nitromandh

Ok, I just built an airboat. It snowed recently and I tried it out on it. It was the real wet and sticky snow too. I waxed the bottom of the boat, and the boat got up to about 15 mph in a 50 ft. flat stretch. Can anyone give me an estimate on how fast it can go on water?
I know there will be a lot of variables, but can anyone give me a guess?

jasperrc

More info on your boats specs and maybe some pics of the design would be helpful.

nitromandh

Sorry. It is 36 inches long, but 30 inches of it actually made contact with the snow. It is 18 inches wide and it sank about 1/4 of an inch down into the snow. It weighs about 10 pounds. I used a saito fa-50 engine with a 10X7 masterairscrew 3 bladed prop. I did have the engine tuned in properly too.

nitromandh

Sorry, here is a picture

Vertical3-D

My Feedback: (20)

seems to heavy to me for the size, at least for running well on the ground, I have a large gasser thats to heavy to run on the snow well...your boat interests me cause it has a four stroke on it and I just finished a scratch built air boat with a magnum .30 four stroke...mine sinks maybe a 1/16th of an inch in soft snow, not powder but very soft snow, I don't have room to run it out for long but I believe it would reach 40-50mph if it doesn't blow over. So that kind of performance may be something to shoot for in future hull...however your boat will definitely run better on water and while it may not be a powerhouse it should be super reliable and a ton of fun to just tool around the pond just like my large heavy gasser it...another good test for an air boat is if it will easily run on grass, even up grass hills...how bout some more pictures of the boat...

...p.s. I also fly planes and my plane that weighs 7-8 pounds uses a saito 91, and it just about has unlimited vertical, so thats another way around the weight issue, MORE POWER!!!...

nitromandh

Here are some more pics.
P.S. I wasn't really going for looks.

Vertical3-D

My Feedback: (20)

side profile shape looks pretty good, so the only things that might cause issues are the rudders so close together and maybe in future builds angle the sides of the hull, not to much you can do about the weight since it's built so I'd say if it runs good enough on water that you enjoy it then leave it alone, if it's not fast enough for you strap a bigger mill on there to up your power to weight ratio...ran my .30 powered one today, on snow it was fast enough to blow over at about 3/4 throttle, thats a downside to light weight, they like to take flight...I'll post about the boat later once it drys off and I can take some pictures...

nitromandh

Ok, I'll take a picture my first run on water, but I don't think that will be anytime soon. Depends on the weather. My brother and I had a smaller hull, but it liked to play submarine. So we decided to make a new one. I'm hoping it works out.

Vertical3-D

My Feedback: (20)

yeah, I only has a small patch of water that wasn't frozen so I didn't get in much water running either plus I don't have any foam in it to keep it from sinking so I didn't want to risk a water roll over

nitromandh

I also filled my new hull full of foam. It took about 3 cans of great stuff to fill it completely.

nitromandh

I just want to have one that goes fast, but not insanely fast.
P.S. Anyone elso who reads this thread, how fast can yours go?

crispyspa

Flat bottom on water......If everything is going good, look for about 30-35 on the water. Much over that they start to blow over, especially if the water is rough. Most of the time you can count on about 25 MPH. Ive had one of my 48" boats going 44 MPH on the snow.

nitromandh

When my brother and I first tried out our first hull, it got up on plane on about 1/8 idle. It went scary fast. Plus it sat way too low in the water. That's why we built a new hull.

asmithnc

I have a .46 flatty gps'ed at 42mph...water rudder.... also I have a SI3 almost at 70mph.

nitromandh

Hey, i changed my username. Anyway, that is insanely fast. Can you show me a picture of it?

asmithnc

A funny video..... The Longest Flip

nitromandh

Those things looke really cool. Sorry about what happened on the video though.

asmithnc

It's nothing to be sorry for...... If your not flipping your not going fast enough.

nitromandh

Lol, I bet it was fun cleaning the motor out. My friend's boat flipped too, but not long ways like yours did. His flipped side ways when he turned. He ruined his motor. He is now building a new hull out of aluminum.

Vertical3-D

My Feedback: (20)

+1 on that one, you don't know a boats limits till you break them, after that you will spend most of your time trying to skirt that line between really fast and lift off

nitromandh

That's funny. We got even more snow. We have a total of 8 inches now. I did another run. It once again maxed out about 15 mph. I don't think mine will flip anytime soon.

nitromandh

I forgot to mention. I encourage everyone who sees this thread to tell me how fast your airboat can go.
P.S. It would be cool if you can leave a picture of it too.

Vertical3-D

My Feedback: (20)

I'll put my gps in my boat next time i run it on the snow, I did some stuff to help prevent the flip so we'll see what it does

Selph-Inflicted

I GPS-ed my "Whats Hap'n" at 35.3 across the grass. Running a .46.
I got video of it somewhere. If I run across it, I'll share it.

nitromandh

Ok, that will be cool.