SkyMule Seaplane Conversion

I just wanted to show off a conversion that I did to my Durafly SkyMule (from HobbyKing) to a seaplane.  I really like the way it turned out.  Check out the photos of the finished product and a flight video.

Figure 1.  Completed Seaplane conversion

Figure 2.  Original Durafly SkyMule from HobbyKing

I can’t take credit for the conversion.  There is a kit sold by ParkFlyer Plastics that allows you to add a hull to the fuselage and add tip floats to the wing.  I'm not going to walk through the build process. You can read about that on this helpful rcgroups thread started by creator Keith Sparks.

Figure 3. Parts from the Parkflyer Plastics conversion kit.  Top picture: aft hull (left), front hull (top), tip floats (bottom left), hull wheel well (right).  Bottom picture:  nacelle covers and cowl

The conversion involves moving the stock nacelles from the bottom of the wing to the top of wing, which makes sense because your propellers are going to hit the water otherwise.  The kit includes plastic enclosures for the nacelles, which is a nice touch.

Figure 4. Nacelles relocated from bottom to top of wings

I spent a fair amount of time on the paint job and did mine in a Canadian Twin Otter scheme. I used Rustoleum spray paint for most of the painting and got some color-matched paint samples from Home Depot to touch up spots.

Figure 5.  Inspiration for the paint scheme came from a Canadian Twin Otter

You can build the kit so you can still use the stock landing gear, but I found that the model takes off fine from the grass.  The only upgrade I did was I upgraded to two 40A Turnigy ESCs and Master Airscrew 9x7x3 (clockwise and counter-clockwise) propellers.  As you can see from the flight video, I had plenty of power.  Can’t wait to get this baby out on the water!

Figure 6.  Flight video

If you peform the conversion, I would love to hear from you.

Mike