Floatplanes open up incredible new areas to explore, but being limited to only landing on water can make life challenging. The answer is a pair of amphibious floats, a set of floats with a landing gear.
Amphibious floats work in much the same way as a conventional retractable landing gear. Although every manufacturer is different, most work on the same basic principles. Somewhere around the middle of each float are either one or two tires that are considered the main landing gear, and on the front of each float is one tire attached to a steel or composite rod that is considered the nosegear.
On more complex systems, the gear moves up and down when the pilot selects the position on the gear lever in the cockpit. Often these systems are hydraulic. The gear switch actuates an electric motor that pressurizes the hydraulic system, raising or lowering the gear. Pressure sensors turn the motor off when the gear is in the desired position. The gear mechanism also can be solely electric, or mechanical—where the pilot is required to physically raise or lower the gear with a bar.
Each main wheel has a brake that is operated hydraulically through the top of the rudder pedals, like a normal landing gear. Differential braking is used to turn the
castering nosewheels.
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