Floaty Planes?

[Spellbinder99]

One of my favourite things is float adapted conversions of landplanes as per the Spitfire floatplane I am currently doing and the Zero floatplane. I realise over the years that various WIF conversions have been mooted here but I was wondering whether anyone has a list of aircraft that actually were converted or came as close as a paper project?

Off the top of my head I have:
Spitfire (Mk1, MkV and MkIX)
Zero
Wildcat (Wildcatfish)
C-47
An-2
Tigermoth
Me-109W
Otter
Twotter
Beaver
P-38

Any thoughts?

BTW, the Spitfire I am doing is using the Eastern Express floats and tail parts, Hobbyboss Vb Trop kit, Italeri belly tank, Heller Mk16 prop, Red Roo Vc oil cooler and cannon bump set (converting the Hobbyboss from Vb to Vc) and Airfix Vc cannons and canopy.......all going quite well so far, the basic HB kit being very nicely shaped but with HORRIBLE canopies.

Cheers

Tony

[puddingwrestler]

There are already about three proposals along these lines which have been merged into one giant uber GB thing. And I have no idea what the combined uber GB is called...

[Spellbinder99]

Cheers guys, I was just generally interested in actual projects and proposals but WIFs work as well. I have wiffed my floatplane by the Vc conversion from the Vb actual plane, but I was thinking that a bubble canopy version would work as well.

Cheers

Tony

[Riksbar]

This is the C-130 mentioned at the start of the thread.

[jcf]

In response to a USN request Grumman and EDO Corporation studied the mounting of a pair of 29 ft floats on the F6F-3.
Wind tunnel tests were conducted with a 1/16th scale model, however the availability of escort carriers and the speed
with which the Seabees could prepare a landing strip made the project moot.

The TBD Devastator was tested as a floatplane, ditto the Vought SB2U and Curtis SB2C.

Fairchild (Canada) Bolingbroke III (Bristol Blenheim) (c/n 717) was completed on floats.

FIAT I.C.R. 42 float version of the C.R.42; I = Idro(water)

Float gear for aircraft like the Tigermoth was a very common option during the 20s & 30s, many other DH aircraft along with those from
Waco, Stearman, Beech, Bellanca, Fairchild, Ryan, Junkers, Fairey, Blackburn etc. were all convertible to floats.

The Me 109W is completely fictional.

Jon

[kitnut617]

Fairchild (Canada) Bolingbroke III (Bristol Blenheim) (c/n 717) was completed on floats.

Jon

And tested:

[PanzerWulff]

Don't forget that North American planned a floatplane version of the OV-10 Bronco



"Panzer"

[Mossie]

There was a floatplane version of the GAF N22 Nomad, don't think it went into production.  I think somebodys done a kit of the Nomad, although it'll be resin.  There's two pics of it on this site, one with fixed undercarriage attached to the floats:
http://www.aeroplaneart.com.au/JSJ_Nomad_Gallery.htm

Curtiss did a number of floatplanes, you'll find most of them on Aviastar:
http://www.aviastar.org/air/usa/a_curtiss.html

Beriev too:
http://www.aviastar.org/air/russia/a_beriev.html

It's worth browsing through Aviastar, it has a comprehnsive list of manufacturers & aircraft.  Click on the country, then the manufacturer & you'll get a load of thumbnails of aircraft & it's easy to pick out the floatplanes.
http://www.aviastar.org/index2.html

I built this float equipped P-40 to fit in between the SO3C & the SC:

[sequoiaranger]

>In response to a USN request Grumman and EDO Corporation studied the mounting of a pair of 29 ft floats on the F6F-3.<

Never knew they tried. 

I have had in mind a whif combining the Grumman J2F Duck undersides with an F6F (Grumman "Gander"). The backstory is that in the late 30's the USN wanted to make a better two-seat floatplane recon-bomber for the Pacific and realized that the Duck was underpowered for such a thing, so re-designed it. In my world, the aircraft became a hit with the Philippines garrison (I will do mine in Philippine diamond-with-wings insignia) as the war in the Pacific started. Stuck with the F4F for carriers at the beginning of the war, and not yet having the Bearcat, Grumman takes short cuts for an "emergency interim" fighter and re-configures the Gander into the now-famous Hellcat.

Modelwise, it will be a fairly simple hack-job to put the nearly-the-same-size Duck undersides and outrigger floats onto the bottom of a Hellcat airframe. The area behind the cockpit of the "Gander" will have to be re-worked to make it a believable two-seater, but I think I will like the results.

[upnorth]

I remember a very nicely retouched photo I saw in a book about the RCAF years ago. A CF-101 Voodoo on floats!

It was so cool and well done, and manually, pre photoshop!

I've tried everywhere on the net to find it and just can't seem to locate it.

[Daryl J.]

Fokker D.VII all the way!   
,
Daryl J., about ready to take the kids trick or treating

[devil505]

I tried the floatplane idea myself on a few projects that have already been named but my favorite, and the one not noted already, was a F7F Tigercat.

[elmayerle]

It seems to me that a floatplane version of a F4U Corsair would be a natural.  I've got the Corsair, back in Texas, just need suitable floats now.

[Radish]

After the Blenheim, what about the Beaufighter or Mosquito?

The Ju-52 had floats.
Why not a He-111?

Can you imagine a B-17 with floats?

[deathjester]

Two ideas grab me about the C-130 pic - why not strip the sponsons where the main gear is, and make the floats semi retractable, cut down on drag no end - and how about the floats being replaced by either air dropable fast attack boats, or air dropable unmanned attack submersibles?