Seaplane Comparison

[1938BF50]

Here's a chance for some of you Taylorcraft owners to make a pitch for our ships! The guy is from Alaska posting on the Seaplane Pilots Assoc. forum and looking to buy a float plane....either a Taylorcraft or an Aeronca.

http://www.seaplanes.org/cgi-bin/forum/displaymsg.cgi?thread=3209%26ts=1

[Dick Smith]

Re: Seaplane Comparison

Tribe, this is the ongoing discussion on the Supercub forum re: the relative merits of the 85 hp Taylorcraft on floats vs. 90 hp Champ on floats. Dick
(Some good pix down toward the bottom)

http://www.supercub.org/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=11921

[perryv1]

Re: Seaplane Comparison

I have a 46 BC12d with 1320 floats and the 100 hp o-200 conversion, and I participate in the takeoff contests at the Greenville seplane flyin in Greenville Maine. Year after year the 85-125 class is dominated by me and Brian Dunn's T-crafts. (He has the same setup as I do) We always end up running each other for the trophy. 90 and 100 hp pa11's just dont make it. the Champ guys dont even try.
for me, the T-craft is best plane for doing the type of flying that I do in the backwoods of Maine. I also Have "Wing Springs" on it, and that really smooths out the bumps.

[wlas]

Re: Seaplane Comparison

Its not even close, I've flown 90 hp champs and 100 hp champs, my T-craft when it had a 85hp would beat a 90 hp champ easy. I used to fly to work everyday and land on a 800 foot lake that was the nearest I could get to work and that was with an 85 hp. and the lake had a power line on one end. Of coarse I didn't go out with a load and light on fuel.

[gcgilpin]

Re: Seaplane Comparison

800 ft., that's impressive. Could you takeoff over the power lines?

[wlas]

Re: Seaplane Comparison

I could only take off over the power lines if the wind was blowing pretty hard from the south. To the north its open for a long ways, so I would land to the south and take off to the north. One time we put the floats on a Stinson with an 0470 in it and put it on the lake and I thought we are going to have to pull it back out of the lake and put the wheels back on. But after a week of waiting the wind started blowing hard, so we ran over to the lake and got it off. The guy I worked with at the time had a 90hp chief with 1320s same as me and he got in and out also. That chief did real good on floats but champs just don't do as good. I've also flown 135 champ with 1650 floats and it was ok ,but not great. I flew a 135 T-craft with 1320 floats and it was totally unbelievable how well it did. I told the owner the floats were way to small, but he still has the same floats after 15 fifteen years.

[gcgilpin]

Re: Seaplane Comparison

A 90hp chief on 1320s? Must've been a pre-war chief? Post war chiefs aren't certified for 1320s. 90hp isn't on the type certificate for post war chiefs either.

[wlas]

Re: Seaplane Comparison

It was field approved and it was a 46 model, We put cessna 150 seats on rails in, all field approved. Back when we could get field approvals without all the paper work I have to do now. I got a field approval on 1320s on a F-19 just before it changed, I dont know if I could now, but maybe, just alot more work. customer don't like to pay for all the time it takes, so I don't do as many.

[gcgilpin]

Re: Seaplane Comparison

Interesting... mine's a 47 11CC Chief ... 85 hp and PK1500 floats. I've always wandered how it would perform with 1320s. Did your buddie's Chief seem underfloated?

[rotaxflyer]

Re: Seaplane Comparison

During my latest cross country to Goderich, ON, I saw this ad in a free magazine in the club.

Easy pick-up for someone in AK. A bit on the pricey side don't you think?

[Richard Boyer]

Re: Seaplane Comparison

I was told that amphib floats are very $$$$. That is probably the majority of the cost in that setup.

[Dano"T"]

Re: Seaplane Comparison

I'm planning on putting our new 90HP T-Craft on my Baumann 1500's next spring...I think it will out perform my 85HP BC12D. It is 800lbs E.W. on wheels and has a C90 with a 76-2-40 prop. I'll let you know how it goes....I expect good things. I am impressed by the 85HP T-craft on the Baumann's so I think It'll be great.

[wlas]

Re: Seaplane Comparison

The T-craft in the picture looks like it has Whipaire 2100 floats which are about 28,000 new. With 160hp I would think the plane would do pretty good. sure would like to fly it.