is that you will not be able to leave it in the water for long periods. The wood will absorb water and become too heavy to fly.
Plan to land near a marina with a ramp, then haul your little seaplane ashore every night.
It helps if wings fold to reduce storage space on land.
Yes, most wooden-hulled flying-boats (Anderson Kingfisher, Volmer Sportsman, etc. get an extra layer of fiberglass, but that is primarily to prevent punctures when you hit floating debris (wood, trash, etc.).
Even the tightest of composite (fancy fiberglass) floats need to be pumped out before every flight.
Water condenses even in rubber fuel tanks, so remember to always do a thorough pre-flight inspection before any flight.

On the island where I live there are actually some ramps around that were used back in the days to haul boats from the sea, so yeah I might be able to to haul it on land very easily.

Dear fullmetalwelder,

How easy is it for you to import aircraft-grade steel tubing?
I wonder because every airplane includes a few machined and welded components: engine mount, landing gear, control bell-cranks, wing struts, etc.
Once you have plans, you can start cutting and welding metal parts while waiting for shipments of wood, plywood, fabric, etc.

I looked lovingly at an Avid Catalina and it is still near the top of my list of favorite little flying-boats. Catalina has a welded teel tubing fuselage floating on a composite (fancy fiberglass) hull and fabric-covered wings. Sadly, Avid quit selling Catalina kits in 2001.

The problem with importing things to the island is that most manufacturers don't directly ship here, so I need to rent a "shipping address" on land, and then hire a courier that is authorised to travel on the ferries to bring those things here, this can triplicate the price of the things I'm buying. I was hoping to be able to use wood because there is a wood shop and a wood seller on the Island and the prices are kinda ok.
Anyway thank you very much for the hints on the super cub and the bear hawk, I'm gonn check them out and see if they can work for me