For those interested in how our Carbon Cub SS might do on amphibs I thought I'd post a quickie pirep — I just got back from a short test flight.
First off, due to the smaller size of the floats (1500 lbs versus the more common 2100 lbs) the plane sits lower that the typical Super Cub amphib. It is therefore seems a bit less intimidating and the sight picture from the cockpit, while different, is not as different when taxiing and flying. Of course being a bit lower it should fit in more hangars. Rudder deflection during taxiing doesn't do anything so differential braking is required to steer on the ground, no biggie.
I put in the first notch of flaps and advanced the power with neutral stick expecting a noticably longer ground roll than I usually see in an SS. Surprise, it just sort of levitated off the runway way after what seemed like just a few plane lengths. I immediately stowed the flaps and set about stabilizing my climb and started to notice "hmm, doesn't really feel any different". I stabilized at 70-75 mph and was seeing nearly 2,000 fpm climb. Levelling off at 3,800' I powered back and did few turns and wiggles to get a feel for the controls, hmm, still didn't feel much different at all.
I then cruised for a bit to collect some engine temp data which was the purpose of the flight. Just because I was curious I made some speed notes: at 3,000' while cruising at 2500 rpm and leaned to 8.1 gph I saw 115 mph IAS. That is very close the speed you'd see with wheels.
Ok, back to the pattern, fly down final at 60 mph (a bit fast just for a bit of extra cushion, don't want to dent the brand new amphibs, and I'm aware that those 4" wheels probably won't tolerate being plopped too hard) and let the speed decay while raising the nose slightly in a gentle flare at what felt like the right height, feel for the pavement with the back wheels... there it is, stick back gently, but not as far as with wheels, and it settles down onto all four wheels. Wow, that was easy.
You can't (at least I couldn't) see the floats in your peripheral vision while while flying or landing so one needs to memorize the sight picture while on the ground. Still, the adjustment was no big thing. If you lean your head to the left or right of course you can see them but I'm not sure I want to do that while landing or not, each pilot probably has their own habits there.
In all I think the Carbon Cub SS Amphib will reset the performance bar for a floatplanes just like it has for taildraggers. I was very surprised at the performance hit in any parameter — it still flies like the "LSA brute" we all know and love.
Our plan is to take a few weeks to collect all the test data we need for the ASTM approval and POH supplement, set pricing, and then add it to the option sheet. I can't make a hard date commitment but I'd guess we'd have all this done by April — just in time for float season.