Soon we will have a video series for enrolled students to learn each technique and skill required for the course, check back in early May at the beginning of the season when we have it ready to go!
For now, once enrolled, you'll be sent an information packet with all of the study materials needed to prepare before you arrive. Below you'll find important information about the floats and the aircraft that you'll want to know as well!
Now owned by Kenmore Air Harbor, EDO designed the 2790A floats we use on the maule back in the early 1950's and they have been since been recently restored and updated with new wiring and hydraulic plumbing, but at their core are still the tried and true floats that were popular on Cessna 180's and 185's.
Each float provides 2790 lbs of flotation, for a total of 5,580 together.
The max gross take of weight for the maule on these floats is 2,750 lbs, when calculating the flotation requirements (each float must support at least 90% of MGW or 180% when combined, you'll find that the floats provide 630lbs of extra flotation, this is known as being "over-floated".
Over-flotation generally has two effects, increased stability and water handling in rougher waters, but at a cost of performance, usually in cruise speeds.
Note: Not all model numbers for floats dictate flotation, we just got lucky, so keep a close eye out with other models when determining weight and balance.
There are multiple parts to each float that you'll get to know while learning to fly, they include:
Bumpers - As the name suggest, bumpers are used as a shock absorber usually on the nose of the floats to reduce the risk of damage in case of nosing into a dock or other surface.
Cleats- "T" shaped tie-down points located on the forward and aft sections of each float used for securing the floats to either a dock, anchor or other fixed object with a line (rope).
Pump out ports - Located along the sides and tops of each floats, the pump outs provide a way to pump water out of the compartments of the floats, there is a pump out for each separate compartment. Each float has a total of 9 pump out ports.
Compartments - The internal area of the float is separated into isolated sections to reduce the risk of sinking a float when a leak presents itself, the structure of the bulkheads also provides increased structural strength as a benefit.
Step - An abrupt break in the longitudinal lines of the float or hull, which reduces water drag and allows the pilot to vary the pitch attitude when running along the water’s surface. Usually just in front of the main gear on amphibious floats.
Chine - The longitudinal seam joining the sides to the bottom of the float. The chines serve a structural purpose, transmitting loads from the bottoms to the sides of the floats. They also serve a hydrodynamic purpose, guiding water away from the float, reducing spray, and contributing to hydrodynamic lift.
Keel - A strong longitudinal member at the bottom of a float or hull that helps guide the seaplane through the water, and, in the case of floats, supports the weight of the seaplane on land.
Sister Keel - Structural members in the front portion of the floats lying parallel to the keel and midway between the keel and chines, adding structural rigidity and directional stability when on the water.
Skeg: A robust extension of the keel behind the step which helps prevent the seaplane from tipping back onto the rear portion of the float. *Our floats do not have one.
Water Rudder - Retractable control surfaces on the back of each float that can be extended downward into the water to provide more directional control when taxiing on the surface. They are attached by cables and springs to the air rudder and operated by the rudder pedals in the cockpit.
Spreader Bar - There are two spreader bars, both are fixed rigid bars that maintain the distance between the floats and provide a majority of the structural integrity below the aircraft.
Flying Wire - Flying (or fly) wires are essentially turnbuckles which cross from the top of the float on one side of the aircraft to the bottom of the fuselage on the other side. There are two sets, one fore and one aft. They are used to align each float to the fuselage on the longitudinal axis, think a tire alignment for your car, but vertical relative to the wing as well as left and right.
Gear Position Indicator - On the surface of the float just outside the pilot and co-pilot doors is a red block that travels forward and aft to mechanically confirm the position of the landing gear, forward indicates gear up, and aft indicates gear down.
Splash Rail - Splash rails are used to prevent small droplets of water from striking the leading edge of the propeller which can be operating at near super-sonic speeds. The contact force between the droplet and the blade can be so great, as to pit and damage the propeller.
Brush Bar - A small 1/4" steel cable that spans between the tips of the floats, used for knocking down brush to protect the propellor spinning just above, it can also be used to walk from one side of the plane to the other when on the water.
The landing gear on each float is electric-hydralicly actuated, meaning an electric pump (located behind the baggage area of the plane) hydralicly moves the landing gear on each float through a single ram-style piston. The piston simply moves a loop of chain (much like a bicycle) back and forth which the main and nose landing gear are directly connected to. Because of this, you will notice the gear position indicator lights reflect only a Gear Up/Gear Down position for the left and right floats, rather than a position light for each of the four wheels, as each pair travel together and never independatly.
In the rare case of an electrical/pump failure, there is an emergency hand driven gear pump on the pilot-side of the dashboard. This manually will provide pressure to the system to move the gear to the desired position that is selected on the knob collar.
Still made today, the Maule is the only 4 place American made taildragger still in production in the USA, and while purposebult for flying in challenging environments such as the Alaskan bush and even as far as Kazakhstan and Australia, it makes for an excellent float plane that doesn't get weighed down in performance while carrying floats and makes for a capable float trainer while still able to manage long cross-country flights at the same time.
The engine behind the operation is a 260HP Lycoming IO-540 V4A5
Total fuel capacity is 85 gallons usable, though on the water typically on 43 gallons is carried at a time.
The fuel arrangement is four tanks, with the engine feeding from the inboard tanks. Both inboard tanks each hold 21.5 gallons while the outboard each hold 21 gallons. The fuel system can be set to drain from either "Both" "Left' or "Right" tanks. Unless necessary for balancing purposes the fuel is kept on the "Both" setting.
One of the unique features of the Maule aircraft is the flap settings, specifically the negative flap position. You'll find the POH mentions 5 positions.
While typically unused for training, the negative flap options allows for greater cruise speed by decreasing the surface area of the wing slightly and therefor reducing drag, this also lends a slight increase in controllability in a crosswind scenario as well. This does increase the wing loading slightly and has a noticeable reduction in lift as a result.
Position 1 - -7°
Position 2 - 0°
Position 3 - 24°
Position 4 - 40°
Position 5 - 48°
Unique to the maule, there is a small trim tab on the rudder that is tied into the ailerons, as the ailerons are deflected, the trim tab follows and provides assistance with rudder coordination in cruise flight. As a tailwheel this effect is noticeable, whereas on floats the inertia of the floats tends to overcome this feature and it will not be noticed in flight.
Located on the bottom center of the dashboard is a white handle used to retract and extend the water rudders on the floats. The water rudders are only used during taxi operations and are otherwise stowed in flight.
The ventral fin is a fixed airfoil that replaces the tailwheel when the plane is mounted on floats, its provides. The large side area of the float profile can cause weather-veining and make the aircraft difficult to turn in even slight winds. All float installations reduce stability of an aircraft in yaw by adding substantially to vertical surface area forward of the vertical axis of rotation (forward section of the floats). The ventral fin is used to offset the problems caused by the additional surface area of the floats. There are two types of ventral fins, those mounted on the elevator portion are known as finlets. Those mounted under the tail like ours are known as sub-fins
Our radio and GPS are combined in the GTN 750, there is only one radio in the plane and the map is full of helpful features when at low altitude such as terrain and obstacle avoidance, particularly power lines that might not be visible from far away. While it's overkill for a VFR only plane, its nice to have its tool's at your disposal should you need them.
The JPI 930 is the main brain of what's going on inside the plane at all times, it displays all engine and electrical information in flight and logs each flights data as well as ground track to watch back later if needed.
Vs - 53
Vso - 43
Vr - 60
Vx - 60
Vy - 60
Vfe - 82
Vno - 126
Vne - 143
The landing gear switch is located near the center on the pilot's side of the dashboard, the operation is simple, up for water landing, indicated with two blue lights, and down for land landing, indicated by 2 orange lights. There is a red indicator light that illuminates while the pump is activated. Unlike many retractable gear planes, there is no max gear extension or retraction speed, just set the gear as needed, when needed.
In the rare case of an electrical/pump failure, the manual emergency gear pump will allow you to operate the landing gear by pumping fluid through the system by hand. After determine an electrical pump failure, first pul the circuit breaker labeled "Gear Pump" This is to prevent the pumps from conflicting should the electric pump attempt to cycle while using the manual pump. To operate the manual pump, simply set the desired gear position with the rotating collar of the hand pump to match the already selected position on the electric gear selector, and start pumping until the red indicator blocks on the floats indicate the gear is in the desired position, the colored indicator lights on the gear selector will, and should, agree with the position as well. From one position to the other, typically about 15-20 pumps are needed.
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