D Bronk

..I ve been wanting to build this project, ..For sometime, I`ve been thinking about Drawing up, and building an Airboat from Scratch..I don`t know how to use those CAD Programs.[&o] I used Microsoft Paint to draw my plans up with..This Boat is not a Scale replica of anything.I would say it`s just a Generic Looking Airboat..Here`s the basic 3 view I made don`t pay attention to the power system, I just threw something together for visual purpose .I have something in Mind for a power pod,I just have not drawn it up yet have the materials to do the Job ,on hand also. So here`s the 3 view for starters..Next post ,I`ll start showing the progress on the Hull

dadkins

looks good so far - I bet it will kick the Vortex's butt. Definetly be more durable !

D Bronk

..I think I forgot to mention, I`m trying to not use any wood except for maybe a Hatch cover..

D Bronk

Thanks ...I need something to Beat on, that won`t moan ,and groan..LOL

D Bronk

Bending

dadkins

Ok Dave - How are you going to seal the seams ? obviosly welding would be best - not everyone has that ability.
JB weld ? Silicone ? Duct tape ? are you going to use wood framing on the interior ? looks like the bottom is less than perfectly flat - but pretty good - and ultimately durable. You could run that sucker on asphalt - too bad aluminum doesn't spark -think how cool that would look at night going down the road 20 mph with a trail of sparks.
Very nice - keep up the good work

jasperrc

Looks good Dave.

What are you going to use for floatation or is this a snow boat only?

And how are you going to attach the engine pod, etc?

D Bronk

..Dad..Nope,Nope,And Nope to the Seam Questions,and No Welding either.The bottom will be Square, and Flat by the Time I`m finished.I really want to try and Stay away from Wood all together on this project,just for a Challenge to myself, and for a Change from normal Building Technics..I`m Abnormal !! .LOL ..The Seams, I `ve proven,and tested a simple method,in the past that anyone can do ,and Works Great..I`ll keep you guys wondering for a little while ,and I`ll show/explain the method I use, when I get to that point..I made up a pair of Snow skis for a Trainer plane for some winter flying .I think I have a video of the LST .074 Trainer (Scratch build) in Air/Snowboat mode..I`ll see if I can find it, and upload it for whoever wants to check it out..

..Thanks Jas.I haven`t really given much thought to Flotation... Liquid Water is still along way off here. Besides I`ll probably Have this thing Crumpled and written off before the Lakes Thaw..LOL..Right now this proto-type is mostly to test out my Concept ,and I`ll make another one for a complete around the Year use.Then I`ll put the flotation fixings in it..I stillmight put some spray foam in the Hull to help keep the Dents from getting as deep as I think they might get otherwise..To give you an idea of the thickness of this aluminum sheeting is ,It`s about the same as 4 sheets of Printer paper stacked together....

.Some more Pics.I forgot what pics I put up last time.Sorry .I`ll make another post here right away..

D Bronk

I have a couple more Bulkeads to make up . Then those Gunwales are going to be a Challange to make..I``m going to make hand formed tubes there from the Excess Material,that I have allowed for on my Drawing..I`m trying to make the Hull exterior entirely from that Single Sheet of aluminum in the 1`st few Pics at the begining of the thread..

..Jas the Motor pod is another Dept .I`ll use pics to explain later otherwise I`ll end up sitting in front of the "Puter" all night,and no Building Happens here..I`ll keep the updates coming, during my "Coffee Breaks".

D Bronk

Short Crappy vid of the aluminum skis on the Snow.I tried to vid, and operate all at the same time ..(Note To Self) Don`t.!! .LOL Kind of shows that, they scoot along really nicely, at low power.

http://www.rcuvideos.com/item/6YS1W4BTW7RLVXXT

Well got the gunwales made didn`t go exactly as planned, but It`s a proto-type,and I needed to make tools so that I could Form their Shape.That took time.I actually Work Hardened, one small spot on the side of the hulls Gunwale, and it cracked from over working 1 area, a little too much..That`s ok too because I now have the Feel for doing the Job without a problem on the Final version.. The next boat will go much quicker build wise now that I have things figured out more or less..I reconsidered the wood thing .I might use a bit (Wood) just to speed up the Proto Build, and get this Boat powered and Testing..For all I know,I might be wasting my time on this design, and have to Redesign it altogether, so, No sense wasting time, and Material without seeing this build in action first.I`ll make whatever changes that might be Needed, then do my entire build out of Aluminum,as originally planed.

Pic explain themselves,I think,and show where I`m currently at.. I wonder if my SuperTigre G90 will be enough power, to test this Hull with.? [&:] I would hate to be under powered...

crispyspa

Oh look...D Bronk made a funny LOL

I have a confession. When you started this build I didn't think the hull would turn out that good. Snaps up on your aluminum skills[8D] Do you work with aluminum at your job? Cuz it looks like someone knows what they are doing.

D Bronk

LOL.. You caught that one, Eh !! Didn`t Take that Long,either.LOL..I was wondering how long it would take for someone to tell me about the error of my Ways....Got to have a little Humour around here.. Work with Aluminum ? Not really,maybe a little ,However,I used to Crush Beer-cans on my Forehead, untill, I quit Drinking all together,and realized how damaging that was ,,,to the Beer cans.. LOL..Actually, I`m a licenced Auto-Refinish Tech ( painter) ,do, Body work Too.I Do pretty much anything, including Aircraft and Boats sometimes,Mostly doing Custom Jobs these days..So yeah, I get my Fair share of Panel Beating/Making when doing the car Restorations ,you know Panels, and parts that can not be Bought anymore, or aren`t Being Re-produced yet..Muscle Cars are the Craze here, too !!

..With this build, I`m just doing the, "Looks about Right" type of engineering.. I haven`t even touched that Boat yet today,but, at least I got a fair amount of surfing Done. I quess, I should get started,right after I have Coffee Break. Hahaha.... feeling just a bit Lazy.

dadkins

That hull turned out WAY better than I ever thought it would. Very nice work.
Question: a G90 is that like an .049 or .10 size ? or a .90 ci ? because - either you have HUGE hands or that is going to be WAY overpowered.

vamp131

looks very nice i had an aluminium hull very heavy tho 14 pounds it more a tank than a boat
make sure you angle the sides as mine were straight did not turn that good get a 61 to power it or bigger the better lol here is a few pics of mine i bought it for £5 on e bay think they guy was glad to get rid of it put a 40 in it not much power ran it tried 3 rudders still a nightmare to turn good in straight lines lol sold it on e bay for £80 so it was a good buy

jasperrc

Sounds like you've got a plan!

And if you do get it crumpled up before the snow is gone... vids?!!

D Bronk

Thanks Dad..You know G-90..Like this LOL would definately be an asset for me if I gan get this engine classified/passed off as a 1/2 A Class engine..Look out speed record..What do you say Andy,what`s the chances?

..Hi Vamp ,Thanks..I`ll be surprised if this boat is going to weigh much more than 1 pound ,4 ounces ready to run..I`ll take it to the Post Office and have it weighed later on.

..jasperrc "And if you do get it crumpled up before the snow is gone... vids?!!" More like, Crumpled up before the end of Next Week...LOL Vids I`ll try ,but lately it seems I can`t get a decent video shot, unless my 13 year old Nephew is operating the Camera for me...

..Well today /yesterday, was a no progress type Day..Trying to educate myself on Engine Angle of Attack, Thrust angles,correct Balance points,That sort of thing..I need to get this type of thing right before I permanently start attaching parts to the Hull..Plus been giving a far bit of thought to Mounting up the engine..I want to be able to place and Tape the boat together just to make sure things are going to work out..

..sorry for my Goofing around in the last few posts .I`ll start to serious up again soon before you guys think I`m just Clowning around with this build..

n8mkr

Dave:
Please tell us about that muffler arrangement on your G90. That is not factory out of the box, but it is very nice.
John

codtongue

yes, please tell about that muffler, I'm about to get a g-90 and that is a sweet looking set up, your metal work is real nice, I did'nt realize that your boat was that small, I had it in my head and from the pictures it was much larger than it is, cudos to the great work.

D Bronk

Hi Guys. Thanks for the compliments. I haven’t touched the hull for a little while .Figuring out how to make an engine stand for this ,so ,I had to sleep on it a bit. I think I have something doable know though....

That header and Muffler is for my TopFlite 60(62"wing, 1/8`th scale) sized Corsair.. It`s the SuperTigre version.Meant to be Firewall mounted.. When I bought the kit on the Box it stated the part numbers for the SuperTigre engines in-cowl Exhaust System which is what you see in the Pics.. Since the Printing of the Kits Box it was found that the exhaust was too Restrictive for the S and G-90 Engines and caused overheating. This system works Fine as is for the "Baby engines� but for the Big Boy, She’s a No Go. I ordered this system through my Local Dealer and waited 1 year of getting the Next week ,next month it will arrive B.S., from them. I had known of the Problem of overheat but I wanted that system anyway. I finally found it at Great Hobbies on line Store. They had the Header, and were able to get the Muffler brought in, and shipped out to me. I can’t tell you how happy I was when that Stuff was finally sitting on my Coffee table. More than a 1 year Wait, mostly, because I was being Jerked around.. Oh Well, got the set-up now.. I guess you’re wondering ,why I would want parts, that I know won’t workout for me.. Simple, there’s no problem using the Header," as is". The Muffler needs attention. I’ll do 1 of 3 things:

(1) drill another hole, for a 2`nd tail pipe then Squash the ends just enough to have back pressure for the Fuel Cell and no Heat problems (play with it)..
(2)cut the Tail pipe completely off. Drill another hole same size as the current tail pipe, and join the 2 holes to look like an oval, Find I larger diameter tube that when squashed to an oval shape fits the new hole in the muffler. Then again Squash the outlet till the Backpressure is good, and No heat issues (play with it)..
(3)use the Factory muffler as a pattern and Scratch build another muffler of the same type of Design, out of Brass.. I love the Sound of Brass exhaust systems.. It has a distinct definite Sweet Tone (ring) to it. I made up a Dual Shotgun exhaust system for a guys Triumph 750 cc Motorcycle With that Bike running beside another 750cc Triumph with the same style pipe set-up made from Steel(factory) you could easily distinguish the Brass pipes over the Steel.. Hmm, Maybe that’s why we don’t see any steel Saxophones, and Trumpets.. LOL This makes me feel guilty. I haven’t touched my Corsair in more than a year.. The kit is a F4U-1a/d and I’m scaling it into a F4U-5.I had to take a Break from all the fussy little details. I’m scratch building the correct cockpit for it, and the littlest things have become such an obsession for me.. I’ve done all the research on the Details, have the Game plan figured out for that, even have a good start on the construction of it. Got the Dash panel done( recessed, replicated gauges with red backlights and a sliding Map tray. Have the pilots seat ,With, Leather padded & working folding armrests done. and of course since the Aircrafts interior was all aluminum, I had to make it that way too.. Crazy Nuttso.. Eh? LOL couple of pics showing a few of those details. So anyway, I had to take a break from it for a while before I had a complete Mental Meltdown.. LOL.. Here’s the Stupid thing.. I haven’t finished the 62" kit and I went and bought the Big Brother to it @ 1/5th scale & 86.5" wingspan [X(] and I’ll most likely detail the Bejeebers out of it too.. Crazy Eh?..

..So here I am in the Airboats, Less Stress, and finding it fun, and still able to do a few Scale sort of things on these projects. I’ve been admiring jasperrc Coroplast boats, and the Various Foam core Boats., some of you other guys have been making .I want to give 1 of those projects a try next..

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXHU80&P=0 =BABY Corsair

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXHU95&P=0 =Giant Corsair

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXHY78&P=SM =Header

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXHY74&P=SM =Muffler


The pics, Just kind of show, what a person can do with a bit of imagination working with aluminum.If you can fold up a paper airplane,You can do it too ,just try

D Bronk

After Thinking I had a good way, to bolt on the engine stand I re-thought it through a little more and came up with a Better way Yet.... I`ll be able to drill along the verticle lip, of the angle ,to find the Ideal position for the engine stand. Doing it this way, will also allow me to make other engine stands, to change Power Plants..

crispyspa

Keep the updates coming...I'm really liking this build.

D Bronk

..Thanks Crispy. I haven’t had much to show the last few days.. I didn’t think folks would want to see pics of,,, Glue Drying !.LOL..I only have so many clamps so,I can only Bond a couple parts together per session, then Wait, and then Repeat..

..I still have quite a few parts to fabricate, and probably take me all weekend to finish.. I`m hoping this project is more than just a learning Curve, and will actually work Half Decent. I seem to be making plans in my Head, then re-thinking things, then go into an entirely different Direction, than what I had originally planned.. LOL.

..I wanted to do this entirely in Aluminum, But I’m going to use some Composites, mainly, Carbon Fiber. I really am playing with Fire, as far as possible Radio Glitches go.. The main thing is, I’m Aware of the Danger, and making appropriate decisions as I build.

..I’ve also made the engine Stand, Capable of taking a larger engine if Necessary. Believe it or Not, that Engine and Mount made a 1 point landing, at about 60 mph on a DNU..The Crankcase and Mount survived,the Firewall didn`t..LOL..Those mounts are designed to Bust, before the Crankcase Breaks..

dadkins

Dave, I was a little concerned with possible glitching problems - all that metal - and now that I bring that up - any plans for floatation should it capsize ? I suppose you don't have to worry about that for a month or two - maybe some styrofoam between the bulkheads ?
Looks good - keep the pictures coming !

D Bronk

..Hi Dad..I wasn`t really planning on much Water use,or it surviving till The Water season..LOL..But, I guess I should be optimistic, and plan for that also.. I`ve got some Nice Foam,, I`ll stuff it full before I Deck the boat..You know what,It just Dawned on me,that, a full Hull of Foam will help make the Boat,"Dent Proof" ( not Dent-less(just less Denting),or Dent-free LOL)a little too..It really doesn`t take much to put a Scar, or Ding in this hull,It`s Thin,and Light weight..

..Thanks Dad, it helps me when I`m encouraged, to think over things Prior to Getting to that particular Stage, of the Build.. Ill try to have something interesting to post, for pics tonight.. Have a good Day!! Dave B.

dadkins

put a radio box in and then fill it w/ spray expanding foam - then saw it off level w/ the deck sheet it w/ Monokote - and wella - instant deck.