20 Pound Carbon Fiber Float?

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Hey Eugene:

While nosing around in the Belite shop earlier this evening, I noticed that they were preparing to pull the wraps off their new aircraft floats.   It is clear they plan to announce at Oshkosh:  but at what price?

I was able to gather some basic technical information, and also take some pictures, which I've pasted below.

The note said:

  *  19 pounds, 13 ounces as shown (still missing a couple of attachment hardware fittings)
  *  Up to 3 layers of Carbon Fiber cloth overall
  *  Carbon Fiber over foam construction
  *  Pre-cut foam pieces
  *  Inexpensive
  *  Final all up weight estimated at 22 pounds (straight); 35 pounds (amphibious)
  *  Superior to earlier Belite and other aluminum floats (much easier to construct; inherently more waterproof due to foam design)
  *  620 pound maximum gross weight
  *  Belite will be selling float kits for a special price during Oshkosh and shortly thereafter

These are clearly a significant product offering for experimental aircraft... looks to be a game changer for anyone who wants to fly off water.  If Belite has truly pulled off a carbon fiber composite float which sells for a reasonable $ amount...  wow.  That will be so cool.

The float in the following pictures was not quite complete.  It needed some sanding and some other stuff, but it sure looked like a float to me.

Your Friend,

Billy Bob.

P.S.:  Have a look at these pictures:

Carbon Fiber Float from Belite

Carbon Fiber Float from Belite

Carbon Fiber Float from Belite

Carbon Fiber Float from Belite

Carbon Fiber Float from Belite

Special note to Mickey:  thank you for encouraging me to think outside the box.

Retractable Gear Assembly for Amphibious Ultralight Float

Please note: James' blog has moved to a Wordpress site. To access it, please visit http://jameswiebe.wordpress.com/. All posts have been transferred to the new site, and all new posts will only be accessible via Wordpress. Thank you for your interest!

We are in the middle of a blizzard here in Wichita, KS.  So we all left work early, and I brought home a prototype wheel assembly for our ultralight amphibious float.  It needs a slight bit of tuneup, but I figured you'd like to see the engineering work in process.

Main retractable landing gear for ultralight amphibious float.

Front view of retractable gear assembly.

View of reverse side of retractable landing gear.

The wheel used is a 5"; the brake assembly is an Avid BB5.  Assembly is not complete.  Weight of the entire subassembly will be about 7.5 pounds per assembly.

Amphibious Ultralight Floats, more pics

Please note: James' blog has moved to a Wordpress site. To access it, please visit http://jameswiebe.wordpress.com/. All posts have been transferred to the new site, and all new posts will only be accessible via Wordpress. Thank you for your interest!

More info on our amphib floats:

We use a special rivet which is designed to be leak resistant.  It looks like this:

Special float rivet.  Solid head when pulled.  No hole.

Float without top skin, viewed from rear.

Float without top skin, viewed from front.

Here's the front bottom skin, with rivets and small step guide.

Front bottom skin of Belite amphibious float.

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Rear bottom skin of Belite amphibious float.

Yes, that is a carbon fiber / aluminum wing in the background under assembly.  Here is the partially completed wheel well in the amphibious ultralight float.  A carrythough bracket is visible in the bottom of the wheel well.

Wheel well in Belite amphibious float.

Weight is still tracking for 28 pounds per float in straight (no wheel) configuration.