Im very interested in getting one of these. I do have a few questions that some of you might be able to help me with before I make my decission. If I were to buy one, it would be my first twin and also float plane. Im not new to flying and have 6 other birds in my hangar. I would go glow with it. I live and fly at about 4200 ft ASL but it woudnt be uncommon to hit a lake or 2 at upwards of 7000 ft ASL. Would os 46's handle the altitude, or would it be better to run 55's? I have a new 46 hanging around, so I would only have to purchase one more.
Does anyone have any experience on flight characteristics with this bird should one engine flame out?? I would really hate to build a beauty like this and have it go down due to a flame out.
Any input would be appreciated.

My only twin so far was a Pica Duelist which was powered by a pair of Webra 40s. An engine overlean flame out on take off caused it to spin in, but that was at a very critical time. I had a previous engine out while cruising it about and it was pretty easy to handle ... just throttled it back to half and it landed pretty normal.

The motors on the CL-415 are relatively close together, so maybe the engine out scenario won't be so bad. I have had four twins. My first was a scratch built sport twin powered by two OS 25 FSR's. It flew great, until an engine out shortly after take off resulted in a spin to destruction. I had plenty of other oppurtunites to test engine out patterns with this airplane, and I was able to drag it back most of the times. So when it died, I built another. After a few months, an engine out on take off resulted in another spin to destruction.

My third twin is a Twin Otter, electric powered. I have well over 600 flights on it, and it is now 6 years old. I have never, ever, had an engine failure. Ever. My fourth twin is a scratch built Gotha G.IV bomber. It's electric powered, too. I would never have built it if it wasn't for the reliability of electric power.

I can't say on whether you need more power, although I think the .46's might be a bit aneamic at 7000ft ASL. Personally, if there were a power system with which you could almost guarantee never to have an engine failure, I would go with that. I can't even imagine a glow powered twin anymore. Like the big guys say "A twin engine airplane just doubles your chance of an engine failure" (Unless it's electric!)

vonJaerschky after reading the following links i think you will completely change your mind!!!


http://www.rcshowcase.com/html/acces.../twinsync.html

http://www.rcshowcase.com/images/PDF/twinsyncstory.pdf

see post 59

The more i read all those threads about the CL-415 or 215 construction the more happy i become.
Can you imagine that 6 months before it would be a treasure if you could dig out some information about this plane construction.
I've passed dozens of hours infront of my PC searching for some information.
People that had already build this plane wouldn't say or write a word. They would keep their construction as a top secret project not sharing any info.

Brad, I looked back a few posts to find out how the motor nacelles are attached to the wing. Am I right to assume they are attached to the wing using only 4 screws? On other twins I've seen the nacelles are epoxied down to the wing becoming an integral part of the wing. Just wondering if 4 screws will be enough to handle the stress / vibration?

Originally Posted by Fast Freddy

Brad, I looked back a few posts to find out how the motor nacelles are attached to the wing. Am I right to assume they are attached to the wing using only 4 screws? On other twins I've seen the nacelles are epoxied down to the wing becoming an integral part of the wing. Just wondering if 4 screws will be enough to handle the stress / vibration?

Yes, there are 4 screws. But you have to be careful to not over-tighten them. The plywood strips where the blind nuts are installed are only glued at the ends, there is no other reinforcement. They appear to be the typical Chinese light ply type, not the more solid aircraft ply. It may be a good idea to place another strip of ply or hardwood at 90 degrees to the plate. Hard to explain, I'll try and get some pictures. But basically as you keep tightening them, you are lifting up the ply plate, there is no "stop" built in to it, so if you continue tightening the ply wil lift and break .So I used some blue loctite and just snugged the bolts. Actually one of the plates was already cracked from the factory probably while instaling the blind nuts of test fitting the nacelles.

As far as vibration, with the electric setup I don't see any issues, with the glow engines there may be some longevity issues. But if you were to reinforce those pieces, I think the 4 bolts will be fine. I may go in there and reinforce mine just for piece of mind, It will only take about 15 minutes to do.

Brad,
Got it. Putting a straight piece of ply across the 2 blind nut holes as indicated in your drawing sounds like a very good idea and good insurance!

Originally Posted by pappy69

vonJaerschky after reading the following links i think you will completely change your mind!!!


http://www.rcshowcase.com/html/acces.../twinsync.html

http://www.rcshowcase.com/images/PDF/twinsyncstory.pdf

Well, that won't make me completely change my mind, but I certainly agree that if those gizmos do what they say, then that goes a long way to improving the safety and reliability of a glow powered twin. I'm just hooked on electrics now, but that certainly looks like a viable option. Good luck with what ever path you choose to follow!

Marnochs, I love the transport rack you made, everything ship shape and secured with foam cushioning. Does it have a carrying handle? Man it really looks good! Could you possibly post a plan for that rack?

Flying Report - WOW does it look good in the air. Water steering via motors works extremely well - no water rudder.

will work up some measurements for the transport cradle

onboard video

CL 215 at Visalia Float Fly (3 min 45 sec)

Excellent video marnochs.

Well done!

How did you add the differential steering on your motors? I'd like to do away with the water rudder.

Perry

Marnochs, Woo Hoo!, Beautiful!

Some quick shots of Scott's 215 from Saturday. Looked great in the air.