Back in this thread someone said CG was just about on the carbon fiber spar that runs across the wing. The reason for the upside down balance is because of the motor pod. At least that is what was said pages and pages ago. Some have said to have the CG a tad towards the tail. I find mine flies great and I have to check the CG the next time just to be sure.
Conehead
Orrin Eldred

I balance mine on the carbon spar. It's a very easy to find reference point and the Seawind flies great when balanced there.
McD

Originally Posted by johnt26

thanks for the help with my motor/ESC issue. Went to my LHS, they first said, "the motor" is never the problem", it was!
They were nice enough to troubleshoot the problem, seems the motor went then took out the ESC. I don't believe water was an issue as I tried a go-around after bouncing off a wake on the very first flight, nothing happened powerwise.
Questions:
I have the same stuff that came with the PNP version, the SS25 ESC and the GP outrunner brushless.
Should I corrosion X just the ESC and receiver or the motor too?
Can anyone confirm that these ESCs and motors can take getting wet? I can't imagine we'll need a new motor every time it gets wet, it is a seaplane!
BTW, we fly in brackish water.
Thanks again for the help!!

I put Corrosion X on just the ESC, receiver and servos. I read somewhere here that using it on the motor can actually cause more problems than it would cure so I didn't. I also only did the boards on the servos and not the motors as that was also recommended somewhere. It may be that you just got a bad motor that shorted out? Given that you are flying in brackish water I'd maybe shoot the new motor with some WD40 just as a corrosion prevention measure. Anyone else have any experience with this?

Originally Posted by LeftyF

I put Corrosion X on just the ESC, receiver and servos. I read somewhere here that using it on the motor can actually cause more problems than it would cure so I didn't. I also only did the boards on the servos and not the motors as that was also recommended somewhere. It may be that you just got a bad motor that shorted out? Given that you are flying in brackish water I'd maybe shoot the new motor with some WD40 just as a corrosion prevention measure. Anyone else have any experience with this?

Correct, I put Corrosion Block (the Canadian version I guess) on one of my motors, and that killed it. So, for the motors, I do nothing. In fact, I flipped mine last weekend in a high wind, got in the rescue vehicle to go get it. Drained it and then went flying again.

You can us WD40 to get all the water out of the motor is you are concerned. I also put Corrosion Block IN each servo, which really helps.

As for the receiver (Futaba FAAST 6017), I just open it up and then dump Corrosion Block all over it. However, I have found that it is better to mount the receiver just behind the ESC on about 1cm of foam on the bottom and then about an equal amount of foam on top. Then, wedge it between the bottom and the top of the hull (in front of the servos). This way you keep the receiver out of the water both upright and upside down.

Once I did these 2 things, my receiver problems went away (like not receiving a signal during start up. Even with the 2.4Ghz receiver this close to the ESC and the antennas in opposite polarizations, I've not lost signal contact.

BTW, I'm on my 3rd. Seems going to the Receiver ready version is a great deal and much cheaper in the long run than buying the ARF.

Mike

Originally Posted by jlorenco

I recently built one of these from the RxR kit. It is all stock and I use a 1000 mAh 3 cell which gives 8-9 minute flights. Overall it flies very well - I was impressed at how nicely it flies. I did have a couple of problems with the kit though.

First off I flew it on grass before the water and on one landing I hit a thick spot in the grass and it decelerated fast, and the wing came off! Turns out the wing mount was just stuck on with some lousy glue that didn't stick. I'm just glad it didn't happen in the air.

With the wing off and the mount attached, I could see how much it was deflecting the aileron pushrods. I've attached a picture of it and you can see that it is just about ready to snap off the servo arm. I put the connectors on the bottom of the servo like suggested in post #1036 and it was much better. After that experience, I trimmed the wing tips too as suggested in the post.

I just flew it off the water a couple of days ago and it is even easier than flying it off the grass. It runs on the water so smooth. I've attached a video with clips of two flights I got on it. You can see from the water surface that the wind was variable and it was a bit bumpy at times, but the plane handled it well. On one landing I even touched with the wingtip first with no tendency to water loop.

This is my first sea plane and I really enjoy flying it!

Also, make sure you reinforce the motor mount, as the glue that holds it to the foam WILL let go at some point. This results in a dead stick landing at one point with the motor falling like a set of car keys.

I don't treat electric motors on my seaplanes at all -- water doesn't hurt them. In fact I've retrieved an upside-down plane by driving it back to shore with the motor completely submerged. I don't advise doing that -- very hard on the motor -- but shows that they're essentially waterproof. When a motor gets wet I do make sure to run it for a few minutes, ideally with another flight, to heat it up and clear it out. I never spray anything inside an electric motor. The only treatment they get from me is a bit of sewing machine oil on the bearings when they're installed. So far so good.

I also don't treat servos at all, except sometimes to drill a couple of holes in the case so they can dry out if they get wet. In my prior RC life in the boat world there were modelers who used completely exposed servos without any trouble.

Waterproofing an ESC is hard. Proofing receivers seems (in my experience) to work better than ESCs; I chalk it up to the lower currents an Rx deals with. I've had good luck with silicone conformal coating on both the Rx and ESC -- you'll find prior posts on the subject in this thread.

Good luck!

Dave

So I finally found a couple hours to build a new motor mount for my seawind. The old one failed last fall. I used stainless steel tubing to make the standoffs- hope it flies!

They don't make enough CA to fix my Seawind. The first touch and go, or splash and go was great. The second one, well I made a big error. Should have shut the motor down, taxied back and then taken off again. No, I thought I could get it off the water and have no trouble. Well That was a TERRIBLE thought. (bad thought, bad thought) it lifted off the water, headed towards shore, where there are lots and lots of trees along the shore. I cleared the first two, really large Birch trees. I pulled up and rolled left some with full throttle and I was in a semi-knife edge, I think?? I thought I was safe. Then I heard it hit the Arborvitae tree, (White Ceder) my wife called out to see if I was ok, she asked about the plane, I said Toast. Foam came raining down, the one wing was in the tree, battery hit the water, motor came down along with some paper towels I had in to absorb some water if needed. I had to get the ladder out and climb up in the tree some with my pruning pole to get the fuse, well what was left of the fuse out of the tree. It came down, my bride was there on the ground, actually the sandy beach to catch it before it went into the water.
Great news is that the glue joint that held the wing on, since I had repaired it, held great. I broke that joint last year and when I re-built the Seawind with the new wing, I re-glued it. It worked great. Better news is that there is another one in the garage to be assembled and the parts, or some of them after they are tested and checked, will go into the new Seawind.
What a great flying airplane. I just made a big error in judgment. Next time I know, don't do it.
Conehead
Orrin Eldred

Sorry to hear your tale of woe, Cone! We've all been there, if not with the Seawind then with something else. For me it was an F4D-1 Skyray jet two weeks ago -- too windy, pilot error, pile of little white balls...

At least now you have a good excuse to start a brand new Seawind. Mine has gotten pretty chewed up but so far hasn't been beyond repair so I'm stuck flying the ugly old bird. Still one of my best flyers though. I can honestly say that if my entire hangar were wiped-out tomorrow the Seawind would be the first thing I'd replace.

Edit: incidently I'm sure lots of us would be interested in your experience-bred modifications as you build up the new airframe. Please keep us posted.

Dave

I had a similar experience last summer. I had landed and nosed her in- then I took off again. All was fine until some kid said "can it do a loop?" So I did and all control was lost as the water picked up at the nose in covered the electronics-resulting in a crash, and then the plane started on fire Was able to repair although -amazing what you can do with spray foam and glue! And a new ESC. You are lucky you have a spare Conehead! Happy flying

Well thank you all for your sadness over my error. Won't be the first poor decision I make, probably won't be the last, I just hope to make fewer ones in the future.
I painted the wingtips to help me see the Seawind. Back a few pages are some pictures I posted of what I did. I did spray the whole plane after I painted the wingtips with Valspar gloss polyurethane varnish. Helped protect the paint on the plane. Helps make the water run off of it some also.
I painted both the left and right wingtips, left was red, right was green, I painted the right aileron green on the underside and the left aileron red on top. That way when I turned I could see which way it was going a lot easier. I found when I fly in the winter with all the snow and such on the lake, a white plane with some blue on it, gets lost in a hurry.
I did do the push rod modification that is back in this thread earlier. That helped a lot. I will also carve out some foam where the aileron rods contact the wing root in order to give me a bit more throw if I need it. I won't need much more throw than I had.
I will also make sure I treat all the servos with Corrosion X, red label, and I will make sure the push rods that go to the rear of the plane with some sort of lube. I am not sure if I will use a dry lube, silicone, or Corrosion X. I did treat the rec, esc with Corrosion X before I flew it. I found the water rudder that I made in the lake the next day. The longer water rudder I made worked great. It was about 1/4 of an inch longer. I have also made one just a tad bigger and I think I will use that one on the new Seawind.
This is one great flying airplane. I have enjoyed it and without all the other people who have flown this plane and made comments here on this thread, I would have quit flying it after I broke the wing when I ran into a dock leg.
Conehead
Orrin Eldred
I did use tape on the front edge of the cockpit to make sure it didn't pop off during flight.

Has anybody had a problem with a pendulum effect from the weight of the engine pod when banking at high speeds. I maidened my seawind for the first time the other day and on the back side of the first loop around the field it would violently bank from one side to the other. After getting it settled down by pulling back on the throttle, it seemed to fly better. But I have not tried to bank it from side to side too much for fear of the same result. I have it balanced at the recommended CG. I would like to know if there is something that can be adjusted to minimize this trait or is this something that is common with the seawind?

Is you Seawind also balanced from side to side? I haven't had that happen to me.
Conehead
Orrin Eldred

I will check that out and get back to you.

Excuse my manners, Welcome to RC Groups tsudduth.
I just noticed that you have had 2 posts.
Way back in this thread, others said it helps to make sure your Seawind is balanced both laterally and on the wing also. I found that the carbon fiber spar was about the right place. I think Kingsflyer said the same and a number of others did also.
I have found that when I did a loop, my Seawind would climb fine at the top I would chop power and let it fall back around and then add power as I neared the bottom of the loop. I haven't had anything happen like you describe. I don't do lots of aerobatics. I have flown my Seawind a few minutes inverted, that is until I parked my Seawind in the White Ceder tree the other night. I was able to roll my Seawind on occasion.
Conehead
Orrin Eldred