Whatever Floats Your YAK

[dah1202]

I bought a set of floats (GWS FLOATS from 3DX) for my YAK. I discovered that my YAK loves water. The floats equip me to participate in my club float fly's. The plane flies great with them.

[Mikey]

That looks so sweet I am going to get a set and do a little video with them.

[Coonak]

Classic!

Looks Awesome!;)

Nice pics btw.

[paulg]

Very, very nice and these are the float he used- http://www.3dxhobbies.com/product_p/float-535.htm

[paulg]

Can you tell us how you attached them?

[Vintauri]

I'd love to see some more details of the attachment too. Are they removeable?

[dah1202]

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Warranty disclaimer: Please use your own judgment if you decide to adopt my approach. I think I described the materials and techniques accurately but I can't guarantee your success. I leave it to you to adapt this for your use as you see fit.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

I think the float kit (GWS FLOATS from 3DX) is quite complete.

To do this my way, you'll also need...
.015 brass sheet (a hobby shop item)
6 DU-BRO No. 2 x 3/8" Button Head Sheet Metal Screws Cat. No. 525
1/16" plywood
silver soldering kit from Stay-Brite(R) or equivalent (silver solder & flux)

Don't be concerned about weight when you read "brass sheet" and "silver solder". The completed assembly is both resilient and VERY light!

Prepare the two float mounting wires...
The included mounting wires have an upside down "U" in the middle that looks like it should be inserted into a fuselage. I bent this upside down "U" 90 degrees to the rear so that it became horizontal instead of vertical. (This bend takes some effort with vise-grip pliers and a vise. Put the upside-down "U" in your vise then bend each leg of the wire to suit. Take your time making this bend because this kind of tough wire can be cracked if you over-stress it.)

Attach a brass mounting plate to each of the two mounting wires...
Make 2 brass mounting plates; each is 1" wide and 7/8" long. Clean each of the two mounting wires and the brass plates thoroughly with steel wool. Solder the plate to the mounting wire with a hot, heavy-duty, soldering gun to achieve a shiny joint. Remove excess solder while hot. (See various pics that show the mounting plates soldered to the mounting wires. Also see how I cut a little taper (using tin snips) on the rear of each plate after the soldering was completed. This taper results in the rear of the brass plate being the width of the fuselage. This makes the plates look neater and perhaps shaves a small amount of weight.)

Prepare the fuselage to accept the floats...
Fill a laundry sink or kids' swimming pool with water to test float the plane. Use painter's tape to temporarily attach the floats with mounting plates to the fuselage and test float to get the model to set nicely (level or a very little bit nose up). Be sure the battery is installed so the weight distribution is flight-ready. Slide the floats forward/rearward to find the right spot. Verify that this position maintains the model's C/G and that the C/G is near the recommended proximity to the float "step" location shown in the float plans. You'll be thrilled when you see how well this all comes together for this model (Float impact on C/G - negligible, plane floats level, step is in the right place relative to the plane's C/G.) Mark the bottom of the fuselage to show where the brass plates should be attached. Remember earlier that I bent the float mounting wire upside down "U" 90 degrees to make the "U" horizontal. I tweaked the 90 degree bends a very little bit to get the plane to sit right on each of the mounting brackets.

Make two 1/16" ply plates for the fuselage to accept the floats. (See the pic of plane on its back without floats to see the plywood mounting plates.) These should be the width of the fuselage and about 3/8" longer in the front and in the back of where the brass plates should attach to the fuselage. (This gives you a little adjustment room if you decide to slide the floats forward / rearward later AND gives you good surface area for a strong glue bond.)

Notch the fuselage bottom 1/16" deep so that the plates, once installed, will be flush with the fuselage bottom surface. Glue the plates using 30-minute epoxy. (I think 5-minute epoxy sets too fast to get sufficient absorption of the epoxy into the materials being bonded for joints this critical.) Wipe away all excess uncured epoxy using a paper towel and 91% alcohol. Set aside to cure.

Drill the mounting plates...
Drill each brass mounting plate to accept 3 mounting screws. (See pics for the recommended hole pattern.) Make sure that the hole pattern ensures good positioning on the plywood plates on the fuselage (don't drill too close to the outside edges or the screws might not get a good 'bite' into the plywood.)

Attach the floats to the fuselage. Drill pilot holes into the plywood mounting plates using the brass float attachment plates as a drill guide. Use a very small bit because you need the screws to get a good strong bite into the wood. (See the pic of the plane on its back with the floats attached. I only used two screws for the pics. For flight I use all six screws. Also see where the brass plate sits near the front of the plywood plates. I slid the floats a little forward from their original location to get the plane to sit just right.)

When the screws are installed, you'll see that the attachment wires no longer pivot in the float's nylon brackets. The entire structure gets nicely rigid.

Cut a plastic sandwich bag into a piece that you can attach with clear packing tape to protect your receiver from water. It doesn't have to be water tight; it just has to protect the receiver from water spray. (If you crash into the lake, you'll have a wet receiver. Thorough air drying often recovers damp electronic equipment.)

Verify that the C/G is acceptable with the floats attached. (You checked this before so there should not be any surprises.)

You're ready to float fly.

See how you can remove the floats in a couple minutes (just 6 screws) and plug your wheels back in for land use!

[Vintauri]

Very nice! I might have to try this sometime soon. Thanks for posting the details.

Steve

[paulg]

YES nice job!, I may have to do this as I have a nice lake right by me.