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an idea
"The problem with the foams, (aside from any weight gain), is interior inspection, and getting the stuff back out again for maintenance. Johns idea regarding the ping pong balls if not so expensive, would have been a relative snap to get out."
Thats a fair comment,the accessability of the float is achieved by inspection ports I assume? How large are they?
If inspection was performed by removing the top panel either as a whole piece or in sections could the foam be applied to the inside of the float inside a heavy duty plastic liner and still allow for its removal? If the foam is the buoyancy do you need to worry about waterproof barriers?
The issue with ping pong balls is that a badly split float could scatter the balls far and wide thus negating any flotation assistance in exactly the circumstances you want it. Even adding the balls inside a bag or in each seperate compartment would not be a sure fix.
The foam would survive taxiing impacts in a largely intact manner, only a serious prang would cause it major issues.
Inspection is a different story.
There is the ability to cut cavities in the foam to allow an inspection camera to be used inside the float. Cast the foam insitu using a bag. Remove the bag and foam from the open float, cut out channels where required and reinstall the foam un bagged. Fix the top down as per usual. If you are cunning about the cavities positioning you can have a dry compartment area below the inspection ports with access holes running where you want them. This way you could well still have 75% of the foam acting as guaranteed buoyancy and sufficient access for regular inspection.
chris
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