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.

Ultralight Aircraft Floats Intro Price $1950 for kit

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 temporarily offering float kits for ultralight aircraft for $1950.   Pricing rises on May 16.**

Several weeks ago, I posted some limited information and pictures of our upcoming Belite amphibious floats, made from Aluminum.

I chose not to make this a product announcement at Sun N Fun.  We just weren't ready, and we had lots of other juicy stuff:  updates to our UltraCub, and lots of new instrument capabilities.

But I still thought it would be a wise idea to bring our float handiwork to Sun N Fun, put a price on them and see what happened.

Well, the first day of Sun N Fun is over, and we just officially sold our first float kit.  Wow!  A man walked up, indicated he'd been searching high and low for a great float option for his AirBike, and he found ours.  He said it made the trip from California to Sun N Fun worth it.  He left a deposit for the floats and is looking forward to the receipt of the float kit, which was promised for June.

In straight or amphibious configuration, the floats are rated for a gross aircraft weight of 620 pounds.  As a result, they are ideal for ultralight aircraft (and fat ultralight aircraft, and light experimentals) of all kinds.

Until May 15, they may be ordered for $1950 for a set of 2 straight floats in kit form.  Rivets and fittings and glue not included.  The amphibious version is available for $2950.  I will post some updated pictures of them tomorrow.  On May 16, the price rises.  How high?  I haven't determined yet.  We will formally announce this product at OshKosh, so this is our pre-intro sale.

You are required to provide a $500 or $750 deposit to reserve your float kit.  All skins come predrilled.

Here's some pics:

Ultralight aircraft floats from Belite

Ultralight floats from Belite

Ultralight floats from Belite

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.

Floats!!! Amphibious Floats!!!

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!


Here's the first photos of our upcoming float offering for ultralight aircraft.

Constructed entirely of aluminum, these floats are designed to work with retractable wheels or as straight floats.

In other words, we're preparing to deliver an amphibious float, and therefore, an amphibious ultralight.  So cool.

The straight version will weigh less than 28 pounds.  (The FAA allows 30 pounds per float in FAR Part 103.)

It will be fun to announce the pricing, and also the full specs.  Here's the photos (the float is upside down...):

Wheel well takes shape.

Front skin is quite riveting.

Some parts still clecoed on.

Computer CNC machining makes for exacting fits.

Strength, lightweight, beauty.  And 7000 series aluminum alloys in critical places.

Easy building for folks who want to do it themselves.

Some of the bulkheads are sold.  Some aren't.

Before the skin goes on.