[brinesharks]

Originally Posted by Joe Perkel

Bryan,

Yes, I intend to build that, I do have the drawing for it. But, I am suspecting it will be used more for nostalgia, and photo ops.

I envision use for the Baby to be somewhat limited, and well planned. For one thing, the original had a 2.25 hour endurance, this with a reserve tank behind the pilot. I don't quite yet know what I will do about the main fuel tank, if it ends up a bit larger or what? A long way from there. Still, I can see a limited range developing.

So Florida has 3 public use seaplane bases with fuel available. One is Jack Brown's seaplane base which shares space with the Lakeland airport, an hours drive from my assembly site.

So this means, I have to buy or rent a hangar at that airport, and then dolly the plane to the ramp at the seaplane base. The dolly, likely being a modern version with a hitch for my car, or tractor tug.

Now, I can fly to various lakes in central Florida within range of Lakeland, with many having soft white sand beaches and or grassy shores,... "Now where did I leave that dolly"?,.."Oh yes, back at the airport"!

So you see, I'm quite limited as to where I can go with this aircraft but, that's OK. Anything further, like say Key West, would require well planned fuel stops with waiting handlers at each location. Not your typical cross country bird, but well worth it I would think!

Can I tempt you with a nice pretty Nieuport!

Good to see you working out your missions profile

Using a tug is a good idea. Having to have four or five strong people to get you in and out of the water is a challenge. A 2.25 hr endurance isn't bad - I think you will find it surprisingly fatiguing flying something like this. No shelter from the wind or noise. It will be exciting and nostalgic but not particularly comfortable. My posterior wouldn't take more than 2 hours on a wooden seat either!

Although the Nieuport (3?) float plane is very pretty - Australia is not really the place for a specialised float plane. Lots of beautiful places to fly but next to no infrastructure. I'll have to stick to the Avions de chasse, Nieuport type 17 with wheels.

I'm hoping to fly to some of the fly-ins and air shows around the country. A real bonus will be those days when the air is calm and the sun is sitting on the horizon. A dawn or dusk patrol is something that I'm really looking forward to - particularly if I can manage to chase around Sheppo's Albatros!
Overall though I don't expect to do more than 50 hours or so a year in it.