Floatplane F-6f Or Firefly?

[Lawman]

Following the example of the Nakajima A-6M2-N, basically a floatplane version of the Zero fighter, what if the allies had copied the idea? A big radial engined fighter floatplane could have been very useful, for scouting in particular. In addition, if you designed the floats to be jettisonable, and carry normal landing gear for carrier landings. If the scout plane encounters enemy fighters, it could run for the nearest carrier, but having dropped the floats, it can at least turn with them!

The Hellcat might make a good floatplane, especially for the larger battleships!

[GTX]

Like the idea - maybe a Corsair would be another possible.

Of course the Brits went with this:



See here for more.

Regards,

Greg

[Glenn Gilbertson]

What a magnificent "Monsoon"! Excellent modelling.

[Captain Canada]

Of course the Brits went with this:

Holy Fleurking Schnitt ! Where did that come from ! Man, that is one wicked looking bird...and so well done !

 

As for the original post, I'd love to see either as a floatplane, but more so the Firefly.

 

[MAD]

An interesting concept with the Monsoon.
Although not a perfect performer, with its drag-producing floats, this could have given the likes of the RAAF & RNZAF the ability to base fighter-bombers around the Pacific, in place of lost airfields.
After all the Japanese found these float-plane fighters useful, even though not ideal.
Better to have something rather than nothing I suppose!

M.A.D

[Dork the kit slayer]

             

[Archibald]

Floatplane Skyraider !!!!!      

[Lawman]

Actually, a floatplane Skyraider could have made a great SAR aircraft for Vietnam, where a lot of pilots ended up going down in the coastal waters. A Skyraider could have flown in, swooped down and landed, picked up the survivors, and fly back out again. With the massive armament carried by the Skyraider, they could have carried the cannon and rockets, and also a minigun or two, all to keep away the marauding fishermen there to capture them.

Best of all is that some versions of the Skyraider had plenty of space to fit rescued crewmembers, so it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to use for SAR!

[Archibald]

Actually, a floatplane Skyraider could have made a great SAR aircraft for Vietnam, where a lot of pilots ended up going down in the coastal waters. A Skyraider could have flown in, swooped down and landed, picked up the survivors, and fly back out again. With the massive armament carried by the Skyraider, they could have carried the cannon and rockets, and also a minigun or two, all to keep away the marauding fishermen there to capture them.

Best of all is that some versions of the Skyraider had plenty of space to fit rescued crewmembers, so it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to use for SAR!

I have one Skyraider left, but no floats (and B-29's R-3350. Would this fit into a Skyraider ? or maybe a double R-3350 with 6000 hp   )
Hmm now I'm tempted to build it, but I would need floats to do it...  
Would USN livery (or at least, markings) be adapted to such machine ?   )

I've just checked DH Beaver and Skyraider dimensions. The Skyraider is 2 m longer, they have the same span, but weight are rather differents to say the least (2 tons for the Beaver, 5 to  11 tons for the Skyraider). Don't know if this important for modelling topics...  

[famvburg]

Actually, a floatplane Skyraider could have made a great SAR aircraft for Vietnam, where a lot of pilots ended up going down in the coastal waters. A Skyraider could have flown in, swooped down and landed, picked up the survivors, and fly back out again. With the massive armament carried by the Skyraider, they could have carried the cannon and rockets, and also a minigun or two, all to keep away the marauding fishermen there to capture them.

Best of all is that some versions of the Skyraider had plenty of space to fit rescued crewmembers, so it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to use for SAR!

I have one Skyraider left, but no floats (and B-29's R-3350. Would this fit into a Skyraider ? or maybe a double R-3350 with 6000 hp   )
Hmm now I'm tempted to build it, but I would need floats to do it...  
Would USN livery (or at least, markings) be adapted to such machine ?   )

I've just checked DH Beaver and Skyraider dimensions. The Skyraider is 2 m longer, they have the same span, but weight are rather differents to say the least (2 tons for the Beaver, 5 to  11 tons for the Skyraider). Don't know if this important for modelling topics...

       I'd think you'd need Twin Otter floats at the least, or maybe even Ju 52 floats for the Skyraider. Why bother with downgrading it with a B-29 engine? The one used in the Skyraider had way more power than the B-29's. I'me currently working on an 'AD-8' , with an R-4360, by extending the cowling & using a B-50 prop.  

[Archibald]

I've finally decided that it would be another T-56 Skyraider    4900 hp sounds enough, and floats would coolness to the design...  

Got another idea... while building my Skyraider I've noticed a kind of "door" between the wings and below the fuselage. This Skyraider on floats will be a SAR machine. I could use this door as a compartement for the lost pilots picked up in the water... then I could dig two windows (instead of the airbrakes) on the side of the fuselage... a three-seat Skyraider!    

Hmmm R-4360 Skyraider sounds like Martin AM-1 Mauler for me    Cool idea!

We are currently building a whole lineage of Spads... R-3350, R-4360, Skyshark (= XT-38) then my T-56 machine...  

[kitnut617]

I've finally decided that it would be another T-56 Skyraider    4900 hp sounds enough, and floats would coolness to the design... 

Got another idea... while building my Skyraider I've noticed a kind of "door" between the wings and below the fuselage. This Skyraider on floats will be a SAR machine. I could use this door as a compartement for the lost pilots picked up in the water... then I could dig two windows (instead of the airbrakes) on the side of the fuselage... a three-seat Skyraider!   

Hmmm R-4360 Skyraider sounds like Martin AM-1 Mauler for me    Cool idea!

We are currently building a whole lineage of Spads... R-3350, R-4360, Skyshark (= XT-38) then my T-56 machine...

Hi Archie,

Sizing the correct floats for your project should be considered, the all up weight of a Spad is about 18,000 lbs (bomber version) and water weighs approx' 62.5 lbs a cubic foot, you would need floats that can displace 288 cubic feet ( that would be the part of the float that's in the water, not the whole float)

I've a few floatplane projects in progress, my DHC-8 SAR for one and a Bristol Bolingbroke (a Canadian experiment during WW.II) and couldn't help but notice just how big the two floats are for the Bolingbroke, which has a lesser all up weight than the Spad.



Incidently, the Twin Otter floats are half the size of these on the Bolingbroke, it was one of the things I tried for my project when trying to source some floats.  I ended up modifying some 1/48 Beaver floats for my 1/72 Bolingbroke (Canadian Blenheim Mk.IV) which coincidently had the right profile when compared to a 1/72 scale 3-view drawing I have, but are 20mm to long, 10mm each side of the step was removed and I had an almost match.

I don't see why there couldn't be a Hellcat floatplane, there was a Wildcat floatplane:

http://www.hannants.co.uk/search/?FULL=RVHP7237

Robert

Edit:   And not to pour water over anyones Cornflakes,  the all up weight of a Bolingbroke/Blenheim is 14.400 lbs and the all up weight of a Typhoon is ----- 14,000 lbs

[Archibald]

Wow, a Blenheim (at least, its canadian iteration) on floats!!    Never heard of this one before!
Considering the limited number of aircrafts models having floats, and the huge weight of a Skyraider, I think Scalo-ra-med floats (1/48) are de rigueur...

First (and probably last!) time that I'll bought 1/48 scale model    

[kitnut617]

First (and probably last!) time that I'll bought 1/48 scale model  

ditto!!  I don't usually buy 1/48th either but I couldn't find any 1/72 scale floats big enough.  Even Aeroclub's vac sheet of floats didn't have the right sizes.

[Archibald]

You know what we french say "il n'y a que les imbéciles qui ne changent pas d'avis" (= only idiots never change their minds )

So a reasonable choice would be 1/48 scale Beaver floats ? Is there others aircrafts which have floats close in size from a Beaver ?