11/4/2011 This update is to point you to the plans which are in posts #11 (my pencil) and #15 (Bob's PDF). There are some great videos in post #7. If you look at one video, look at the first one in post #7. Best.

My first and favorite Giant Foamie is my Sea Dart. I am amazed at how well it flys and handles both ground and water operations. It weighs 3#14oz and has a 43" wingspan and just fits in the trunk of the car. During water ops the top stays bone dry and has no tendancy to tip over. It is constructed out of mostly Home Depot material with the exception of the carbon spar. If I built it today I would just use 3/8"x3/8" hardwood from HD for a buck. The plane is built to scaled up plans by Marcel du Plessis and are available on parkjets.com. Just blow the plans up to a 43" wingspan and read the photo captions for structure additions to complement the 1/2" R-TECH foam. The power system is the same one I use on all my large foamies, Scorpion 3026-10 980kv, APC 10x7 or Master Airscrew 10x7x3 prop, 60 amp esc and 4s5000mah battery. If you have questions I will be glad to address them. This is a fun and fully aerobatic seaplane with no bad habits. The following video shows my little 7 oz Sea Dart and the big one. It was the 1st and 2nd flight on water and 3rd and 4th overall for the big one. The performance of the little one is what inspired the big one. Best.

RC foamie Sea Darts (mini and Home Depot giant) flown by Otto Dieffenbach (4 min 45 sec)

Awsome i love it, how do you turn out so many planes so fast?

Originally Posted by NighthawkF-117

Awsome i love it, how do you turn out so many planes so fast?

Well, the Sea Dart has been around for a few months. This build technique is quick, about 20 hours an airframe and the results have been outstanding.

Are there plans for the sea dart?

Originally Posted by trroadster

Are there plans for the sea dart?

The basic Sea Dart plans are on parkjets.com and were done by Marcel du Plessis. His original Sea Dart is smaller and mine is 43" wingspan. I took his layouts and blew them up to the 43" span. I made some modifications that are described in the photos (in this thread) and are intended for building with R-TECH. Let me know what I can do to help, if you tackle this build. Best.

That’s extremely COOL !!! Thanks Otto !!!

Two new videos.

Giant Foamie Home Depot Sea Dart at the Menifee Valley Flyers Float Fly by Otto Dieffenbach (6 min 59 sec)

Giant Sea Dart Flight 2 at the Menifee Valley Flyers Float Fly by Otto Dieffenbach (8 min 1 sec)

Great video as always. I have the small one, every time I see yours I want to build the BIG guy.

Dennis

You can always move your electronics from plane to plane. Start laminating more blue foam.

The original Sea Dart plans by Marcel are available on parkjets.com. The planform is a direct blowup of the original and sized to fit in the trunck of my car; backseat armrest pass through opened for the nose. If you blow the plans up to 44 inches then you'll be my size. The foam I used is the Home Depot R-Tech 1/2" reinforced with dowel and carbon spar. Here are the mods I made:

1. 1/4" dowel leading edges; I would now use 5/16 since it gives an even better look.

2. Wingspar 0.2 carbon tube; I would now use 3/8" square hardwood.

3. Elevon hinge line 1/4x3/8 inch balsa both sides.

4. Laminated a piece of 1mm drawer lining plastic to the ski for strengh and durability.

5. Added ply/truss work under skid to mount wheels for pavement ops; not neccessary for water use.

6. Laminated 1/8" plywood to both sides of the vertical tail tying together the motor mount and wing spar.

7. 5/16" dowel on the leading edge of the tail tied into the 5/16" dowel on the rear, downwind side of the prop slot running from the leading edge dowel to the balsa hinge line.

8. The top electronics fairing on both sides of the fuse are 1/4 sections of wine foam shipping containers.

Here are some drawings for the large Sea Dart. The only thing missing is the top left and right fairing to enclose the electronics. You can custom build something or find some foam wine shipping containers and glue/shape as I did. Did I mention this is a great plane and outstanding seaplane. My favorite water toy.

Originally Posted by wing_man

Great video as always. I have the small one, every time I see yours I want to build the BIG guy.

Dennis

I drew up some plans and just posted them. Do you want to create a PDF, blow them up and then tile? No rush, get that F-15 flown first.

Otto,
I've grabbed the drawings and will try to CAD them shortly.
From that I can create a full sized PDF and post it here.

Thanx

bob

Originally Posted by Otto Dieffenbach

I drew up some plans and just posted them. Do you want to create a PDF, blow them up and then tile? No rush, get that F-15 flown first.

Never mind... Bob has volunteered.

Here is my PDF with vector embedded.

Comments welcome

Bob

EDIT:

Fix some issues pointed out by Otto.
REposted 10:30 pm