Short Wings on Floats

[tripacer03c]

I know there are prints on the CD, but does anyone have experience mounting floats on Pacer/Tri-Pacer? Any help will be appreciated.

[Steve Pierce]

Welcome Gary. You might contact Halestorm (Sam) or BatPacer (Paul). They fly their Pacers on floats. I think Sam's is on floats all the time and Paul goes from wheels to floats depending on the seasons in Alaska.

Here is a previous discussion we had on floating a Short Wing:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=15

[tripacer03c]

Thanks Steve,

I am in contact with someone who is interested in buying a Pacer and putting it on floats. I've put him in touch with Clyde Grant (Clyde is the person who provided the blueprint for the CD). Since posting I have found a good thread on the SWPC forum by searching for float plane at PA22.

Thanks again.

[Airwrench]

Gary,
Welcome to the site. What kind of questions do you have? I have done more than a few. - Steve Bryant

[Rudder Bug]

Hi all,

According to the logs, my '58 PA-22/150 used to be on floats until 1976 but I don't see any front fittings. I understand the rear float struts were attached to the rear landing gear bracket but that's all I can see for float fittings. There is also a hole in the lower rudder LE, suggesting a water rudder horn could have been bolted there.

I lately contemplated the idea of converting it into a tail dragger but for the same expense, floats would definitely be the best asset for where we need to go... at a lake where our fishing camp is!

Now it seems that bolting on a pair of Edo 2000 is just a small part of the process. What about the landing gear, brakes, hydrosorbs, nose gear removal, and the panels needed to close those holes? Cowling modification, ASI, prop, and what else? Oh yes and that would certainly involve wing extensions and even better, VG's as well.

A pilot door would also be great but I don't mind flying from the right seat for a while. The ol' lady is pretty good at jumping out of a seaplane fast.

Any info would be of great help.

Giles

[halestorm]

Hello

We operated our 22/20 for 500 hours over 3 years on floats. To answer your float fitting question EDO has a "bolt on" float attach which as the name suggests bolts on to the lower longeron with some u-bolts. In the 22 they bolt on for the forward strut and in the 20 they bolt on for the rear strut. Some people have had success getting the Atlee Dodge type weld on fittings approved for 22/20 projects. In fact I believe "Batpacer" has them on his ship.

I am a full-time seaplane mechanic and even so the process of turning our little plane into a seaplane took the better part of a week. We ended up covering the hole in the bottom of the plane with fabric. Never installed a seaplane door but we quickly became adept at flying from the right seat.

From our experiences the 2 most valuable mods for a shortwing seaplane would be a Borer prop and a VG kit, those mods made the plane workable. Borer prop alone cut our take-off times in half!

If anyone's interested I have a pair of EDO bolt-on fittings for sale, complete with a "special" fitting to make it easier to install on a 22/20. Also, EDO is currently selling brand new 2000 floats with all attach gear for a 22/20 for $15,500.

Sam