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RV-9 on Floats

rjbob

Well Known Member
My friend is having his RV-9 equipped with floats. The installation should be completed in a couple of days...expected to be 07/20/2011.

He asked me to make the initial flight in the aircraft and ferry it to Lake Hood in Anchorage (the work is being done about 60nm north).

Although I've seen one or two posts asking about float equipped RV-9s, I haven't noted any first person answers on the subject.

The plane started out as an RV-9A and, after years of flying as a nose dragger, was converted to a tail dragger 2 months ago. I ferried it from the Lower 48 to Anchorage after the conversion so I know that the plane is a fine example of RVism.

O-360 with a constant speed prop makes it go.

I have read several articles by Eustace but there just ain't that much other info on the subject.

Any ideas or suggestions?

Thank you,
Bob Edison
Anchorage, Alaska
 
Pictures?

Bob,

Would LOVE to see some pictures of the 9 on floats (would that be an RV-9B? :D).

Were they amphibious floats?

T.
 
RV-9A floatplane

N942P has approx. two hours on 2100 Baumann straight floats. Front struts attach to tube going into front landing gear socket of RV-9 motor mount and rear struts attached to fitting on rear wing attach bolt which was changed to 3/8s. A little adjustment to float placement and throat opening was needed after first flight and all seems good. Might have to put a dorsal fin on bottom of tail, but so far she does not have yaw tendency, but might at low speeds with all the float mass forward of CG. Glad to have 180HP. With RV-9 wing she gets on the step right now and is off the water unexpectedly quick. Using 72" blended airfoil CS, but will likely go to 205 MT eventually. Currently flying test protocols so have no real numbers yet, although have seen 140 mph at 2300X 23" !000 msl and 59f Will post as i go. Q
 
Have put several hours on the floatplane and out of the 5 hour test mode. Had to move the floats back three inches and lower the rear float strut two inches. It now lands and takes off very smoothly with no bad characteristics whatsoever either in water handling or in flight. So far. Discovered that i had the "38" carb which was good for the high desert in Arizona but a bit too lean at sea level in anchorage. This has resulted in a bit higher CHT and EGT temps then i like. Am having the carb changed to at least a "41" Now showing 140 MPH at 23" 2350 rpm. Temps on # 2 and 3 get to around 430 after climb out and return to around 400 in cruise. four is around 390 and 1 at 370 in cruise. Baffles are good and tight, but will consider leaving a 1/4 " gap at rear of 3 to allow more air to get to the shorter fins on the aft side of that cyl. Carb mod should do most of the fix, however. Plane gets on the step about like a 180 Cub and gets to lift off speed very quickly either flying off level or by slightly raising a wing. Put gross at 1900 which is about 300# less than the 7 on amphibs built by Trey and now owned by Cliff. Empty weight now at 1253#. Using 72" blended airfoil propeller and considering 82" MT CS. But really I am so impressed with the performance may not change props. Have flown with full fuel, me at 240# and 80# in the baggage. Looking forward to the first passenger. Discovered major drawback of low wing floatplane. When it rains, and it does a lot of the time in Anchorage, you and inside gets wet when getting in and out and it is hard to put a dog inside by your self. Other wise no major issues with low wing other than there will be no pulling along side of a dock. More later.
 
Did they make the float struts in Alaska and do you have all the measurements?
There is a set of Baumann 2100 straight floats for sale on Barnstormers right now, if anyone is up to putting another RV-9F on floats.:) What a great thread. Thanks for sharing the information.

Jim Fogarty
RV9a building MN
 
Did they make the float struts in Alaska and do you have all the measurements?
There is a set of Baumann 2100 straight floats for sale on Barnstormers right now, if anyone is up to putting another RV-9F on floats.:) What a great thread. Thanks for sharing the information.

Jim Fogarty
RV9a building MN

I know of no other 9 being put on floats. I can say that it does better than I expected. it gets off the water almost as short as a 180 super cub and then out climbs and cruises faster than any float plane that i am aware of. The installation turned out to be complex. The rear float fittings on the fuselage attached to the rear spar attachments after being drilled to 3/8" These were made available by synergy Air and I believe the last ones made. They could no doubt be duplicated but might be costly. They were originally designed for Trey's 7 but would not work with a conventional strut block attach fitting at the end of the float strut because the flap hangars on the 9's flaps interfered with the blocks. So we used a big wing strut fork and screwed it into the top of the float strut and instead of having a full size strut for the last 5 inches we had a 3/4" wing strut fork attached to the fuselage fitting which did not interfere with the flap hangar which now could be adjusted to provide the proper throat opening for the floats. It was not too difficult to fabricate the front fittings using the socket where the main landing gear attached. Simple float struts can be cut to size and modified easily to work. We actually used a discarded piper wing strut for the diagonal float strut. It is steel and considerably stronger than regular aluminum If someone gets real serious they are welcome to visit and I can show them exactly how we did it. The Baumanns seem like a good fit. They are light and provide more than ample floatation. Net weight gain was only 160# with the plane on floats now weighing 1250 approx. I had to experiment with different locations for the floats location under the fuselage and throat openings, but think I have it about right now. So far it has not shown any bad habits. I thought that i might need a dorsal fin but it does not seem to have a yaw issue which can be the case when the mass of the floats forward of the CG exceed the straightening ability of the vertical fin. It is hard to load it in a manner that puts it outside the CG limits. Of course it has some limitations that all low wing float planes have: it is hard to see exactly where the water is directly under you during short field landings; there will be no docking the plane, rain gets in the plane when the canopy is slid back; one must step off the front of the wing sometimes when beaching ( not a big deal with a step on the forward float strut); loading the plane takes more effort, especially if you want to load a dog by yourself; I can not get from the front to the back on the floats even by crawling. It is much easier to fuel and considerably less dangerous than climbing up to the wing on a high wing; it is easy to handle on the water when moving by hand; and it has definite performance advantages. The larger tail surfaces give it considerably more elevator authority ( very important on landing and takeoff); the flaps and larger wing get it out of the water much quicker than would be the case with the other RV's, and the 180HP gets it on the step right now even with the 72" BA constant speed propeller. I will be putting an 82" MT two blade on next season. Much of the fun, of course, is the attention that it gets.
 
Questair

I know of no other 9 being put on floats. I can say that it does better than I expected. it gets off the water almost as short as a 180 super cub and then out climbs and cruises faster than any float plane that i am aware of. The installation turned out to be complex. The rear float fittings on the fuselage attached to the rear spar attachments after being drilled to 3/8" These were made available by synergy Air and I believe the last ones made. They could no doubt be duplicated but might be costly. They were originally designed for Trey's 7 but would not work with a conventional strut block attach fitting at the end of the float strut because the flap hangars on the 9's flaps interfered with the blocks. So we used a big wing strut fork and screwed it into the top of the float strut and instead of having a full size strut for the last 5 inches we had a 3/4" wing strut fork attached to the fuselage fitting which did not interfere with the flap hangar which now could be adjusted to provide the proper throat opening for the floats. It was not too difficult to fabricate the front fittings using the socket where the main landing gear attached. Simple float struts can be cut to size and modified easily to work. We actually used a discarded piper wing strut for the diagonal float strut. It is steel and considerably stronger than regular aluminum If someone gets real serious they are welcome to visit and I can show them exactly how we did it. The Baumanns seem like a good fit. They are light and provide more than ample floatation. Net weight gain was only 160# with the plane on floats now weighing 1250 approx. I had to experiment with different locations for the floats location under the fuselage and throat openings, but think I have it about right now. So far it has not shown any bad habits. I thought that i might need a dorsal fin but it does not seem to have a yaw issue which can be the case when the mass of the floats forward of the CG exceed the straightening ability of the vertical fin. It is hard to load it in a manner that puts it outside the CG limits. Of course it has some limitations that all low wing float planes have: it is hard to see exactly where the water is directly under you during short field landings; there will be no docking the plane, rain gets in the plane when the canopy is slid back; one must step off the front of the wing sometimes when beaching ( not a big deal with a step on the forward float strut); loading the plane takes more effort, especially if you want to load a dog by yourself; I can not get from the front to the back on the floats even by crawling. It is much easier to fuel and considerably less dangerous than climbing up to the wing on a high wing; it is easy to handle on the water when moving by hand; and it has definite performance advantages. The larger tail surfaces give it considerably more elevator authority ( very important on landing and takeoff); the flaps and larger wing get it out of the water much quicker than would be the case with the other RV's, and the 180HP gets it on the step right now even with the 72" BA constant speed propeller. I will be putting an 82" MT two blade on next season. Much of the fun, of course, is the attention that it gets.


Reviving old thread. I will be visiting Alaska in June 2018 and I am wondering if there still is an opportunity to take a look at the only RV9 on floats. Please PM or email via VAF.
 
adjusting

Now that really does get your attention. Lake Hood would be a hoot with that plane. I would have a hard time adjusting to no docking. My Beaver "career" in Alaska almost never included beaches. Just the opposite of this 9. But it sure would be fun to make the adjustments....
Thanks for posting the link to the photo.
 
docking??? we don' need no steenkin' dock!

...well, seriously, I have never been a float pilot, but have ridden quite a few times.
Almost without exception, every dock we visited on the west coast had a gangway to a FLOAT, which was a foot or two at most above the water, so I'd wager that you could actually pull an RV-9f alongside most of the places that other floatplanes go!?
and.....
Here in the interior, you're talking a handful of boat fuel places on the larger lakes, all with floats to deal with the changing water levels throughout the season.

.....perhaps the real float pilots could comment?
 
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