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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
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