Konrad
Very Strong User
Ugly as sin, but a joy to fly!
This plane handles on the water great. She gets on step real easily. And unlike a float plane the boat hull handles cross wind fine. Do set up your ailerons for a bit of differential (servo arms pointed forward a bit less than 15°). I also set a bit of aileron rudder mix (less than 8%). The air rudder is real strong! The high thrust line wasn't a problem doing aerobatics.
I set mine up as a 4cell ship with a 1350 mAh battery, a low 980 Kv motor and an APC 9x5 prop. This and a 35 amp ESC with switching BEC makes a perfect power system (I use a FrSky, FRESC32 35A ESC). I flew against (with) half a dozen Flyzone Tidewater planes and can say the Aloft T&B Tidewater Seagull set up as I did out flew the Flyzone marketed ones. (Both the Flyzone and T&B Tidewater share the same foam molds). Do try to water proof the elevator servo!
https://alofthobbies.com/emax-xa2212-kv980-brushless-motor.html
I got the Gen Ace battery and FrSky ESC from Aloft but can't find them on their site.
EPO foam* is unsuited for dark colors! My foam "Pop Corned" (aligator skinned) in under 3 minutes in the sun waiting to get on the launch dock (a wooden pallet slowly sinking into the mud). I fly in an area of the county where we have crystal clear sky. In areas with high humidity the haze may slow down the burning of the dark EPO skin. On my next one I'll strip the dark colors off with GOOF OFF and repaint with lighter colors. Also the decals are not water proof.
*EPO foam really is unsuitable as a material for building model aircraft. it is flexible, difficult to repair properly and the OEMs have yet to develope a painting procedure that actually allow a paint to bind to the EPO foam. EPO models should be limited to light colored models, trainer and entry level models where one has a low emotional connection to the model. The Aloft T&B Tidewater Seagull is one such model as it is the perfect tool to introduce oneself to flying off water.
All the best,
Konrad
This plane handles on the water great. She gets on step real easily. And unlike a float plane the boat hull handles cross wind fine. Do set up your ailerons for a bit of differential (servo arms pointed forward a bit less than 15°). I also set a bit of aileron rudder mix (less than 8%). The air rudder is real strong! The high thrust line wasn't a problem doing aerobatics.
I set mine up as a 4cell ship with a 1350 mAh battery, a low 980 Kv motor and an APC 9x5 prop. This and a 35 amp ESC with switching BEC makes a perfect power system (I use a FrSky, FRESC32 35A ESC). I flew against (with) half a dozen Flyzone Tidewater planes and can say the Aloft T&B Tidewater Seagull set up as I did out flew the Flyzone marketed ones. (Both the Flyzone and T&B Tidewater share the same foam molds). Do try to water proof the elevator servo!
https://alofthobbies.com/emax-xa2212-kv980-brushless-motor.html
I got the Gen Ace battery and FrSky ESC from Aloft but can't find them on their site.
EPO foam* is unsuited for dark colors! My foam "Pop Corned" (aligator skinned) in under 3 minutes in the sun waiting to get on the launch dock (a wooden pallet slowly sinking into the mud). I fly in an area of the county where we have crystal clear sky. In areas with high humidity the haze may slow down the burning of the dark EPO skin. On my next one I'll strip the dark colors off with GOOF OFF and repaint with lighter colors. Also the decals are not water proof.
*EPO foam really is unsuitable as a material for building model aircraft. it is flexible, difficult to repair properly and the OEMs have yet to develope a painting procedure that actually allow a paint to bind to the EPO foam. EPO models should be limited to light colored models, trainer and entry level models where one has a low emotional connection to the model. The Aloft T&B Tidewater Seagull is one such model as it is the perfect tool to introduce oneself to flying off water.
All the best,
Konrad
Last edited: