M7 Floats on an M5

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kbbell
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M7 Floats on an M5

Post by kbbell »

I have Aqua 2400s/2550 gross on my M5.

A set of Aqua 2400s/2750 gross off a spring geared M7 are available.

Is the attachment gear for the M7 the same as the M5, minus the pork chop?

Bill Bellamy
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Post by maules.com »

The Aqua 2400's are 2530 gross on a 2300lb gross wt M5 and 2750lbs on an M5 with gross weight increase to 2500lbs, just like the M6 M7 and MX7-235.
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Post by kbbell »

Is the rigging interchangeable between the M5 and M7?


Also, does the gross weight increase on floats require paperwork from Maule or the float company approving the increase?

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Post by maules.com »

The rigging is interchangeable between M5 and M7 though if the M7 is a C model you need the front slide in brackets. If the later M7 has weld on fittings at the rear you also need the appropriate brackets.
You need the Supplement to the POH which includes the new weight and balance graphs and envelope for the type of float you are useing on whichever model Maule you are useing. This, from Maule unless the float manufacturer did the certification.
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Post by aero101 »

I thought you had to have the Maule Gross Weight Mod done on the airplane to get the higher gross on the M5? I also believe that the only difference between the low gross Aqua's and higher gross Aqua's are the lift struts? The higher gross lift struts have extra extruded ribs on inside of struts. I think it would be considerably less expensive to buy the struts than to buy another set of floats or am I missing something here? The Flight Manual Supplements for the floats are available on Maule's website for most configurations?
Jim
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Post by maules.com »

The M5 was 2300lb gwt until 1981 when an upgross kit changed it to 2500lb.
On EDO and Aqua and Fiberfloat floats, at 2300lb a waiver allowed it to be operated at 10% increase, i.e. 2530lb gross wt,.
At 2500lb on floats it also got the 10% increase, i.e. 2750lb gwt.
The M6-235, MX7-235, M7 and MT7-235's are all 2500lb wheels and 2750lb floats or amphibs provided they are on the appropriate floats with appropriate attach hardware. Baumann and Wipaire are in this category besides EDO and Aqua.
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Post by northern guide »

:D Hey Jeremy, am I reading your comment correctly ? the m5 on EDO 2440's will be rated at 2750lb. gross? This would be very good news for me as I am planning on installing the 2440;s in the spring. What's the deal on the rear seat being knocked back to 200lb. max. while on the floats?

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Post by maules.com »

You need to see if your M5 has the gross weight increase kit fitted which , if fitted and properly documented, will then allow the 2750lbs. If the this reinforcement to the wing spars has not been done then you are at 2300lbs wheels and 2300+10% ie 2530 on floats.
I don't understand the rear seat 200lb question.
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Post by UP-M5 »

i talked to terry @ aqua floats and he indicated that you would have to have his newer "high gross rigging" to be eligible for 2750 GW. the earlier, thinner struts do not allow 2750. is this wrong?
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Post by maules.com »

I believe Terry is correct regarding Aqua 2400's. The airplane still has to have the 2500 gw increase of 200lbs kit installed.
The EDO 2440's also have two types of strut rigging, but it has to do with angle of attachment between fuselage/float, not the gwt kit.
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Post by kbbell »

Terry's right. I have two sets of Aqua 2400s. The 1977 data plate says max seaplane gross is 2550 Lbs, the 2002 says 2750 Lbs.

There also appears to be an additional partial bulkhead in the baggage compartment of the newer set.



-Bill
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Higher gross Aquas

Post by TomD »

The struts and cross wires are markedly larger on the higher gross Aquas.

I think the lighter struts are the same as those on a (Super?) Cub.

They changed to the larger cross wires for all gross weights since the smaller cross wires were pretty under sized.

Let me be a witness on small wires, I had one break about five miles short of Stevens pass on the way to Lake Chelan. Did a 180 and went back to Kenmore and landed on the smoothest water I could find, but even in smooth water the amount of side to side movement on the floats was "interesting".

TD

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Post by maules.com »

The early Aquas tended to go concave at the bow with alot of wave pounding, the later floats with extra bulkhead retain their shape.
The side strut changes are not directly tied to the bow upgrade.
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Post by northern guide »

Jeremy, My M5 has the 2500lb gross update , but in the paper work for the fitting of the EDO 2440's the revised manual states that the it must be posted on the dash that the rear seat is 200lb max.? I don't understand this at all. It says also that if 2400 aqua's are installed tha seat is 225lb max. If you can help me understand this please let me know.!

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Post by maules.com »

My guess is that someone has computed a weight and balance on that airplane at certain configuerations of equipment and determined that it would be out of cg to the rear if more than those loads were in the rear seat. However further study should discover how much fuel is carried and how much weight is in the front seats.
I would start at square one. Mount the floats, weigh the unit, compute new arm, moment and cg with empty plane, then see how your weights can be positioned utilizing the flight manual supplement that supercedes the Maule flight manual when floats are fitted.
Alternatively, weigh and determine a new arm, moment and cg for the wheel plane, then do the calculations with the float weight and balance from Maule's or the float manufacturers stc or tc data.
Jeremy
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