OK, I would like some information for the new boaters.

What's the best way to get started - Electric or Nitro - 'V' hull or Tunnel Hull?

I don't want to see a bashing war but valid pro's and con's for each.

Thank You

In my opinion, it depends where the beginner wants to go... If scale, warships, and/or combat are big interest areas, then I'd go with clean, reliable electric. If fast and/or flashy is the thing, then I'd go for glow or gas powered.

Of course, everyone should consider keeping a sailboat in their hangar... some of the worst weather for airplanes is great for saiolboats!

What did you start with and why

I started with an electric boat. It was a stand-way-off scale model of a Covette from the navy of a third world country. Really pretty boat: nice lines and easy shape to build.

I went with electric because it's a pretty narrow boat and didn't have a lot of space to deal with mufflers and starters and such, and because for it to go a scale like speed, it has to go pretty slow. Also less stuff (like fuel, etc.) to carry with the boat and it stays nice and clean (though I think that a good exhaust system would let a glow or gas powered boat stay clean, too).

I later built the sialboat for about the same reason that I have gliders... I just love the concept of wind power -- competition is a lot of fun, too, but you can easily do that with powered boats, too.

I have enjoyed the gas power because it is so much easier to run than nitro. Nitro engines have to be fiddled with all the time and it gets old quick. And they can be a real pain to start too.

Electric is easy too but becomes expensive when you start looking for more speed because you end up having to buy new speed controls, larger cell batteries and new chargers that can handle the batteries.

Deep Vee are great for beginners because they are so stable and cut through the water with ease, epecially if there is a little wind blowing. They are very controllable in the turns and when set up properly, are hard to flip. Because flipping a boat upside down is the last thing you want ver to happen!!!

I sent you an e-mail too that you may be interested in.

Brooks

Hi Brooks --

I lived in Mungumry one summer. I enjoyed it a lot, but I never got too close to the water 'cause I was affraid of the snakes down in the river.

Anyhoo, your experience kinda supports my idea that what kind of power should depend on what kind of boat I think... in a scale military ship, you get more floatation that you know what to do with... a well built boat will nearly always need balast to bring it down to the waterline, so in that usage, the excess weight of cheap lead-acid batterries is an advantage and they store enough energy to run a couple of motors for as long as the radio batteries will last -- or longer.

Glow power is tough, especially for a boat that's not real fast, because of the need for a lot of cooling... but it's an engineering problem like anything else... it can be mastered pretty well if you fell that it's worht your time to mess with it. I'm sure most people would rather be enjoying running the boat rather than spend lots of time working on the cooling system.

I have to agree with the others. First you'll have to decide what you are going to do with the boat, race or play. What do you prefer? Electrics are a good way to start as that is the way that I began and learned a lot about how to set up a boat for performance, props, CG, etc. With nitro, a good starting spot is a 3.5 powered outboard tunnel hull boat. It is fast enough to be competitive for racing and to keep your interest plus aren't too difficult to set up for a beginner. Gas powered boats my seem to be a little pricy in the beginning, but you save money in the long run because of lower fuel costs, less support equipment and not prone to be temperamental during weather changes. Whatever you choose,the first thing is to have fun!