HobbyKing Seaplane-- Good option?

mklinker · Jul 10, 2012, 02:18 PM

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...90mm_PNF_.html

Has anyone tried this airplane? It looks like it has some decent storage space up front to fit all the FPV gear... 1m wingspan may be alittle small IMO but still not a bad option. I would probably just land it on grass... I don't trust hundreds of $$ of gear flying into water.

Thoughts? I am looking to upgrade to something with more internal space... my AXN floater is officially over-loaded.

chemnut842 · Jul 10, 2012, 03:41 PM

I flew the parkzone icon which looks to be pretty much the same as this. It was a lot of fun but your fears are correct... It is very challenging to keep water out of the electronics area. 99% can be kept out by sealing the canopy with electrical tape before each flight - but a few drops always seem to make it in... Those few drops will roll around in the electronics bay and evaporate.... but have nowhere to go. So then condense all over your stuff and cause a lot of problems.

I was flying it with full eagle tree equip and a rmrc 480 cam. I put the vtx and RC rx out on the wings. This is also a problem because the motor torque causes a wing to dip into the water on takeoff. If you try to throttle up slow - the thing does not plane very well and the nose goes under water - splashing more water into your cam, motor and electronics bay...

If the water is slightly choppy - forget it...

I managed to have a lot of fun flights despite all this. I flew it out to 4.5km - which was close to its max range with a 2200 mAh lipo ( idk how much more weight the poor thing could handle).

Forget hand launching - its too heavy and taking off from any kind of grass with fpv equip is next to impossible.

I would not recommend this airframe for general FPV or for an FPV seaplane based on my exp with the parkzone icon. Just my opinion though....

Everyone seems to rave about the 1900 mm skywalker for its ability to hoard equipment in its gut...

Jul 10, 2012, 02:18 PM	#1
mklinker Registered User Joined Jun 2011 100 Posts	HobbyKing Seaplane-- Good option? http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...90mm_PNF_.html Has anyone tried this airplane? It looks like it has some decent storage space up front to fit all the FPV gear... 1m wingspan may be alittle small IMO but still not a bad option. I would probably just land it on grass... I don't trust hundreds of $$ of gear flying into water. Thoughts? I am looking to upgrade to something with more internal space... my AXN floater is officially over-loaded.

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Jul 10, 2012, 03:41 PM	#2
chemnut842 Registered User Joined Apr 2011 254 Posts	I flew the parkzone icon which looks to be pretty much the same as this. It was a lot of fun but your fears are correct... It is very challenging to keep water out of the electronics area. 99% can be kept out by sealing the canopy with electrical tape before each flight - but a few drops always seem to make it in... Those few drops will roll around in the electronics bay and evaporate.... but have nowhere to go. So then condense all over your stuff and cause a lot of problems. I was flying it with full eagle tree equip and a rmrc 480 cam. I put the vtx and RC rx out on the wings. This is also a problem because the motor torque causes a wing to dip into the water on takeoff. If you try to throttle up slow - the thing does not plane very well and the nose goes under water - splashing more water into your cam, motor and electronics bay... If the water is slightly choppy - forget it... I managed to have a lot of fun flights despite all this. I flew it out to 4.5km - which was close to its max range with a 2200 mAh lipo ( idk how much more weight the poor thing could handle). Forget hand launching - its too heavy and taking off from any kind of grass with fpv equip is next to impossible. I would not recommend this airframe for general FPV or for an FPV seaplane based on my exp with the parkzone icon. Just my opinion though.... Everyone seems to rave about the 1900 mm skywalker for its ability to hoard equipment in its gut...