Seamaster II

Went to Lily Pond on Sat, April 25, and got in 4-5 more flights. No wind at all. Very pleased with the results! It has plenty of power with this motor/battery/prop combination. I had set my timer to 8 mins and I used 1000 mah or less, several less than 800 mah, on all the flights. I used Vaseline on the wing saddle and not a dropof water got into the plane.

Seamaster II maiden flight

Took its first flight Sunday, 4-19 at the KVMA Pattees Pond float fly event. All went well. Very pleased with the results.

Supercub cowl

Had to sand the PVC motor spacer to get the proper offset angle for motor thrust. Rough cut the cowl and mounted for the photos.

Page Supercub finally back on the building table.

Started working on this kit after over a year of being "set aside" for other projects. Did a lot of sanding on the fuselage and test mounted the motor. Using a piece of PVC pipe for spacing. Need to cut out the cowl openings for motor and air. Then more sanding.

Seamaster II

Added name and numbers to the wing. I think this is finally done. Now just need ice out!

Latest photo with new pod

Made this pod from balsa and covered. Not my best covering job! But adequate. Gained 3/10 oz as this pod is heavier than the foam one. I updated the specs listed below.

Motor Pod

Decided to make a pod from balsa. I think it looks better than my original one.

Elogger Static Report on Seamaster II

ELogger report of static test today. Also specs.

Wing span: 48" Area: 426 sq.in. - Wing loading: 17.85 oz/sqft. - Wing Cube Loading: 10.38 - AUW is 52.8 ozs. - Powered by a BP A2620-6 brushless, a Tornado 8x6-3 prop - CC Phoenix 45 ESC and 2 TP 2S1P 2200 Extremes in series. Max amps is 26 and max power is 332 watts. AR7000 receiver is used in the plane. HS-85MG servos are used for all functions. JR X9303 radio for control.

Electronics installed and tested

Finished the install and tested all functions. No problems.

To archive balance, the batteries need to be alongside the pylon. This makes it tough to install from front hatch.

Last thing to do is front battery hold down.

Then a bit more trim and finish motor pod.

Also need to apply silicone to wing saddle. Should be very little as it is already a tight fit.

More Progress

Mounted the motor, installed connectors on ESC, and wired up. Not tested yet. Nose heavy at the moment at the CG (33% per plans). Still have to add battery supports and finish motor pod. AUW is 51 ozs.

Seamaster II Hatch Holddown

Finally finished my hatch! A piece of MW in the front slides under the combing and keeps the front in place. Used epoxy and microballons to secure that wire.

Rear is held down by 3/8 rare earth magnets. 2 glued on the hatch at the end of the horiz balsa support and two glued to the hull. The magnets are supported and piece of 1/64 ply in front of each and they seem to have plenty of holding power.

Magnets assemblies on each end. Constructed the same way those that are glued to hull side. On my original Drake II, the magnets could contact each other when close (SLAMMED!) and somethimes the magnet would come loose and have to be reglued. I used this method on my LT-25 and it works well.

Seamaster II Progress

Nearing completion! Certainly not the best covering job I have done! But, that is no reflection on the builder, Art Aube. I just didn't take enough time to prepare the surface and some of the materials I used, namely SIG Aerokote, simply didn't want to stick well in some places. So, I used a mix of Aerokote, Monokote, and Polycover! Just didn't want to stop and purchase more Ultracoat so I used whatever I had at hand! Don't particularly like the way the bow came out - should have changed the shape of the blue covering. Oh Well!!

Still have to add some more details, make the hatch hold down, battery supports, and install the electronics. AUW is presently 49.6 ozs with all the gear and two TP 2S1P 2200 Extremes (will be in series).

Joe

Wing completed!

Just finished the wing today. It is covered with SIG Aerokote, white on top and blue on the bottom. The tip floats are covered with Monocote (for some reason, the Aerokote wouldn't stick well to these parts!) and secured in place with silicone. Same method I used on three full size Seamasters. I installed two servos for the ailerons, Hitec HS-85MG.

Sanding Table

Saw something like this in a magazine recently but couldn't find the article when I went looking. I am hoping this will reduce the fine dust when I sand balsa, etc. It is 24" x 24" with a 1-1/2" boards separating the bottom and top and you just plug in your vacuum system. Time will tell if it works.

Seamaster II water Rudder

Water rudder is made from 1/16 brass and inserted into a slot in the bottom of the rudder - this slot is saturated with CA for strength. Pivot is a piece of 1/8 brass tube.

More Seamaster II Hatch

Continuing to refine the cover.

Seamaster II Hatch

Making progress on the hatch cover.

And a few Indoor models I fly....

My BudgetRC Arrow - a great indoor model.

And the Ultrafly Radix-3D. Added a extra midwing to reduce wing loading.

Catching Up on this blog....

Adding some airplanes that I have built or assembled since my updates ended last summer.

Two Depron Drake IIs, left one has a 36" span and the right a 26" span.

This Drake II (36" span) is an exceptional flyer, equaling my original balsa Drake II.

Above is my electrified Seamaster and performs as well as my original glow Seamaster. A pleasure to fly. Joe

More Motor Nacelle

Made a rear cover from blue foam. Rough shaped at the moment. I may use this idea.

Seamaster II Motor Nacelle Evolves

Trying different setups for this to simulate a radial type engine. The original bottle I tried looked to long and not enough diameter. So I used that as the mount for a slightly larger bottle. An extra 1/4". Made the outside bottle shorter and think it does look better. There are air holes in the inner bottle to vent the motor. Of course, all this is subject to change!

Joe

Inner medicine bottle used for mount support for the otther bottle above.

Seamaster II

The is the EagleTree eLogger bench test results of the motor/prop/battery I plan to use. Using a BP Hobbies 2820/6 and a 8x6-3 blade prop. TP 4S1P 2200 - probably will be 2 TP 2S1P in series to help distribute the weight.

Joe

Seamaster II

Starting on a new project - a Seamaster II - a Ken Willard design - and it will be another electric powered model as all my airplanes today. The basic plane was built by Art Aube of Slowhegan, Maine this past fall when he built 5 at the same time - all were sold except the one he kept for himself. I have started working on the motor and nacelle first. Still not certain how it will look. This seaplane has a wing span of 48" and the wing is sheeted foam core. Art does these very well. The hull is built up balsa and the bottom section is reinforced with fiberglass. As I recollect, the plane assembled as shown weighted 24.5 ozs! Joe