Not much got done over the past two days due to other things happening. Today, it was an R/C Unlimiteds boat race that I went to part of, as a spectator. My race boat has had a couple of issues that I've been trying to get worked out, just didn't make it for today. Between rain showers and before running a few errands, I got to see four different classes of hydroplanes race:
- 1:10th scale electric
- 1:8th scale electric
- 1:8th scale nitro
- 1:6.7 scale gas
What made the trip worth it was not the boats or racing but, rather, who showed up. Part way through the second set of heats, Jimmy Shane(driver of the full sized Homestreet Bank/Miss Madison unlimited showed up with his wife to watch a few heats and pick up a scale unassembled fiberglass 0706 hull, the first one he drove for the Madison team. I met Jimmy at the HARM a few years back so it was nice to be able to say HELLO.
Getting back to the boats, I should have the rest of the stringers added to the lengthwise frames tonight and will follow that up with getting the three transoms laid out. I'll be doing things slightly different than what the plans show with these parts. To keep the weight down and strength up, I'll be making these frames out of two pieces of plywood, laminated together. The plans show all three parts being cut from 1/4"(6mm) plywood and, in previous builds, that is what I would have done. This time, all three parts will have a 1/16"(1.5mm) outer skin with 3/16(4.5mm) inner framing on the right sponson and rear transom while the left sponson transom will be framed with a second piece of 1/16"(1.5mm) plywood for a total thickness of 1/8"(3mm). I'm sure this will have people wondering "WHY?" The answer is weight. This inner frame will have a lot of the material removed where it's not needed so I'll be cutting lightening holes in the inner frames. As far as using thinner material on the left side, I won't need as much strength since the turn fin will be on the rear of the right sponson. Once I get the three transom part sets cut out, I'll weigh them and then weigh them again after the excess material is removed and they are laminated together. I'll try to keep a running total of how much the boat weighs and how much I've removed as I go along through the build.
As for my present racer, here's a shot of it running at slow speed:
As can be seen in this picture, there isn't a turn fin on the back of the sponson, hence the lighter construction of the sponson transom while the recent picture of the Pak being lowered into the Columbia River shows the turn fin, drive gear and rudder.
