Have you seen the seaplane Santa Cruz?

[philp]

So came across this on evilbay.  Even started watching the movie.

Neat plane that can be a seaplane or land plane.







Even found a build article.
http://s362974870.onlinehome.us/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=247181

[beowulf]

very interesting.................dread to think how much it is tho since its hasegawa 

[Old Wombat]

Overall, the plane looks great but I just can't come to terms with those teeny-weeny floats - not even the super-floaty-lighter-than-air-foam-believing-whiffer part of me .

[Dizzyfugu]

I also considered the kit several times, but...
a) it has an inflated price tag
b) I was and still not certain what to make from it. Certainly not the blue anime OOB version

The floats confused me, too - I did not know that you can also make a wheeled version (or does it feature both at the same time???) - thanks for the info.

Maybe add skis and make a Finnish or Canadian thing from it...? It looks like a dive bomber...

[PR19_Kit]

Darned if I can see where the main floats go when they're retracted. Or do they transform into flat sheets and squeeze themselves flat onto the underside of the aircraft?

[philp]

So, I just finished watching The Princess and the Pilot from which the Santa Cruz comes.

The floats fold inward into the 2 under belly doors so the plane is a true amphibian.

The storyline was pretty standard fair but both sides in the war had large flying battleships and the "enemy" fighter pilots fly Shindens.
Visuals were not up to Sky Crawlers but it was fine.

[rickshaw]

Darned if I can see where the main floats go when they're retracted. Or do they transform into flat sheets and squeeze themselves flat onto the underside of the aircraft?

Perhaps they have flat planing surfaces and inflatable tops, as did IIRC one of the Japanese floatplane fighters?  That way they could lay flat against the bottom of the wing?  However, they do appear far too small for the size and probable weight of the aircaft.

[Go4fun]

I can see the conventional gear doors between the two float gear doors on the wing in the bottom shot.
And I'm not even a prop job maniac!

[raafif]

I think the "floats" can easily be modded into snow-skis.  The fins look a bit too big but trim them down a tad & the airplane could be a  TBM replacement for Alaska, Finland or Lend-Lease to Russia.

Certainly be cheaper to start with an Avenger, graft on a Sturmovik canopy + whiffy bits.

[Weaver]

The floats are far too small, and the "tail float" wouldn't work at all.

The problem with retracting decent-sized floats on a single-engined type is that the front end of the float(s) usually sit forward of the prop. The best way to build a retractable-float fighter would be to have a long-nosed twin engined layout (like a Tigercat), then retract a big single float into the fuselage, outrigger floats into the tips, and wheeled u/c into the engine nacelles.

[Old Wombat]

I like the general design, it's a nice looking aircraft, but I wouldn't waste time trying to make it a jack-of-all-types/master-of-none re: landing gear.

Best option: make up to 3 variants
1) standard tail-dragger wheeled u/c
2) twin (larger) wing-mount floats, or
3) single large central float with 2 out-rigger wing-tip (folding?) floats.

Oh, & a twin-tail actually decreases your arc-of-fire, so I'd do a single fin (but it still looks good as is).

My tu'penny-ha'penny.



Guy