Canadair CL-415 1390mm. Scenic Outing at the Little Lake

...a bit more successful

Following on from my rather unsuccessful previous expedition to the lake, I returned a week later with the Canadair again for another attempt.
I find flying off water to be rather stressful, due mainly to the inconvenience of failure, namely having to the boat out to rescue the plane and then pack it all up again. As a consequence I am much more nervous and therefore tend to fly much worse than otherwise.

The Canadair is easy to fly and I can generally fly it off the grass, not dissimilar in nature to taking off from water, with little issue. The takeoffs on this occasion were, happily, more successful although most were still a little nervy and one, which didn't make it into the video, was absolutely awful.

One contributing factor is that you don't always get to stand near the plane like you do at the field, and as a result you are literally distanced. I probably should've just gone to the large lake where I could have launched from right next to the jetty. However the little lake looked so scenic with the clouds in the afternoon sun..

Canadair 415 Unboxing

...what's in the box of the Water Bomber

The Canadair 415 comes very well packaged is a sturdy cardboard box, and lifting the lid reveals all items individually wrapped and secured.  It's no surprise then that everything survived the long trim without any sign of damage.

The Canadair is supplied ARF, so motors, ESC's and servos need to be provided. Also, there's no ESC lead included either, so I'd suggest getting an ESC set to avoid a lot of trouble.

The main components, wings and fuselage, are all very nicely moulded and come already painted and with decals applied. This being my first experience with EPS (polystyrene as opposed to polyolefin EPO), the delicateness of the foam and slightly dusty finish are a little disappointing, but everything is nevertheless of a good level of finish. 

The wings have integrated plywood joining spars, but strengthening comes from strut wires attached to plywood mounts on the side of the fuselage. As this is not part of the actual plane I'm planning to add carbon wing joiners to avoid the bracing wire.

The kit provides stick motor mounts, literally short pieces of square dowel to fit into the nacelles, but no mount is provided to fit the motor to the stick.

The battery compartment is located in the cockpit area, with generous amounts of room and a pre-installed plywood tray with a battery strap. There's also heaps of room back in the fuselage for installing the receiver and ESC's.

The tail sections need to be glued in place; a tube of glue is provided but I think I might use superglue to be sure of the bond. Note that, this being EPS, you'll need foam-safe glue to avoid melting the foam...

Unexpected Pleasures

...lovely surprises

This morning I packed the Canadair 415 and the Sukhoi 29 as I headed out; the sky clear except for a ring around the moon from a hint of mist in the east.

I'd been wanting to film the Sukhoi 29, the diminutive rubber-band powered mini-plane, but hadn't had any success due to a broken rubber band. So I was hoping that this morning, kitted out with a fresh spare band, would be the day.

Heading now into Autumn, the sun wasn't yet risen when I arrived at the field, so I readied the Canadair for a flight. Glancing up at the sky I decided there was nothing worth filming, so I hit the throttle and had the Canadair skimming off the grass into the sky. I'd barely done a circuit of the field when, looking over my shoulder, I saw the rippled forms of the high clouds suddenly lit up with the first rays of sun in a beautiful spectacle.

The Canadair was immediately put on finals and fitted with the Mobius as soon as it touched down. All secure, and the chubby plane was skimming into the air again, headed for the best seats in the house to witness the spectacle of a beautiful autumn sunrise.

Afterwards I readied the little Sukhoi for another try, but was surprised by a giant tractor taking to the field to give the grass a trim. Ducking out of the way at its first pass, I started winding up the Sukhoi now that the tractor was busying itself on the far field. A hundred and fifty winds, as per the booklet, and I let the little plane go with underwhelming results; the plane tottering along the grass before coming to a standstill a few yards off.

The noise of the tractor nearing again decided me to pack things up for the morning, and I turned for the car as soon as it passed, experiencing the second pleasant surprise of the morning, the gorgeous smell of freshly cut grass...

Canadair on Grass

Cool, man...

With access to the lake somewhat restricted, I decided to give the Canadair a go at the field. I'd seen a few videos showing it was possible, but still wasn't quite sure how this venture was going to work.

As it turned out it works fine, although quite different to flying from water. In fact almost the opposite! Unlike on the water where modest amounts of throttle will get the plane moving and resistance builds up until it gets on the plane, on grass there is no movement until the considerable friction is overcome.

Moving the throttle past the halfway mark with no signs of movement, I was certainly considering that this wasn't going to work when, at about two-thirds power, the Canadair suddenly broke loose and quickly started to move across the grass. Of course, with that much throttle, as soon as friction is overcome, the acceleration is brisk, so the Canadair was airborne within seconds, gliding sweetly into the cool morning air.

Flying the Canadair at the field was actually pretty groovy, with lots of space and the ability to do low fly-pasts which isn't always possible at the lake with its border of trees. And quite fun getting to know the flying characteristics of the big water bomber in a safe environment.

As you would expect, with that much wing area and the proliferation of fences and stabilisers, it is slow and steady, although sharp turns are quite possible with the assistance of differential thrust, much like vectored thrust..

Canadair at the Big Lake

...on a warm windy day

Access to the lake is a bit restricted and, along with variables of weather thrown in, the opportunities of actually getting a plane on the lake are not brilliant. So, despite it being a warm and windy afternoon, I headed past the lake just in case.

It turned out that it wasn't that windy, although the lake surface was covered with ripples. In the end I opted for a partially sheltered spot between some willow trees and decided to give the Canadair a go. The rougher water caused some problems with the wing floats, as would be expected, and I had some issues with the Canadair turning because one float was still on the water.

Nevertheless, I still managed to get the Canadair airborne and flying without incident, although the strong wind made it more of a reactive flying session than anything else. Landings, however, were a breeze with the Canadair descending almost vertically to literally plop down onto the water.

Although slow and stable, the Canadair still needed careful watching in the wind, with its large wing area and so many winglets and stabilisers making crosswind effects more pronounced.

So a bit more experience with the Canadair, but the take-offs still need some work. But at least its fairly easy to fly. Next time, perhaps some aerobatics...

Canadair 415 Float Mod

...the last piece of the puzzle

The Canadair 415 has been somewhat of a trying exercise; first the several hurdles in getting it built and then the issues on the water, namely non-functional rudder, researching proportional thrust and then, finally, figuring out how to launch it without the wing floats diving into the lake.

The solution for the latter was, fortunately, quite simple, requiring just a few millimetres (I took off five) trimmed off the front of the float-mount to increase the angle of incidence of the float. I'd actually considered doing this up-front but had decided to try it out unmodified.

The default configuration may work, but only in mill-pond conditions in my opinion, as the scale-float cannot manage even the most modest ripples ,which simply wash over the float and causing it to immediately submarine.

As I said, I randomly chose a 5mm trim which has worked fine, although I have seen videos where the floats have been tilted significantly more than that. I think it's a matter of "horses-for-courses", however I think that some increase in incidence is required to avoid frustration...

Flying the Canadair

...at last

All the planets, including Pluto, finally aligned to provide an opportunity to get the Canadair in the air. All flight modifications had been completed, with the water rudder deleted, differential thrust programmed and the wing-float angle modified. All this with a plane I'd got as an easy-flying companion to the touchy Trainstar floatplane!

It was a lovely spring afternoon with just a moderate south westerly breeze as I turned into the still-open gates to the lake. Unpacking the Canadair I wasted no time in getting it onto the water, first trying a few mock takeoff runs which showed that the wing-float modification was working a charm, allowing the Canadair to run up to planing speed without risk of submarining.

However, realising that I was on the wrong side of the lake for the breeze, I left the Canadair floating mid-stream and sprinted to the the other side of the lake at a moderate pace. Finding the Canadair still out of the weeds, I taxied it over and lined it up for takeoff.

The first attempt was both alarming and laughable. Running the Canadair up to speed with full elevator, as I do to prevent the Trainstar from nosing in, the plane lept almost vertically into the air, dropping a wing in the process. Over-correcting, it then lurched in the opposite direction before finally flopping down onto the lake, its airspeed exhausted.

Trying again with just a touch of elevator had the Canadair executing a perfect lift-off, blurring the line between floating and flying as it eased off the water. As with the Trainstar, finally getting the Canadair into the air was a major achievement, although actually flying it was a breeze. Unlike it's companion, the Canadair is light and highly powered, making it easy to fly. Its abundance of stabilisers, winglets and large control surfaces also makes it easy to control.

Landing it was also pretty easy, again being light it slows down very quickly and, being low to the water, is pretty stable. So, now that it's all set up, I'm now looking forward to some relaxed flying with the Canadair...

Canadair Takeoff Technique

...a few issues to address

I decided to get the Canadair as a companion for the Trainstar floatplane, a well-recommended twin-engined flying boat, high-powered unlike the marginally-powered Trainstar in floatplane guise, which should be easy to launch and relaxing to fly.

Well, after several visits to the lake I can attest to the former not being the case, certainly for the uninitiated, and that I have therefore, unfortunately, not been in a position to enjoy the latter.

There are a few tricks, it seems, that one needs to know. I haven't yet been able to test or master these, however I have an inkling on what needs to be done to get this boat flying.

Wing Floats
Problem - the wings floats leave a gap to the water and, therefore, the wings are initially tipped to one side. Unfortunately getting the wings level involves a conundrum; the ailerons are ineffective at low speeds and, if you attempt to speed up to remedy this, the wing floats end up submarining and causing the Canadair to execute a handbrake turn. 
Solution - trim a 5mm wedge off the wing float mounts to increase the angle of incidence of the float. This makes the float less likely to plough under the water during takeoff.

Take-off Run
Problem - as above, so many of the successful launches I've seen are executed with a very short takeoff run. Those that have a longer run are either done in absolutely calm water conditions or are marginal/unsuccessful.
Solution - get the Canadair moving and then quickly increase the power. The effect of this is to cause sudden downforce on the elevator before the Canadair speeds up much, effectively pushing the back into the water and getting it onto the plane almost immediately. Additionally this same effect means the front of the wing floats is rotated up by the same effect, supplementing the incidence modification as described above.

I think there is a knack to the latter solution; I have managed to get it planing in this manner but have aborted the launch due to concerns of the wing floats digging in and causing a crash (splash). I am hopeful, however, that with the wing float modification and a bit of practice, that my next attempt will be more successful...

Turnigy Thrust Test

...the Canadair's cooking

Following my concerns regarding the Canadair 415's prop size, or lack thereof, I conducted a rudimentary thrust test using a scale. First up, the Canadair weighed in at 1.25kg all up including a 2200mAh battery.

The Canadair sounded quite impressive running up to full power, with the scales indicating it was developing somewhere in the region of 1.6kg thrust, close to the quoted maximum of the Turnigy L2210's and more than adequate for getting the water bomber into the air...

Performance Anxiety

...how big is your prop?

The only minor concern I have regarding the Canadair 415 is whether the props are sufficiently large; I traded in the 8x3.8 slow-fly props for three-bladed 7x4.5's following the methodology of dropping one size going from two blades to three. However, in this case, the original prop is a slow-fly paddle version, so I'm thinking that going for a regular eight-inch three-blade would have been a better equivalency. 

Anyway, I might do a power test on a scale just to get a rough idea of how much thrust to expect; the 210W bell motors are rated at a max 880g thrust which, pushing the lightweight Canadair 415, would probably give it unlimited vertical performance...

Canadair 415 Ready to Roll

...at last

After a long and tedious episode of head-scratching and problem solving, the Canadair 415 is finally ready to fly, and it looks great!

Hanging in the study it exhibits the nose-down attitude with which I believe it flies, and the metallic spinners finish it off beautifully. Having read some discussions, I finished it off with a clear enamel spray as the foam is a little dry and I'm sure prone to staining, especially as the lake where I fly is actually a stormwater basin...

Super Scooper has Landed

...or at least arrived

A post office card left yesterday was exchanged for a large cardboard box which I loaded into the car and scooted for home. It was the Canadair 415 water bomber, a bit ahead of schedule having been ordered from the international warehouse which usually takes a little longer, so there must have been a tailwind.

I've yet to unbox it, having just extracated it from its plain cardboard armour, but a brief inspection of the extra goodies I'd ordered came with a sharp pang of disappointment, the ESC's come with no connectors. On either end. That means five wires having to be soldered by mister useless. For each ESC, this being a twin-engined plane.

Fortunately I have two spare XT60 plugs, however no bullet connectors for the motor. So that means a trip to one of the local hobby shop for some overpriced parts...

Canadair 415

...a friend for the Trainstar

Having finally been able to get the Trainstar floatplane launched and flying, even if somewhat crudely, I've been considering getting another water plane for a bit of variety when venturing out to the lakes or dams.

One plane that caught my eye was the Canadair 415 water bomber and, having read a few of the reviews, it comes well recommended and seems easy enough to launch and fly, unlike the Trainstar which is a bit more on the tricky side of things!

One thing I wasn't all that keen on is that the Canadair is only available in ARF form, requiring one to source components. Mainly this is fine, although the motor is my main concern, especially the mounting for both the motor itself and the prop. Anyway, I've followed the description and hope things will work out well, along with a couple of the 25A Plush ESC's which seem to be good.

I'll be running it off the 2200mAh's which I've been using on the Trainstar, and from what I've read that should be quite adequate. The Trainstar, on the other hand, will be upgraded to 2700mAh's to give extended flight time as a result of it's power-hungry nature from its oversized floats.

So, in a week or two we should have a bit more news of what it looks like and how the Canadair goes together...