The LN-3 Seagull is a two seat experimental

aircraft intended for the homebuilt, LSA and UL markets.

 

PROGRESS REPORT

(July-9-2008)


 

Water, the third element for a Seagull.

Another milestone was passed last week. We had the Seagull down in the water for the first time!

 

We do not yet have a flight permit for water operations but have been recommended to start with buoyancy and leak tests and maybe some slow water taxi before applying for that.

You never start water operation on an amphibian by taking off on land and landing in water. You just have to start by bringing the airplane down in the water from land and that might sound easier than it is. Either you have to dismantle and move it on a trailer to a suitable lake where you put it together again or otherwise you will need an airport with a lake or river accessible from the airport.

 

We thought we were lucky by having a small airfield just 20 km south of Sundsvall City with a nearby lake and with a ramp down in the water. So we hopped into the Seagull and flew it down there with the intention of more or less taxiing down in the water. It was soon realized that the ramp was quite steep and that the wings would hit bushes on both sides. This ramp has been used for float planes sitting on dollies and with the wings far up.

 

The other option we had was to fly back to our main base Sundsvall Airport that is surrounded by a river and that actually has a seaplane harbor. Reason this was not our first choice was that the water is streaming and that there are bridges formed in a U-shape that efficiently block all access from land down in the water. We talked to the airport authority that was very cooperative and re-arranged the bridges to one side thus giving us convenient access to the water and the bridges are in a little bay with still water.

 

Chasing big leaks easy, small leaks harder! After three attempts we are close. Seagull floats exactly the way it should and in the hard wind we had the first day the wing tip sometimes came down in the water as predicted with an acceptable sideways tilting angle.

 

Thanks for your interest,

Lage