air-madness

Hey guys, I just purchased the Airforce airboat and decided to jump on over to the boat forum; I fly planes and decided to get a boat that would accept some of my old R/C stuff (surface transmitter and airplane engine). Boat specs: Traxxas TQ 2 channel radio and a GMS .47 engine.

I toyed around today with the boat - man, it doesn't like ANY waves at all. The water almost has to be like a glass surfce for it to 1. not get any water in the hull, and 2. handle on the water. I do like it, but after stalling it out 300 ft. from shore it wasn't that fun. Yes, the manual says "...waiting game...", well, I waited, then after an hour I decided to get wet... The water is not ready for the human body to be swimming in just yet. Got my boat back though. I live on a lake (resivoir actually) that is pretty huge, and it was a little windy today (15mph perhaps) and I think the wind played a role in the wave issue.

For those of you out there that own this boat, do you have problems with the prop hitting water once it comes over the hull? I noticed that an eleven inch prop just clears the deck by 3/8 of an inch - this creates problems when water runs over the deck, my engine will get water in it from the prop slapping the water and then it dies (may place a tube over the carb) . I have tried a ten inch prop, various pitches, but cannot get the perfomance that I was acheving with the 11x6 (radar gun: 43.3; 42.6; 41.1; 39.8mph). These speeds are great for a water craft.

Also, is there any quick-good ways to seal up the hatch other than some end result that looks abtuse? I really do not want to soak the inside of the boat since the ply wood looks to be unfinsihed with any sort of sealant.

boatman1

Well the boat is a hydro style boat & it likes flat water to run
The .47 is about all the motor it really needs , a .40 may even be better for it
Use some radio box tape to seal the hatch
This is just me i use 3m giftwrap scotch tape to seal my radio boxs it seams to work
great for me but everyone has there own brand of tape or style that seems to
work best for them
& yes 15 mph wind is a bit strong to be running in but i do all the time with my big gasser
but not with my smaller boat
If its got white caps on the water i only run the big airboat

I do run some small white water rapids with my flatbottom boats
it dont take much water to stall the motor . i never get water in the motor unless i've
flipped them

Anything over 40 mph with a airboat is pretty darn good imo

1BADHD

I have that boat. I bought mine RTR with the .46 on it. Water does come over teh hull and water does get in the hull. I however do not have a problem with stalling the engine. I am still running the stock 11" prop. I took out my servos and receiver and water proofed them. I converted it to a air rudder though. Seemed to really help out the steering performance.

saleens7

the water rudder would keep it from performing bad in rought water, it keeps the bow down and although you might lose a few MPH to the extra drag, it will be more stable in windy and rough conditions....

sporty982000

I have owned two of the RTR Aquacraft airboats.

I ran them in a small pond at a park. Alomost every weekend for a summer.

here our my thoughts and views.

I really enjoyed this airboat. I don't have them any more. But want to get another one. I actually wish there was a set of plans as I would like to build it.

The stock engine worked well. There did seem to be a differance from the two, even though they were the same. One just never did run as aswell as the other.

I had issues with water also, I used plastic baggies for the some of the electronics and rubber bands. To keep water moisture out.

My boughts had came with like a seal fro the cockpit. that seem to work well, well when I made sure I had the screws tight and followed the tightening sequence.

The rudder I felt was a little short, So I re-mounted mine about 1/4 inch lower and that seem to get better steering.

But you have to start your turn before you get there and it takes alot of room to turn.

Yes, I felt any waves or small waves, it would become airborn. Flipped it a few times.

I just learned what to look for and not keep it wide open on windy days and ruff water.

After every run, I made sure I took the cockpit cover off and let it breath for a day or so.

Yes unless I wanted to wait along time for it to drift back even in the pond. When I was braking it in, I had a few stalls. About 8 tanks of gas until they ran good. Adjustment seem to be after every tank or less than that the first 3 tanks.

I ran it a little rich the first couple of tanks, so I went through a few glow plugs.

A little electric boat came in handy when it stalled on me to get it back in.

Sporty

vamp131

Hi I have a home made air boat stailed a few times fitted an air filter that seems to have cured the problem no water getting into the carb my 1st air boat i made i used an water rudder but an air rudder is what you want you can start the engine just let it run into the water itself save losing fingers lifting it in lol

sporty982000

I would enjoy a picture of your rudder you made and put on it.

I just pulled the throttle trigger all the way forward and killed the engine about 5 feet from shore and it coasted into shore and I picked it up.


Mine only stalled during brake in period and if I ran low on nitro fuel. So I kept a eye on my time from when I started my the airboat. I got about 8 minutes off fun.

Then On one of the boats I added a bigger tank and got abouyt 12 minutes of run time. However the added weight and bigger tank, prevents the nice engine cowling being used and the front end. I had to add a little weight in the front near the servos.


Sporty

air-madness

What is a good fuel proof, water proof paint for fiberglass? I am going to paint this thing a different color other than white; I purchased the ARR version and they come in white only appearntly.

1BADHD

I use Ceramic engine paint for my boats. Seems to hold up to the nitro very well.

I will try to get some pics of the rudder tonight. Its a rough in job till I get it tuned in. Then I will make a permanant one;

air-madness

Okay, I'm back w/more questions, thanks for the replies...

What is the best all around prop to use on the boat? I dont have any 10's (suppose I can pick some up) but have many 11's, here is my problem: I ran the boat again with an 11x6 prop, 11x5, and an 11x7 and seem to be getting the same results; my boat will beign to skip across the water at full speed. I have seen many videos of this exact boat on-line but none of the videos show the thing skipping such as mine does; what's up with the skipping, and what will fix that (weight on the rear, perhaps)? When the boat skips, any rudder movement WILL cause it to capsize. Yes, my rudder throw is correct (per the manual "7mm" left and right)

I had to get some fishermen with their bass boat to retrieve the airforce after it had capsized and drifted FAR AWAY...! I am begining to not like the boat thing at all...will most likely not pursue it any further unless it starts to work out for me. Damn boat hobby, I need to stick to planes. At least planes can be retrieved rather quickly without getting freaking wet, or the electronics wet. THIS BOAT LEAKS LIKE A SIV! VERY POOR HATCH DESIGN! Thanks again, Phil.

1BADHD

Hmmmm. I use a 11x6 on mine with great results. I cant explain the skipping you are experiencing. Mine skips but there has to be some hefty waves in the water to do so. I run mine in stuff I probably shouldn't.

air-madness

Okay, I'm back again. After long thought about the AirForce, I have decided to not give up on her just yet. I have decided to do some glass work to seal up that ever so leaky hatch design. What I have done is: (1) built a frame out of balsa to line the inside of the hatch recess; (2) took a thin piece of birch plywood and made it to the shape of the hatch top with a square hole in it; (3) so far, I put one layer of 1 1/2 oz fiberglass cloth on the exterior rapping it down and around the outside lip of the hatch (plan on putting 3-4 layers).

In the end, there will be a peice of 1/4 inch plexy glass secured w/blind nuts to the top w/foam under it to prevent leaking; all this will allow the plexi to be tightend down against the hatch hole. As far as the little man portion...I have tossed it aside and will be using just the canopy (painted black on the underside) as it normally would be used.

air-madness

Oh yeah. I did pick up various 10x props to see how they perform. Any ideas or thoughts about this?

air-madness

I have laid two layers of fiber cloth and I am satisfied with the results a great deal. As this is my first attempt at fiber glass, I would have to give a score of 8 out of 10; not bad at all (I did read a bunch of literature prior to begining the project). Anyway, the fiberglass was mainly to allow a water tight fit for the wood appliation, and to allow for a nice seamless end result so the paint, and work, wouldn't look awful. Still have yet to paint, but do beleive it will go well. Since most fiberglass work has an overcoat (gel coating) that is acrylic (spelling?); what would be a good paint? A member had stated "...ceramic engine paint..." above.

martno1fan

tetrosyl car paint in cans from any motor shop ,its fuel proof and looks great you can also get clear coat of the same brand.also for a good finnish i use filler primer first which fills any small blemishes you cant see with the naked eye .beleive me when you give it a coat of primer all those little marks will appear so save yourself some sanding and get spray on filler primer from the same motor shop its great stuff.heres my deep v i painted using these paints sorry its not an airboat but the finnish i acheaived was really nice.

air-madness

Hey, thanks. I will remember to get that kind of paint. You boat looks pretty good; did you build that from scratch?

DONS BOAT WORKS

My Feedback: (3)

My Flitecraft Outlaw is a Hydro, here is a video.
It does not skip, 15 MPH wind is to much for any hydro.
The engine on my Outlaw is a 30 year old K&B .40 with a 10X6 prop.
Don M.

http://www.rc-airboats.com/gallery/v...id=Outlaw_0001

martno1fan

Thanks for the compliment yeah i built it from scratch and have a large build thread on the gas boat forum .
[link]http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_5452887/tm.htm[/link]

air-madness

Hey guys, I'm back. Here is the latest phase I have completed in making the Airforce a water tight craft. Remember, this is my first attempt at glass, period.

I will only be using the canopy, in the end, as cosmetic appeal (will be painted black w/polycarbonate paint). The hatch will have a peice of 1/4 inch plexi glass used as the lid; this lid will be fastened down with four (4) screws secured w/blind nuts which will be placed on the under side of the hatch area (I have accomadated an anchoring system for these). Of course, there will be a foam like weather strip used in between the plexi hatch lid and the hatch opening to prevent the very thing this project targets: water in, and on, my damn electronics, without having to use freaking ballons to protect them.

I forgot to mention that the canopy will be secured w/an rc car body mount pole, that's right, a body mount pole. This pole will be directly in the center of the plexi hatch lid, it, then in turn, would be centered on the canopy (hole drilled in the canopy to allow hold down). I care less if water gets under the canopy, because all else will be water tight to the fullest that I can idealize. Enjoy!!

air-madness

I'm back with more to add to the Airforce sealing method, 101. Okay, here is the finished product with the exception of the final trim on the plexi lid cover. I tried the finished product out using a water hose with a spray nozzle (this is to represent various pressures that may be applied from splashing water), and I did the test of submerging it under water for a long period of time - three hours in duration (this represents the static pressure). Guess what? Not a darn leak -- period. Horay!!


Next, I will be adding blind nuts to the rudder assembly, since the rudder is only held in place with tapping screws to an area only 4mm thick. This, I tell ya, is crap. The blind nuts and a little block of wood will fix this problem.

sporty982000

Looks like a pretty good job !

I recently noticed my two plastic canopy hold downs were loose. The screws will nit tighten back up. So I am gonna have to glue them down.


I also started taking some measurements of mine, When I get time I wanna try and build one myself as close as possible to airforce.

Though I would like to build it bigger to handle a .61 engine. But since it will also be heavier, perhaps .61 will be okay with that size.

Sporty