Lotus Floats
Has anyone had any experience with these floats on an LSA catagory plane? I see them for sell occasionally for what I feel is a reasonable price. Curious how they perform and their reliability. I would think that since they are flexible they would work great in some of the lakes around here that are rock lined along the shore.
I guess I am thinking ahead of the game since the plane is not yet finished but since I only have experience on aluminum floats and always worried when I got close to rocks I figured I would research the Lotus Floats.
Thanks,
WW

I know a guy with them on his Avid in AK he flies off swamps ice snow water you name it. Think they are lighter too.

There is a guy on here (akavidflyer) who has a few videos showing how effective they can be.

That's him I shot him a message about this thread but he's up on the North Slope right now sure he will respond when he gets time.

I have flown them on an avid, kitfox , pa-12 and a pacer. If your into flying off swamps, grass, log infested rivers and nasty beaches then you can't beat the full lotus floats. I stuffed a pacer in after an engine failure on take off and I would not be here to type this if I didn't have 16 airbags under me when I hit the ground at a very obtuse angle.

What plane are u thinking of putting them on?

Here's a gent who stuck them on a Murphy Rebel, which is around a 1600-1700 lb gross if I recall.

avidflyer,
I am inquiring about them for putting on a Rans S7.

get the 1450s for the S7!

I found a set of 1260 amphibs with S7 rigging for a good price and am wondering if they are a little small, the plane is a short tailed S7 with an EW of 668 LBS.

Word is 1260s are simply 1220s with a longer tail section. They were designed for type pusher planes where cg is more aft. A Rans 7 will work ok with 1220s but depending on weight 1450s may be better. They will also work with 1260s but rotation may be comprimised.

My plane is 685lbs E & I went with 1450s but don't have them mounted yet.

Here's a reply I got from Jeff of Lotus Floats

Our FL1260’s do have a longer tail section that is designed for the pusher configuration aircraft, in your case it would be between the FL1220’s or the FL1450’s.

The FL1220’s are designed to carry a gross weight of 1350lbs and weigh 58lbs each

The FL1450’s are designed to carry a gross weight of 1600lbs and weigh 70lbs each

The major difference between the FL1220 and FL1450 is the fact that the front step area in the 1450 is much longer which tends to handle the rough water better, and gives you better take off performance. However with that being said the FL1220’s have been put on many aircrafts with your similar setup and work great.

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Jeffery M. Holomis | President | HOLOMIS International | www.holomis.com | t. 250 260 3714 | f. 250 549 3769

Thanks senior, that is pretty much the info I have been finding out. Most of my research states that the 1450 is a much better float. I am not finding them on the used market though whereas the 1260's seem more common place. I did read a review that said the Murphy 1500's worked very good. Unfortunately getting a set of those is hard. I do have a set of Murphy's 1800 Amphibs but they would be way too big.
WW

Don't park em around where there are bears. Or at least don't leave them unattended.

MTV

Mike,
Funny you say that. I recently left my weed wacker down at the beaver dam after a day of cutting brush. I wasn't done and didn't feel like carrying it home. Came back the next day and a bear had chewed the heck out of the fuel tank!! Not sure what is so appealing to the taste of fuel but they must like it. A few days later my brother had a couple of gas jugs chewed up when he was on Rainy Lake camping. Pesky little buggers!
Keith

If you fly light a lot you could go 1220s.
Resale is good on them if you decided to go 1450s latter & you could keep the rigging!
How much does your plane weigh?
Great thing about lotus is the ability to pull up to rocky shores or gravel beaches with no worry of damage, plus you don't have to take them off in the winter if you only fly a few times.

Empty weight is 668 lbs. I weigh 160+lbs., frequently have a passenger that weighs 140lbs., then there is usually the survival gear and other crap normally in the plane also. The reasons you list is one of the reason's I am interested in these floats. I have been into several lakes with my Champ (on PK1500's) that are rock breeding grounds!!! I grit my teeth and get pretty cautious when I have to get close to shore. The Lotus floats sure would nice to have in those lakes.

I flew the 1220, 1260 and 1450 on the Avid / Kitfox. The 1260 have the same nose section (from the step forward) as the 1220 but longer tails. With the longer tails, it is harder to rotate without dragging the tails. If you put enough AOA on the wing to be able to fly out of the water then the noses really drag the air when your up and flying and it took alot of back stick to keep the plane in the air. It scrubbed about 10 MPH off the top end and killed my climb.

With the 1220s, you cant get the step far enough behind the CG to be able to get on top of the water at gross weight (with a 582 anyways). If you move the step far enough back, there is not enough forward flotation and on landing, if you come off the power too quick, the noses will ship a little water. I never felt like I was going to flip over, but it is a little un-nerving the first few times.

I went to the 1450 and will never look back! There is 15" more float from the step forward (they took the nose section off the 1650 and the tails off the 1220). You can actually set the plane up right, and have PLENTY of forward flotation!

Another thing you may run into is step turns. If you try to do a normal step turn the plane will just kick the nose about 15 degrees off course and keep going straight. I have found that by giving it LOTS of down elevator, you can ride on the front half of the step and spin it right around on a dime. Took me a little while of cussing aborted take off runs on creeks and rivers to figure that one out.

WWhunter wrote:Mike,
Funny you say that. I recently left my weed wacker down at the beaver dam after a day of cutting brush. I wasn't done and didn't feel like carrying it home. Came back the next day and a bear had chewed the heck out of the fuel tank!! Not sure what is so appealing to the taste of fuel but they must like it. A few days later my brother had a couple of gas jugs chewed up when he was on Rainy Lake camping. Pesky little buggers!
Keith

It's the plastic bears are attracted to. They learn real quick that people keep food in plastic. On a fire in yellowstone we had a Mother Griz with two cubs following the crews on the line. We used five gallon cubies to carry gator aid in. The mother bear would use one claw to cut the top off those like a razor blade. The crews also carried pump and saw gas in the cubies. She would cut the top off those too but they didn't drink any fuel.