Mapleflt wrote:Great discussion, so here's the question.
Can a 140 with the "right" tweeks be morphed into a reasonable two seat puddle jumper. Not a "pack yer canoe" we're going for a full on fishing excursion, just a simple sunny Sunday hop from lake to lake for some splash and goes ?

So long as DA isn't too high, I don't see any reason why not. A 140 isn't the most common float plane, but they're hardly unknown. With a O-200 or a O-235 and a flat prop, I think they'd do better than most would suspect.

On wheels, I knew a guy who flew a O-235 powered 140 at a couple, or a couple-of-a-couple hundred pounds over gross, routinely, at high DA...like 9.5k DA at take-off, with another five thousand feet to climb in order to clear terrain.

While there are things that any given airplane simply cannot do, there are probably more things that any given pilot simply cannot do, but the airplane can...

FWIW noted author Bud Helmericks ("Last of the Bush Pilots", etc etc) took his first trip to Alaska in a brand new C140 on straight floats.
So they must work OK.

Then Helmericks upgraded to a C-170 with factory engine and got around ok. Today (or two days ago in my case) ask a former or current C-170 owner about performance on skis or floats with 145 hp. There was one plane here that I never saw make a successful takeoff on floats. The conversation from a couple of days ago then noted the marginal performance on EDO 2000's with a 180 and CS prop in the Brooks Range. Larger floats were a suggestion. When does it end?

Point being it depends on your perspective and experience. I think a C-140 would do just fine with the right load engine/prop and pilot onboard.

Gary

I agree fully Gary, it’s all about expatations and aligning them with skills and equipment. I run my 170 on floats all Summer, operate as required and dictated by the conditions at the time and have never been let down. The 170 as equipped, 0-300 and all serves my needs for 90% of the time and as others much wiser then I have said either rent or buy a ticket for the other 10%.

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Can anyone within the BCP community point me in the direction of what constitutes a float kit for a 140. I have a friend that’s serious considering a 140 and float flying is his end game

Mapleflt wrote:Can anyone within the BCP community point me in the direction of what constitutes a float kit for a 140. I have a friend that’s serious considering a 140 and float flying is his end game

I'd check the 120/140 association.

Will do, thanks Hammer

Hi Mapleflt. I just sent a pdf of the 120/140 parts manual to Zane to include in the knowledge base, should show up in a few days if not sooner. Kemore Air Harbor has pdf's of the float installations on their parts section under Edo, you want the 1650 floats with the 1948 installation because the 1947 installation does not use spreader bars. Hope this helps.


Tim

ps: Textron (Cessna) has the parts manuals available as pdf's for free, you just have to log in.

Once again the BCP community comes thru with flying colours, thanks to all

Bryce
Mapleflt

https://backcountrypilot.org/knowledge-base/aircraft/196-cessna-120-140

Anyone who'd like to contribute by adding to this skeleton stub, just PM or email me.

Bat443, I went looking for the 140A IPC too and found them on the Textron site, so I posted both.

Nice documentation. I always wanted one after a ride in a 140A long time ago. Hmmmmm.

Gary

.

look here...

on instagram: @cessnateur
"From a video called "Arctic Flying with Bud Helmericks" available on YouTube via David Quam, we can see how water (in its liquid state) isn't entirely necessary for floatplane operations......"

https://www.instagram.com/p/BuG2y9RnWjy/

The video shows a 140 on floats skating about on a frozen lake.

140eagles wrote:look here...

"From a video called "Arctic Flying with Bud Helmericks" available on YouTube via David Quam, we can see how water (in its liquid state) isn't entirely necessary for floatplane operations......"

The video shows a 140 on floats skating about on a frozen lake.

Let's just go right to the source:

https://youtu.be/pH1rd6SQ8FI?t=972

A bit of trivia: all of Bud Helmerick's airplanes were named the "Artic Tern" --
a C140, then a C170B, and finally a C180.
(this was before the factory-built airplane of the same name)