I am new to the forum and just about to purchase a Piper Tri-Pacer, 160 horse. My goal is to put it on floats for summer flying in Alaska. Anyone have any experience with this setup? Do they make worthwhile seaplanes? Any advice or info would be greatly appreciated.

Try www.shortwingpipers.org
There are a couple there, they were just talking about SeaFins
On the horizontal stabilizers instead of the ventral fin.
Dave

Give Don Lee a call.

I got my float rating from him a couple of years back in his Pacer.

It took a while to get off the water, but it worked OK.

http://www.alaskafloats.com

There is not a lot of wing on them. A friend lost his PA 20 trying to get out of a small lake, the passenger was knocked unconscious and lucky to have survived the dunking Guess your mission will dictate if it will work for you.

Steve

I looked at a very nice one with a "warmed up" Millenium engine on floats that was for sale a few years ago. The owner had told me that it definitely was no Suber Cub as far as getting out of the water fast. He also stated that it was pretty much only good for two people and had removed the rear seat. With two people and gear it took a longer run of course. After talking to a few other guys that had owned them on floats I decided it was not the plane for me. As was said already the short wing on them is good for higher cruise but not so much for short take offs. There are mods available to improve the slower speed handling if a guy wants to go that route.
For the money though I think it would make a decent plane if it fits your mission.
WW

They'll work fine, as long as you keep it to no more than two people, those people are less than 200 pounds each, minimum fuel, and you'll need a Borer prop. Other than that there are wing extensions that do help as well. As noted the problem is wing surface area.

A friend operated one out of Lilly Lake in Kodiak, which is 2200 feet bank to bank. He NEVER tried loading it up there, though, and the first takeoff he tried with the stock prop, and just him in the plane didn't work out well. He got a long prop, and eventually extended the wings....a BIG deal.

MTV

I do not know a thing about this, but to buy a PA-22 and do all that stuff to it, would it be cheaper to get somthing else. Kind of like it is chaeper to buy a 180 than to buy an old 182 and convert it.

Tim.

qmdv wrote:I do not know a thing about this, but to buy a PA-22 and do all that stuff to it, would it be cheaper to get somthing else. Kind of like it is chaeper to buy a 180 than to buy an old 182 and convert it.

Tim.

It depends. There are a LOT of places one can go on floats in Alaska that don't require super short takeoff capability.

The Pacers are CHEAP, and a pretty darn good airplane, certainly good for the money. There are a lot of them, and parts are easy to come by. Performance on wheels is okay, again, not spectacular, but pretty decent, assuming a good engine.

A prop costs on the order of a few thousand dollars. Extending the wings is a big deal, but doesn't necessarily have to be done right away, or ever, depending on what his mission is.

And, that's really the key: What's the mission?

One more thing with the Pacer on floats: There's only one entry door. In an underwater egress situation, that's not ideal. That said, lots of 206s on floats out there, many that haven't had a right side door added. Something to consider, in any case.

Right now, there aren't many airplanes out there that offer so much value for the price as a Pacer. Also, unlike the Stinsons, there are a LOT of floats around, and lots of Piper rigging.

MTV

Onebadjudge,

I can tell you from experience that the Pacer/Tripacer can make a decent seaplane. Like any other plane, you must know it's limitations, but there is a lot of good flying to be done with Pacer on floats. You can buy new Edo 2000 floats in Anchorage or buy a used set with PA 20 rigging. A guy in Talkeetna named Don Lee (AK Floats and Skis ) uses Pacers exclusively. Contact him for advice. He's an amazing Bushpilot too. Check out this website www.alaskafloats.com for contact information for Don. He has been flying Pacers for 35 years.

Welcome to BCP

I have a PA-16 150 HP on Edo 1650s. Still tweaking it