Floatplane Fine Tuning
MANY ARTICLES have been published on model RC floatplanes, but a visit to any flying site will reveal that pilots have arrived at vastly different understandings of how to operate off water. Getting the floatplane in the air often seems more the result of sheer power and violent applications of elevator than of reasoned method or skill. Landings can strike the onlooker as equally unsystematic. At flight's end, with a little luck the craft will will plop, skip, or stagger back down to rest. One hears an amazing variety of opinions as to how to improve this situation. It seems, however, that some of the finer points of float rigging for optimum performance remain a mystery. Let's try to pinpoint some of the sources of confusion and decide how best to deal with them.
A Neglected Art: Covering Model Airplanes With Silk
COVERING A MODEL WITH SILK is not for the impatient, careless, or faint of heart. Mistakes cost money and time, not to mention the embarrassment you feel when colleagues roll their eyes at wrinkles and warps. Why, then, should you bother? Two important reasons are the satisfaction of mastering a fairly demanding art and the pleasure of seeing a well-finished aircraft silhouetted against the sunshine. The taut silk also adds substantial torsional strength to all flying surfaces, each of which can be given a fairly permanent set by the judicious application of heat and manual positioning. There are even auditory effects-a drumlike ka-whoom! when you crash, and a sonorous resonance to the motor run when you don't.
