Geoffers:
I agree about the floats not armed part.
Why don't we fit a duplex airspeed signal to arm the floats automatically when the airspeed falls below a certain value?
Also, we know where all the water in the world is (from the GPS), so why not incorporate a position signal so that when we're over water, the floats arm automatically? I mean, this can't be a big thing to do can it??
Let's think a bit laterally.