Crabstick

Anyone seen one of these hydros

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...985367762&rd=1

they seem to be all over ebay at the moment, i plan to repower with gear drive 540, 6 cells to start with, a Few guys from the local club have got them also. im just waiting for mine to arrive, then the mods can begin

in stock trim they dont even really plane, and the cog is all up the fudd, but nothing a little battery moving, new motor etc wont solve

pompebled

Hi novacat,

These hydroplanes have caught my eye aswell, if the hull is lightweight (doubt it) I'm considering to rebuild it with a 700 motor and 12-14 cells, using a flexshaft and seperate rudder.

How thick is the hull?

I think your idea of using a 540 and 6-8 cells should work very good, providing the hull is light enough.

Keep us posted!
Take pictures of the refitting please.

Maybe it will trigger a new life for this eBay dudd...

Regards, Jan.

Crabstick

Hi there

The hulls do seem to be reasonably light and the edges are sharp, this isnt my one cause it hasnt arived yet, this belongs to another club member

pompebled

Thanks for the picture!

I now have a better idea of what to expect.
How waterproof is(n't) the seam between upper and lower bodyhalf?

Even the geared down 500 motor looks tiny in this hull, I hope it will get it on the plane, aka the hull doesn't prove to be too heavy.

Please keep us posted.

Regards, Jan.

Crabstick

Hi Jan

The seam is ok as far as i know, only one corner of the hull is glued (with hot glue) so it will probably leak if not sealed, when i do mine i plan to use some bathroom sealant round the seam, so if need be i can get it apart without too many issues. Factory they are powered by 2 380's , so hoping that the 540 will wake it up a bit, if it doesnt perfom as expected a 700bb and 12 cells may find their way in there, but at the moment im quietly confident that it should plane, gear ratio about 1.8:1 and a s215 prop will be my start point


another pic of Chris's hydro - Cheers chris

pompebled

Hi,

If you can, take off the ridges and fins from the 380 propshafts, it will only cause drag, and that's the least you'll want...

Regards, Jan.

Crabstick

Hi Jan

Yep that is the plan to remove the skegs and stuffing bulge, ive had a bit of a look at the cog of the factory setup, the cog is where is should be for a cat! i moved the radio box back, and put the battery in the nose, now the Cog is about an inch behind the sponsons where it should be, other people running their boats of this type they seem to drag the ass of the boat, so maybe it might actually plane on its dual 380's.

while i was at moving the battery around, i thought id see how 12 cells sit in the nose and am very pleased to say that they fir nicely, also the stickers came off without too much trouble, i did actually use a bit of prepsol too, which i tested on a small area first, it removed the gunk from the stickers (and a little paint so dont rub too hard) it almost worked like a cut for the paint and the areas i removed the stickers from are very shiny

SJN

Hi, dont know if you have seen my thread: http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_3137775/tm.htm


Im a newbie in boating......where shoud the proper CG be on these things ?

Crabstick

Hi SJD as far as i know the COG should be just behind the sponsons

pompebled - the pics you have seen are not actually my boat, its another person in the club's

mine i will be having the motor a lot further back and using a flex drive and seperate rudder, the battery will be going as far forward as i can get it

your boat looks good, id be really interested to see more pics or video's, you can post them at rcflix.com for free

SJN

Bummer....there is no way I can get the CG right behind the sponsons......it will be about 2 inches from them.

We will see how it goes

Crabstick

when i say just behind the sponsons im talking about an inch , normally very close to the turn fin