houndog

Thanks Mick, The floats are simply a mid density polystyrene block, shaped then glassed with woven cloth and epoxy resin. The main advantage of this design is if they spring a leak they won’t fill up with water and sink. It’s a well tried and proven method dating back to the early 1970’s when Cec was the first who designed and made Ultralight floats using this method. Carbon fibre would be lighter if you wanted to go that way. Rob

Hi There Hargreaves, Yes pretty much all Kestrels have the 503. The floats are simply a mid density polystyrene block, shaped then glassed with woven cloth and epoxy resin. The main advantage of this design is if they spring a leak they won’t fill up with water and sink. It’s a well tried and proven method dating back to the early 1970’s when Cec was the first who designed and made Ultralight floats using this method. Thanks for posting the link for the float performance video Howe. Rob

Cec Lea (Designer) built a Kestrel with folding wings (Swing Wing variant of the Kestrel) but only one was ever made. There was a small time saving when rigging the thing, but it was a bit more cumbersome and heavier when moving it in and out of the trailer at the strip, and when doing maintenance at home. Photos of my Trailerable Kestrel at Woody Point in June

Do you have a Marine Park permit?

Unfortunately having a loud warning device might only encourage a repeat of this selfish behaviour. What are you going to say after you have just killed two people? "They should have heard my siren !!! "

About 10/15 minutes Ok so the whole plane has to be raised and lowered to fit the wheels or floats. I am allergic to lifting heavy weights, so if you have a look at the start of the video ie. when rigging, you will see a lightweight frame with two automotive scissor jacks under the front wheel springs. I have another scissor jack attached to an outdoor speaker tripod supporting the tail wheel. I use a battery drill on the jacks to quickly raise or lower the plane to a suitable height to fit the wheels or the floats. The two front axels then simply slide into the wheels or float mounts and are secured with the axle nuts and two safe pins. The rear float frame attaches under the seat bar, (two pins ) and the floats slide on to the tubular ends of the rear float frame. (Two linch pins.)

Thanks "rollerball", the float bow shape is high lift and has shown no tendency to dip under the surface. There is a small amount of wash over the top of the float at low speed when you first apply power but that's all. In fact I find float flying the most relaxing, you are constantly flying above a nice big blue airstrip with no stumps, ant hills, fences etc. to worry about if the noise up front should suddenly stop.

No cabin heating I'm afraid "Howe", only cabin lighting.

Well we can all thank Cecil Lea for coming up with his designs all those years ago, he is into his nineties now, still sharp as a tack, still designing and making all sorts of great things. I know what you mean by "little" but this variant is the "Maxi" which is the Kestrel equivalent of flying "Business Class" ie. more legroom, more headroom, more toe room (will accommodate a size18 shoe) Sheep Skin seating, overhead instruments and the fuel tank gets a window seat!!

Hi Mark, long time no see, would be good to catch up again sometime, thanks for the compliment, for sure I will have a go at some more videos.

A long time ultralight enthusiast (since 1981) who is still enjoying the versatility that operating from a trailer brings. A Lea "Maxi Kestrel" flyer, some days operating off wheels mainly from Caboolture. Other days I can be found lurking around boat ramps prior to taking off on floats in and around Moreton Bay. My Video of some local flying at Beachmere last month pretty much tells where I am at. Apologies for some hastily made cam mounts that caused the cam to vibrate. Robbo.