single-float plane, or flying boat? was : twin-hull flying boat or float plane

[Dizzyfugu]

Looks like a Schneider Cup entry.  Seems to ooze speed.   

Or as it had been designed for Hayao Miyazakai's "Porco Rosso" anime movie? Beautiful! 

[ericr]

Thanks ericr, you have enriched the P-38 Lightning family by several new versions (4 up to now, maybe more in the future)
see at the end of http://www.kristofmeunier.fr/index.htm

ah, it is a real pleasure ! 

the P38s look great with such floats with fins!

[ericr]

Looks like a Schneider Cup entry.  Seems to ooze speed.   

Or as it had been designed for Hayao Miyazakai's "Porco Rosso" anime movie? Beautiful! 

thanks a lot for your appreciation!

Porco Rosso is definitely a fundamental inspiration for me : seapleanes forever!

[ericr]

just to show how wildly kit-bashed it was : here are some of the sources :

floats came from two Cams37 hulls :



and



wings are taken from the Condor wheeled version underwings :



and the fuselage from the back part of a NiD-72 :



and the engine I can't be sure, but it might be an optional one from Mach2's Mariner?



the propeller and horizontal stabilizer I really can't remember ...

[PR19_Kit]

What are you going to do with all the left-over bits ericr???

[ericr]

What are you going to do with all the left-over bits ericr???

each of the seaplanes was built quite straight out of the box (but I didn't use any of the decals : I apply monochrome red yellow or blue).

It is the remainders of all those that grouped up into a neo-Levasseur PL-201, just by magic !

[ericr]

What are you going to do with all the left-over bits ericr???

or actually, the question might be : what is the definition of a kit bash ?

(I am not a native english-speaker, and not familiar with what-if vocabulary, since I joined only recently this site, although doing imaginary things for years)

If it means : purposefully acquiring kits in order to (mis-)use them in a way that mixes their parts, then I didn't do it here, since I actually worked the other way round.
Having finished the kits, and feeling like trying to do a PL201, I looked in the spare parts box, and found what I found.
Or more precisely : seeing the PL201 picture, I remembered that I had these two Cams37 hulls, of which I thought it would be a pity not to use them ...

And I do have still quite a few spare bits of interest, like the hull of a Be-6, the hull of a S_38, ...

wait and see.

[ericr]

another questionable classification : is it a single-float plane, or a flying boat?

There could be a back story for this one : the French had a flying boats airbase in Viet-Nam/Indochina where they flew CAMS 37s, and later they used Gearcats in that part of the world, so they might have float-planized a Bearcat using the hull of of a Cams? at least in their dreams? or at least in mine  

And more than this : it became a biplane by adopting and adapting a pair of SOC Seamew wings. But for the presence of these in a French airbase there is no plausible explanation.

[PR19_Kit]

Who needs a plausible explanation? Just DO it. 

[Tophe]

Wonderful! This is the most pleasant Bearcat I have ever seen! (and my late uncle Raymond piloted Bearcats in Indochina)
Concerning classification, I would classify it as flying boat because the marine part has the tail as part of itself. While... as the upper part/fuselage holds the tail also directly, I would say this is a twin-fuselage flying-boat, or 1-fuselage + 1-hull, my mind is aching... May I include a copy (with a link towards here) in my collection of twin-fuselage aircraft?

[zenrat]

another questionable classification : is it a single-float plane, or a flying boat?

Neither.  It's an amphibian...



Love your work Eric.

[Tophe]

another questionable classification : is it a single-float plane, or a flying boat?

Neither.  It's an amphibian...



Love your work Eric.

Amphibian float-plane or amphibian flying-boat?, that was the question. No? Does this sound impossible in English language?

[ericr]

thank you all ! it's a pleasure to give you pleasure  

the Bearcat wings are a good basis for amphibianship indeed

I did think about struts, but I considered that these modern wongs were strong enough to avoid them, hence a more modern lokk, kind of, and also I remembered that there had existed some biplanes without struts, and even, for that matter, a triplane, and quite famous at that (apparently they were added affter the pressure of pilots who wanted struts for their re-assurance)

[zenrat]

another questionable classification : is it a single-float plane, or a flying boat?

Neither.  It's an amphibian...



Love your work Eric.

Amphibian float-plane or amphibian flying-boat?, that was the question. No? Does this sound impossible in English language?

Just an amphibian aircraft.  
Sometimes I think we worry too much about categorising and labelling.

[ericr]

another questionable classification : is it a single-float plane, or a flying boat?

Neither.  It's an amphibian...



Love your work Eric.

Amphibian float-plane or amphibian flying-boat?, that was the question. No? Does this sound impossible in English language?

Just an amphibian aircraft.  
Sometimes I think we worry too much about categorising and labelling.

I like to consider them, from a specific angle : crossing them 

thank for your appreciation zenrat : i am particularly impressed by your works as well.
And as I sometimes say : if anyone with finer skills than mine wants to make a variant of some of my proposals, I am happy in advance.