FT Sea Duck - Review

by FliteTest | June 13, 2016 | (16) Posted in Projects

The FT Sea Duck is here! This plane design is based on the Sea Duck from Tail Spin, a cartoon that was a huge inspiration for us here at Flite Test.

Josh used to dream of flying and designing the planes he saw in the cartoon. And he wasn’t alone!

We discovered that many of our community members found inspiration in Tail Spin. Their feedback was invaluable in making the FT Sea Duck a reality. Thanks to community members Matthew Chapman, AircPirateNinsei, nevelenestate, rcspaceflight and Dan Knight for your contributions!

AircPirateNinsei also created a 900mm version of the Sea Duck, which you can download the free plans for here.

We went down to Lake Mohawk to test taking off and landing the FT Sea Duck in the water. The plane is easy to fly from the water and handles similarly to the Guinea.

We stayed as true to the Tail Spin Sea Duck as possible, but we did have to make a few adjustments for the plane to fly and handle well: we changed the wings, the proportion of the fuselage and the pontoons.

The pontoons from the cartoon caused a suction rather than pushing the plane off the water. With Peter’s help and feedback, we reengineered the pontoons out to help the Sea Duck maneuver better in the water.

The airplane only has three servos, and it yaws off of differential thrust. This allows one of the propellers to speed up or slow down to give you primitive yaw. We have markings in the plans for rudders as well, but we found it was not needed. 

We tried to recreate the tow from the cartoon using a flying wing, but we found that it was unstable. We modded the FT Explorer as a tow instead, which worked out great. Josh and his sons, Noah and Michael, had a great time towing and flying together.

Although the FT Sea Duck is an intense build, it still uses the same basic build techniques from our Tiny Trainer, FT Sparrow and FT Explorer planes. The Sea Duck is also easy to fly on the water and on land with a stable and forgiving design.

We also want to give a shout out to Richard Kennedy and Jeff Anvic, who designed the Sea Duck within the Phoenix and Real Flight simulators. Thanks guys!

If you have an idea, a design, or anything else you believe will contribute to the R/C community, share it with us! We want to hear from you!

COMMENTS

earthsciteach on June 13, 2016
Must have this! Killer plane, FT guys!
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oscarmok on June 13, 2016
I am planning to get one from the flitetest store. If it's running 4S, do I still pick the Power Pack C option? And is there an option of picking the 4S lipo? Or can Flite Test provide which Lumenier 4S and C rate shall I get? Thanks
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bbdro_siren on May 10, 2017
DIY
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PropSpinner on June 13, 2016
I'm impressed! The video is full of everything that made FliteTest great.
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OutcastZeroOne on June 14, 2016
my question is, dose this Sea Duck have an over drive like Balu's? Or is it also burned out? XD
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Anon Pilot on June 14, 2016
Very sweet, and beautifully filmed. Well done to everyone.
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Anon Pilot on June 14, 2016
Oh, plus..., your dog is brilliant.
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nevenelestate on June 14, 2016
Thanks for the shout out, but it's not "N Even Slate" it's Neve Nel Estate (Nay-vay nel es-ta-tay) italian for Snow in the Summer ;)

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NCC1701 on June 27, 2016
LOL
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andre on June 14, 2016
Can't wait!
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Kimpa on June 14, 2016
Where do I find the Flitetest models for Realflight?
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Marnix on June 14, 2016
You can find this model (in a simulator version) on the page of the sea duck in the store. It is free to download. I think other FT designs are included in the download as well.
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GluedFingers on June 14, 2016
Why does your dog hate the Sea Duck so much? FT never stops amazing me.
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TrooperCooper on June 14, 2016
Nice
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captron360 on July 11, 2016
Great one!! Now building a guinea pig with those pontoons.
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flying-coqui on June 14, 2016
I see on the 5 new things at flite fest a conference about from the brain to the plane. Why after the flite fest you made an episode for those can't go this year. I see some others but that is my favorite also you can do it with the others conferences

@flying-coqui
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pdxflyer on June 14, 2016
When will the Seaduck plans be available for download.
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ttprigg on June 14, 2016
Typically they are released the following Wednesday, along with the "build" video.
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ttprigg on June 14, 2016
Once again, GREAT Job!
I think that this is the "here" for the AircPirateNinsei - 900mm version (The link was not active above).
http://forum.flitetest.com/showthread.php?22952-Sea-Duck-(Conwing-L-16)
That work is also tremendous. What a great community. Looking forward to a wet summer...
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kenfigured on June 14, 2016
Great new plane can't wait to build one. Just wanted to thank you guys for proving you don't have to spend a ton of money to have fun. Wish I found your web site before starting to fly. I've built the FT bushwacker and the Duster and both are great flyers and the guys at the field get a real kick out of both of them. Keep up the great work!
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Damig on June 14, 2016
another home run, and I loved the Bright n breezy music, then the mid air...crash to Intro.. Lovely!!

I still cant fly, but I want to build this one! thanks guys
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planebreaker2000 on June 14, 2016
Just awesome
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dershan on June 14, 2016
wow its great .these are superb
and please can i talk to peter ,i want to personally give him my regards, so please tell peter to login to his fb account please......
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dershan on June 14, 2016
and will there be any more pusher configured planes specific for fpv like the talon?
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joshuaparker on June 15, 2016
whats the link for the plans for realflight 7?
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dshaw on June 15, 2016
http://forum.flitetest.com/showthread.php?27096-FliteTest-in-Phoenix-RC-(Model-Index
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dshaw on June 15, 2016
Now we just need Don Karnage's Airplane so you could do a real dog fight.
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Lucidus360 on June 16, 2016
What shade of yellow is that?
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rcspaceflight on June 16, 2016
Wow. I got a shout out. Awesome. :-D

It's not the FT Sea Duck, but I did make the Tail Spin plane for RC Desk Pilot. I have no idea if it's anywhere near the FT Sea Duck in flying characteristics, but it looks just like it.
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AircPirateNinsei on June 17, 2016
I like the FT Sea Duck and i will build one! :-)
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sakib sheikh on June 18, 2016
everything is awsome but i am confused about how FT sea duck turns or yaw because it doesnt have a rudder as i watched ..plz tell me how it flies...
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kmac on June 21, 2016
Just ordered the fast build kit for the Sea Duck! Just curious, what did the fellows use to paint the
yellow and red? I don't have access to a airbrush.
Thanks!
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NCC1701 on June 27, 2016
I find it a little irritating that you guys keep on designing water planes that do not have a swap-able powerpod. Not very economical. Could you please then make some simple pontune design for existing swap-able planes?
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Misterman124 on July 30, 2016
Quack quack
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magicmerlin on August 3, 2016
Loved the Sea Duck in Tale Spin and now you've got to love it for real.
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FliteGreg on October 17, 2016
Wow the finished product is BIG! I was well worth the effort I invested into it. Good job FT! I can't wait to do the maiden if I can get decent weather.
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stevepmichael on February 11, 2017
We decided to add a little more utility to the sea duck this weekend.

https://youtu.be/RjArxUPPi04

https://youtu.be/H5jVRZP0SUw

https://youtu.be/sdIaV2QXUYY

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FT Sea Duck - Review