ORIGINAL: noisy
well those commente have me worried a little mine is about the same as yours..i keep trying to get some pics and comments up with sizes but it pourin here to..hope fully the next couple days...maybe i am better just buildin seph's full size machine and puttin my tt90 on and lettin it go at that..maybe they dont like to be reduced to much....bob
Well, the problems I see with my boat is its 2 1/2" shorter than the SI 20. From the pictures I've seen, is about the same width at 14" I think. Another problem I have is its just too darn heavy. While running it yesterday, it seemed to run straight okay - handling its own little wake well enough. The problem came in turning... The top deck isnt big enough, and in a turn, the lack of the extra width of the top deck allowed water to come over the top of the deck somewhat and add in the heavy weight of the thing, and it would roll a bit. I added some thin plastic chunks I had with me and some tape to add a "guard" of sorts to the rear part of the deck and this seemed to help quite a bit though it still rolled on me and flipped.
Here's what I mean:
This makeshift mod worked better as it seemed to turn better, but it still would drop in the water when slowing for a turn, and still rolled on me. So I'm drawing up a new hull. The new hull will have a larger top deck, and somehow I will make it lighter than its predecessor.
I know it took a lot of testing to get the SI3 to where it is today. The SI3 20 is "just" big enough for a .30-.35, though it needs a hand launch. A .25 is about right, but I dont have a .25. My Enya .30 is 9oz without muffler, and the TT muffler weighs in at 4oz and the muffler adapter is about 3/4 ounce. Add in the heavy metal geared servos and 4-cell alkaline battery, and too much other junk, and it comes in at 5lbs. I'm hoping to get this weight down to at least 3lbs, if not a little lighter. I think the weight is my biggest adversary with hull size being second.