RE: AquaCraft Alligator RTR
 

I picked up my Aligator Tours airboat yesterday. I must say I was impressed by the quality of the workmanship and how it looks. If it runs as good as it looks, it will be a lot of fun. I hope to find out today. I would post pictures of it, but I am basicaly computer illiterate. Maybe my 20 year old computer expert(daughter) can help me out. Dennis P.S.: I don't know if this is allowed(if not please forgive me), but Bob's Hobby Center in Orlando, Fl. had seven left yesterday afternoon.

RE: AquaCraft Alligator RTR
 

How much are the hobby stores selling it for, just for comparison?

RE: AquaCraft Alligator RTR
 

WE DEMAND PICTURES[sm=devious.gif][sm=biggrin.gif]

Glad to here it's released... lets get this thread hopping.

EDIT: Aquacraft has released the video for it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB4PqL5jpX8 looks nice.

RE: AquaCraft Alligator RTR
 

That video has been available for a long time now. :D

Actual user videos are what we need.

RE: AquaCraft Alligator RTR
 

Yeah user videos are always better. The manufacturer's videos never give you a real feel for the boat.
I didn't know that video has been released for a while now[sm=red_smile.gif] last time I checked it wasn't.

RE: AquaCraft Alligator RTR
 

do yall think that this boat can go on grass??

RE: AquaCraft Alligator RTR
 

At just over 6 LBS with a Super Tigre G34...It might go on hard surface but probably not very well on grass.....I think the hull is a slight "V", so it might handle funny on land anyway.

RE: AquaCraft Alligator RTR
 

:DSo where are all the home made vids!

RE: AquaCraft Alligator RTR
 

We at least need some pictures... Come on guys don't be stubborn, share the excitement:D

RE: AquaCraft Alligator RTR
 

I watched one run today I haft to say it run good. They will need a little tuning and trimming .but all new airboats needs some of that. At this time the only thing that I seen the boat dose not like a sharp turn at higher speed. Overall, it runs good.
Went to pond today with out my video camera so no video

RE: AquaCraft Alligator RTR
 

The Aligator Tours Airboat is officially out. I ran mine at Watula Park in Ocala, Fl. yesterday and it was both a good and not so good experience. The overall look and fit of the boat is very good. I paid $269.00 at a LHS in Orlando(east side). Yes when all the bugs are worked out and you find the right trim it will be a lot of fun with a minimum of fuss. This is my first review so if it appears I don't know what I am doing, well I don't. Please bear with me and I will try to make this understandable. The hull and structures(cage, engine stand, radio box) are well built and solid. The engine and the angle it is mounted at seem to be the the biggest issue. The engine is mounted pusher style(prop to the back). The engine is angled up at the prop. This seems to raise the bow and to give it to much thrust pushing it down in the water and causing it to roll rather than slip through the turn. I believe this can be fixed by raising the front of the engine to a more level or opposite thrust angle. I will test it out and let you know. The real problem was the engine itself. It had alot of fuel leaking out around the head when running. It ran good once we got it started(had to play with the throttle to get to start). It would run real nice across the water and and make very shallow turns, but if you turned just a little too hard it would hook and flip on you. Not just at high speed. Some exponential on steering might help, but I believe the real culprit is the engine angle. When I got home(Cocoa, Fl.) I took the head off the engine to check on the seating surface between the head and the engine block. I found that two of the four head bolt holes were cut(machined) into the combustion chamber. One was a small hole and the other was a slot all the way down the side of the spherical combustion chamber. I know this had to cause a loss of power, but since I was still running the engine real rich for break in, I don't know how bad it hurt the engine. I will get it fixed and we will see. As far as running in grass, it would barely move at all. The grass was real thick and the engine was not set for full power yet so we will have to wait to answer that question. I hope this helps somebody out. I will get pictures/ video as soon as I get my family expert to help me out(Daughter, Jr. at U.C.F., Yes , I'm a proud daddy.) I will give the boat an A- for now. The problems should be easy to fix. Not requiring major engineering changes in my opinion. Dennis

RE: AquaCraft Alligator RTR
 

Update on engine: went to LHS today and was going to swap out engines for a new one. Checked a new engine off the shelf and it was machined the same way. Pulled an engine out of another Aligator Tours boat and it was the same way. This may not be where the leak is. I was told by Hal at CajunGatorAirboats that a lot of Super Tigers are being sold with rough edges where the head meets the cylinder. He said to use 600 grit sand paper and a flat surface and run the case across this a few times and it should seal better. I will try it and let you know. Dennis

RE: AquaCraft Alligator RTR
 

Boaters,

If I might can I join in on the ST discussion?

The ST 34 is a really nice little power house. The carb can be a tad intimidating but the manual should be about as complete as you can get on tuning that motor.. I spent days and days making sure I had the info we needed to get the motor tuned.

Let me expand on the head issue. Here are the parts responsible for what we are talking about.

Cooling head (cast )
Head shim .0075” thick (copper)
Liner (Iron)
Head bolts

The bolts do nothing more then bolt the head in place. True enough if they are loose (never hurts to check them after the first run) the head will leak.

The head bolt holes in the cooling head do not have anything to do with the seal of the combustion chamber. The tightness of the head bolts do however. I like to set them at 12in#s.

The surface finish of the Cooling head under the head gasket “can” attribute to a leaking head. This is rare but can happen. (Mr Cajun Gator knows his stuff) The top of the liner, if not smooth can also cause this to happen. Again rare but can happen. The copper gasket (head shim) should be thought of as a part to set the head space and not seal the combustion chamber. Truth is my racing motors (some) do not use a head shims at all. It depends on what the boat, plug, prop etc, needs.

Here is a picture of what the head and head shim look like. You can see the “machine through” area around the head bolts that is in question. Again this has nothing to do with sealing the chamber. This head was pulled off a new airboat (Yep.. I had to keep a new one for me) and you can see the surface finish for your self regarding the area under the head shim.

In any case.. here is the deal.

After the first run (when the motor is warm) recheck the head bolts. (I take this for granted after doing this for so long.. sorry.

The head bolt holes in the cooling head can not cause a leaking head

If you see a buildup of oil between the cooling head and the case.. and its on the front right side of the engine.. you like me are stumped cuz almost all my motors do that on my test stand.. I have no idea how it collects in the same place every time.. has to have something to do with the air flow around the motor.. Where is comes from…. Im not sure.. my best running engines can do this while the motor is sitting stationary.. It never seems to happen right away and I have a feeling its exhaust and raw full swirling around the motor and or negative pressure partials coming from the carb.

And or your head is leaking…lol..

Grimracer

RE: AquaCraft Alligator RTR
 

The part that I'm referring to is the cylinder sleeve itself, not the head. There are times the sleeve at the top where it meets the head, there is a little ridge, (I think its just a little casting mark) that needs to be removed. 600 grit wet/dry sanding paper on a hard flat surface with a little metal polishing compound, little sand the top of the cylinder sleeve flat. Do not over sand, removing too much metal will change the compression of the engine and weaken the sleeve. Important to just remove the extra ridge. This is something that is not needed to be done to all engines.
FTR I use SuperTiger engines on my nitro airboats, IMO it is the best engine to be used on a pusher style nitro rc airboat.

RE: AquaCraft Alligator RTR
 

I would almost have to see this boat run to see just what is causing the hooking and flipping. If the engine is set on the same type of angle as the AquaCraft Air Force Airboat, this could cause some of the troubles. If the boat is not a true flat bottom, sliding turns most likely will not happen to well. The turning pivit point on airboats is located just behind where the rake meets the bottom, runners in this area sometimes causes hopping and hooking turns, depending on the speed of the turn. If the boat has a "V" shape near or at the transome, this will cause the boat to roll inward during turns.
Best advice at the moment would be to slow down in the turns, and use very small rudder movements.

RE: AquaCraft Alligator RTR
 

Grimracer, I agree with you on the holes in the head. I questioned it, but after paying attention to the setup, I realized that those holes were out of the combustion chamber. It still does not look good! Mr. Cajun Gator, I did what you recomended and I will let you know how it works out. Also, the hull has a shallow "v" to it. It has a strake(I believe that is the right term) running down the center of the keel all the way to the stern. It has 2 strakes, 1 on each side that only run part way down the bottom. I,m not familiar with the Airforce boat, but it seemed to me the angle of the engine was too much. I have changed mine and I will let you know how it goes. Please note Grimracer that in my earlier post I gave your boat an A-, which after reading some other posts on new boats, I thought was rather good marks. I understand that all new products have issues and when the few this boat has are corrected it will be an awesome, easy to use, fun boat. Dennis

RE: AquaCraft Alligator RTR
 

Dennis,

Im glad you are having fun with the boat.. the thrust angle is 6deg- I did this to carry the front under power. The thrust angle could be adjusted but its close to where it needs for this hull style and power.

If the boat starts to get out of shape nail the power.. tons of fun to power slide.

ROCK ON

Grim

RE: AquaCraft Alligator RTR
 

Grim we are having a [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_7517200/tm.htm]Race/Meet[/link] down here this month on the 25th and 26th, it would be nice to see you guys here, maybe bring a couple of these little boats and race with us. Dennis already has one and I just order one. I'm looking for a driver for this boat if anyone is interested. If we can get a few more of the AT airboats, I'll set up a class just for them.

RE: AquaCraft Alligator RTR
 

This boat looks like it has the exact same motor mounts as the Air Force. And I agree that the smooth bottom would let it slide more. It would be a bummer to flip it all the time.

RE: AquaCraft Alligator RTR
 

I looked up "Aquacraft Alligator" on google images. Look what comes up in the second row, 3 things that are familiar.:D That's cool.

RE: AquaCraft Alligator RTR
 

Truth is I have NO IDEA if its the same as the old airforce.. If it is its by chance, that boat was WAY before my time and I have not pulled any info off of it.

Grim

RE: AquaCraft Alligator RTR
 

Had me really wanting to know, so I did a little research at tower hobbies, for replacement parts of the 2 boats. For something to be by chance, it is amazing that the replacement mount for the air force and the alligator tours have the exact same part [link=http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXMNW1&P=Z]AquaCraft Engine Mounts w/Screws Airforce Airboat[/link] [link=http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0005p?&I=AQUB29**&P=Z]AquaCraft Alligator Tours Airboat w/Supertigre G34 RTR[/link]

RE: AquaCraft Alligator RTR
 

And that's why I commented since I own the airforce (and it's a blast BTW), because you had pointed out that if it did have the same angle, it could cause problems on the different type of hull the Alligator has.

Slowing down on turns is no fun on an airboat. :D




We now see that they are in fact using the exact same part. That's one heck of a "by chance".

RE: AquaCraft Alligator RTR
 

The motor mount parts are the same but the angle that the mounts are set were not set using any info from the airforce..

Hum.. the fact that the parts are the same is one heck of a "by chance"... lol.. what the................. HPI... you are a funny man.....

Grim

RE: AquaCraft Alligator RTR
 

Does anyone know, Who I can talk to about custom LED's. I have the airboat and there's a list of things im doing to it.