# Grumman Wildcat on floats !!!



## ccheese (Mar 18, 2013)

Didja know ? Grumman decided to put the F4F-3 "Wildcat" on floats, and designated it the F4F-3S, "Wildcatfish".

There was a Spitfire on floats, a Ju-52 and a C-47, a Beech-18 (aka C-45), a Zero and a bf-109 on floats, and a Staggerwing, too.
I suppose, if you have the time, money ard equipment, you could put a P-38 on floats !!

Wonder what else wound up on floats ?????

Charles


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## meatloaf109 (Mar 18, 2013)

That is too cool!


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## Airframes (Mar 18, 2013)

One of the few times sticking whacking great floats on the underside of an aircraft has improved the look! (goes off, whistling tunelessly ....)


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## tyrodtom (Mar 18, 2013)

There was a test version of the P-38 designed for floats, had the tail raised about 16-18 inches to keep it out of the salt spray.
The high tailed version was tested, but floats were never fitted.


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## N4521U (Mar 18, 2013)

Floats only work with Root Beer!!!!!! IMHO.

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## vikingBerserker (Mar 18, 2013)

Always thought what they called it was ingenious!

My favorite is when the Martin B-12 was put on floats:


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## gumbyk (Mar 18, 2013)

This has to be the best float conversion... the XC-47C!


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## ccheese (Mar 18, 2013)

I've always liked the Beech-18 (aka C-45) on floats. Canada is full of them !

Charles


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## nuuumannn (Mar 18, 2013)

I'd love to go to Canada and check out the floatplanes; Beavers, Otters, Twotters...


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## johnbr (Mar 19, 2013)

Great posts.


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## fubar57 (Mar 19, 2013)

Cutting Edge and Just Plane Stuff did a conversion for the 1/48 Tamiya kit years ago though I think they are long out of production. Cutting Edge made the floats and Just Plane Stuff made the non folding wing conversion. Back to work but home tonight.

Geo


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## herman1rg (Mar 19, 2013)

XC-47C Largest floatplane ever? As opposed to a proper seaplane such as the Short Sunderland or Martin Mars


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## Airframes (Mar 19, 2013)

Ju52/3M was also fitted with floats.


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## Aaron Brooks Wolters (Mar 19, 2013)

I liked the Staggerwing with floats. But the XC-47 looks at home with them to.


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## R Pope (Mar 19, 2013)

The C-47 floatplane worked well, but loading it through the cargo doors was very difficult due to the height and the fact that the floats were in the way, so although quite a few float kits were built, only the one was ever so fitted.
The p-38 with the high tail was an attempt to stave off the effects of compressibility, not to enable it to accept floats.


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## gumbyk (Mar 19, 2013)

R Pope said:


> The C-47 floatplane worked well, but loading it through the cargo doors was very difficult due to the height and the fact that the floats were in the way, so although quite a few float kits were built, only the one was ever so fitted.



"Pilots found the C-47C difficult to launch in rough water, and performed like a pogo stick when landing on anything but a mirror smooth body of water. It had a high tire failure on land, and was difficult to handle in a crosswind landing. The C-47C was slow on take-off and JATO bottles did little to improve its performance. It was also about 30 mph slower than its sisters without floats." from: dc3history.org

Actually sounds like it was a bit of a dog.

But, it also looks like there was a DC-3 that was covnverted in the 70's as well.


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## vikingBerserker (Mar 19, 2013)

Today I received in the mail _American Combat Planes of the 20th Century_ by Ray Wagner, and it had a plane on floats I'd never seen before:






The TBD Devastator


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## Wayne Little (Mar 21, 2013)

Cool!


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## norab (Mar 22, 2013)

another odd bird





Helldiver prototype


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## ccheese (Mar 22, 2013)

All good pic's. Like I said, if you have the time, manpower and the funds, you can put (almost) anything on floats.

Charles


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## Wurger (Mar 24, 2013)

And I have found this shot via the net.


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## Wayne Little (Mar 25, 2013)

The helldiver actually looks ok on floats!


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## A_Nonamus (Mar 31, 2013)

R Pope said:


> The C-47 floatplane worked well, but loading it through the cargo doors was very difficult due to the height and the fact that the floats were in the way, so although quite a few float kits were built, only the one was ever so fitted.


You're right about the cargo loading problem (among others), but I've been doing a bit of research on this bird and you'll find a lot of erroneous info out there as well. Besides the XC-47C prototype (which was lost in a crash), there were at least 4 and perhaps as many as 10 other wartime conversions to C-47C configuration, which served in the Pacific/Alaska/Southeast Asia theatre in the air-sea rescue capacity. At least one of the converted planes was restored to standard configuration and still exists (c/n 12528, 42-108868, N45860). The original production order to Edo Corporation was for 150 sets of floats, but it was later amended and only 30 sets were completed. In 1976, Dick Folsom of Folsom's Air Service in Greenville, Maine acquired a surplus set of the floats and began fitting them to his DC-3A/C-53D, c/n 11761, N130Q (ex USAAF 41-68834, Eastern Airlines NC86562, and N20W). Eventually awarded its experimental type certificate in 1990, the aircraft remained in service for 14 years on the floats, being described as "a pig" to fly. In 2004, the floats were removed prior to the plane being put up for sale. Those floats probably still exist, and might be available for the right price. The rest of the floats were most likely scrapped long ago.

I'd like to see someone put those floats on a Basler BT-67 turbine DC-3 conversion. I'll bet the performance would be much improved over the piston-engined originals.

One thing I haven't been able to locate, is an accurate set of specifications for the XC-47C: Height (on wheels, and on water when empty), empty weight, cruise and maximum level flight speeds, etc. Can anyone help me with that?


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Mar 31, 2013)

nuuumannn said:


> I'd love to go to Canada and check out the floatplanes; Beavers, Otters, Twotters...



Go to Alaska.

The largest float plane base in the world is at Lake Hood in Anchorage, Alaska. I spent half a day walking around the whole thing just taking pictures. Approx. 200 flights per day take off from it. Everything from Piper Cubs with floats, to Otters, Beavers, you name it.

Lake Hood Seaplane Base has 791 aircraft permanently based at it. 

Lake Hood Seaplane Base - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## A_Nonamus (Apr 1, 2013)

Wurger said:


> And I have found this shot via the net. (image of JU-52 with floats, in flight)


Does anyone have any specifications on that plane, or specifically the floats? Several sources claim the XC-47C / Edo Type 78 floats as being the largest ever made, but those look to be very close, possibly larger.


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## Gastounet (Apr 2, 2013)

Another one on floats


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## J dog (Apr 2, 2013)

gotta love stickin on a pair of floats on the underside of an aircraft! somehow improves the looks to make it even more beautiful!


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## Airframes (Apr 2, 2013)

Better stick two pairs on the Wil ... that thing, then !


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## R Pope (Apr 3, 2013)

A. Nonamus...The info I have on the float Goonie was referring to the war years. The book was published in 1946, so whatever happened after that is not mentioned. The military never did any more conversions at the time, apparently.


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## Wurger (Apr 14, 2013)

An addition to the Gumbyk's post...


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## prem895 (May 15, 2013)

I caught the twatr reference 



nuuumannn said:


> I'd love to go to Canada and check out the floatplanes; Beavers, Otters, Twotters...


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## Grampa (May 23, 2013)

Here's a SAAB S 17. A converted bomber to seaplane.


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## vikingBerserker (May 23, 2013)

That looks pretty nice!


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## prem895 (May 23, 2013)

I love the float plane Ar196


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## prem895 (May 23, 2013)

and the stringbag


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## norab (May 24, 2013)




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## Wurger (May 26, 2013)




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## vikingBerserker (Nov 26, 2013)

A Farman NC.470


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## vikingBerserker (Dec 14, 2013)

One that I really like, the Blenheim on floats


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## Njaco (Dec 14, 2013)

prem895 said:


> I love the float plane Ar196







.


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## otftch (Dec 14, 2013)

There also was an F6F Hellcat on floats. I'll see if I can find the photo.
Ed


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## vikingBerserker (Dec 14, 2013)

otftch said:


> There also was an F6F Hellcat on floats. I'll see if I can find the photo.
> Ed



Now that I would like to see!


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## prem895 (Dec 15, 2013)

otftch said:


> There also was an F6F Hellcat on floats. I'll see if I can find the photo.
> Ed



Me too


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## Gnomey (Dec 15, 2013)

Yep, that would be good to see.


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## Capt. Vick (Dec 15, 2013)

I also would like to see that...


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## fubar57 (Dec 15, 2013)

Went through 8 Hellcat books and all I found was this guy really, really wishing he had a Hellcat float plane...






Geo

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## GrauGeist (Dec 16, 2013)

For all you fans of the Spitfire, here's two: A Mk V and a Mk IX


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## otftch (Dec 16, 2013)

I found the photos of the model I converted from the photo but haven't yet found the photo. Will keep looking.
Ed


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## ccheese (Dec 16, 2013)

I took a balsa/tissue model of a Mk-I Spitfire and converted it to a Spitfire Mark Vb Floatplane. This was for one of the GB's.

The hardest part of the whole build was making the four-bladed prop !

Charles

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## Capt. Vick (Dec 16, 2013)

And it actually floats! Brilliant!


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## ccheese (Dec 17, 2013)

Capt. Vick said:


> And it actually floats! Brilliant!



Really scoots across the pool with 150 turns on the prop !

Charles


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## vikingBerserker (Dec 17, 2013)

Very cool!


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## Gnomey (Dec 19, 2013)

Very cool Charles!


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## johnbr (Aug 5, 2019)




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## vikingBerserker (Aug 5, 2019)

Very cool!


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## Capt. Vick (Aug 6, 2019)

CANT Z.511 

Considerably bigger than the C-47 float plane.


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## Wurger (Aug 6, 2019)




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