non certified floats on certified plane
- Thread starter swoeric
- Start date
skywagon8a
MEMBER
SE Mass MA6
I tried once with a home built set of Montana amphibs on a certified PA-18. I was friendly with the chief of engineering for the NE FAA. Tried to get them approved in the restricted category. It would have required a bunch of engineering on my part and flight tests. Too much even with my connections. Perhaps we could have hired a DAR, my friend who owned the plane didn't want to go there. So he sold the floats and bought a set of Wips. It sure flew nicely on the Montanas though.
skywagon8a
MEMBER
SE Mass MA6
Except that EDO has a metal data plate riveted to each float. And years ago there was someone making EDO copies using stolen data plates. The evidence popped up when it was discovered that the data plates were out of date.Maybe bootleg an Edo sticker onto a set of (composite) floats?
Kinda like the McCatto prop deal.
Last edited:
bob turner
Registered User
Sell the T-cart and buy a similar experimental?
skywagon8a
MEMBER
SE Mass MA6
This is a source for new floats. http://aquafloat.com/products/aqua-model-1500/ They may be able to point you towards some second hand floats.
Good luck with that one. I got Baumann 1500 amphib approved after replacing 1500 straight Baumann on my Tcraft F21. It took 9 months with 6 of that trying to find a DAR who knew what to do to satisfy the feds. I had to do some re-drawing of prints while he wrote the notes. Two months of waiting for the feds to take a look and find their right guy to sign it. Worth the effort since I have been back and forth to arctic Labrador twice with those floats. If you just want straight floats, find EDO 1320s. Lots around. Try Ed Peck up in Nova Scotia. I can give you the name of the DAR if you send me a PM.
Jim
Jim
Took me about 2 1/2 years to get the Baumann 1500 Amphibs field approved on my 11. Was into it really deep when Baumann closed the door on me but lucky I had some really good help. I have a set of EDO 1320's with cub rigging that will probably never go back on my 11 but sounds like ones with t-craft rigging would be a good deal if not in really rough condition.
cubdriver2
FRIEND
upstate NY
cafi19
MEMBER
NWA
skywagon8a
MEMBER
SE Mass MA6
Main float buoyancy.
(a) Each main float must have -
(1) A buoyancy of 80 percent in excess of the buoyancy required by that float to support its portion of the maximum weight of the seaplane or amphibian in fresh water;
Minimum floatation for 1500 lbs gross weight-- 1500 x 0.9=1350
Maximum gross weight for 1320 displacement-- 1320/0.9=1466.7lbs
If your plane has a gross weight of 1500 lbs it will be restricted to 1466 lbs when on 1320 floats.
First you need a climb prop, if you don’t have one you will need at least 1/2 mile of water depending on floats. I have owned two different t-craft the 1320’s lightly loads are fine. loaded to 1500 lbs at least double the amount of water needed. Best floats for the airplane are Baumann’s 1420’s or 1500’s or edo 1400. Most people don’t realize you have a useful load greater than 500lbs
cubdriver2
FRIEND
upstate NY
1400s are the biggest dog EDO ever built, um..,.. maybe tied with 1650s. Ask any old timer who flew everything EDO ever built and they will tell you that EDO has tried to replicate the performance of 1320 in every float they built and failed. Round top floats with flat hulls suck compared to concave hulled flat top 1140s and 1320s.
All modern floats that perform hulls are copies of early 1140 and 1320s EDOs no matter who is building them
Glenn
supercrow
FRIEND
Smith Pond near Millinocket, Me
Glenn, I agree with you for the most part; always loved my 1320's. But to be fair if you shorten the rear struts on a set of 1400's to match the incidence of the 1320's it makes a HUGE difference, and makes them very usable. I think they must have flattened the incidence on the 1400's to gain cruise speed? Why else would you change something that works?
BC12D-4-85
SPONSOR
Fairbanks, AK.
The strut length adjusting deal may not be an approved method in case someone wonders. I've done it on EDO 2000's/PA-18 but didn't last two flights before was returned to factory specs (rear strut lengthened 3/4"; heels hit more on takeoff). I saw an F-19 on PK1800's that did it and removed the mod as well for the same reason. Manufacturers do lots of tests we never know about before they arrive at a compromise.
The OP wants T-Craft floats and there's many options here. This was also discussed elsewhere on the Taylorcraft Forum to a lesser degree.
Hope it works out ok,
Gary
The OP wants T-Craft floats and there's many options here. This was also discussed elsewhere on the Taylorcraft Forum to a lesser degree.
Hope it works out ok,
Gary
Jim, hope they are working well for you. It was a fun project to do!
David
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Similar threads
