Possibly moving from a 180 on straight floats to a 206 on amphibs

Wip 3450, Wip 3730, EDO 3500 are what I see mostly, in a 206 amphib search.

User reviews and comparisons requested.

Thanks!

5 years ago I fell into a bargain deal on Aerocet amphibs. Wow! Won the lottery. I thought they were my second choice. Thought I wanted Wips. Now I’d never trade.

Add Aerocet 3400s to your list of options.

Very similar in shape to Edo 3500. They are are good choice also. Very inexpensive, and if you search long enough you’ll find a clean straight set. Look for a set with the upgraded nose oleos and nose wheel forks to reduce shimmy.

My priorities would be, in order:

1. Aerocets
2. Wip 3450
3. EDO 3500

I would not even consider the Wip 3730 floats, frankly. They are monstrous floats...too big, which is why Wip went to the 3450 float. The 3730s don't have the best gear mechanism, in my opinion. Also, stay away from the early PeeKay amphibious 3500s. The EARLY PeeKays are terrible performers....but they're cheap. The later PeeKays (Cs and Ds) are much better performers and they have pretty much bomb proof gear.

The EDO 3500s are all pretty old. I believe that Kenmore still supports them, bring a fat checkbook.

That said, as noted above, the Aerocets are great performers. And, they probably have best gear system as far as routine and recurring maintenance goes.

The Wip 3450s are great floats, though, as well.

Both of those are going to cost you some serious $$$.

MTV

Great stuff, thank you.

Follow question: It looks like the Wip 3450’s are the only ones that have a 4 point mounting arrangement. Intuitively, this seems stronger than the the two front struts mounting at the nose gear attach point.

In actuality, is this significant?

Thanks again

I have been running the 3450As. Handle rough water well. Any rub / bump on a dock is a dent.

aqua wrote:Great stuff, thank you.

Follow question: It looks like the Wip 3450’s are the only ones that have a 4 point mounting arrangement. Intuitively, this seems stronger than the the two front struts mounting at the nose gear attach point.

In actuality, is this significant?

Thanks again

Yes, it is significant. Other floats use the nose gear attach point for the front strut attach. The Wip conversion adds some large diagonal stiffeners to the firewall. The bottoms of those are the front strut attachments. The combination of this mod and the IO 550 engine allow gross weight to increase to 3800. That’s HUGE on amphibs.

Consider the difference in geometry of the Wip attachments vs the older style. There’s no doubt in my mind the Wip rigging is significantly stronger. And, yes I’ve seen the front attachment fail on one of the old style.

MTV