Ashgardiner

Hi guys first post in the boating section. am really into aero but i have always wanted a nice 60's speed boat.

anyway on to the question. i have a 63inch Riva Aquarama speed boat. currently it is just a very nice static model. i would like to convert it to RC as i have a couple of very nice man made lakes within walking distance from my house.

my question is what kind of motors am i going to need to get this beast moving? its twin prop so am i better off having one motor and a gearbox to drive both props or a motor for each prop.

ideally i would like the speed controller and motors to be 11.1 volt as i have loads of spare 11.1v 3cell lipos from my aero adventures.

please note i am a complete novice when it comes to boats so please be patient with my foolish questions.

Thanks

Ash

thorsail

Hi Ash - I don't know about motors , and you will get great advice from this site and from www.rcgroups.com/forums if you care
to access that chat site - however since you are in the UK , and will probably be buying from a local source , do you know about
a wonderful site in your own country ? it's www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php? those guys are awesome , plus the site
will have ads and links to UK hobby shops .
wow - a 63" Riva ? could you post a picture ? it would be nice eye candy , plus any interior shots will help the guys advising you
on how to do a install - space requirements , etc. Good Luck !

Allan
Chicago

Habaneroe

My Feedback: (1)

Don't underestimate the amount of power needed to get that thing up on plane- I would go all out with twin direct drive brushless motors. If you have reserve power so be it...

Ashgardiner

cheers for the link allan. i will put some pictures up when i can. i dont currently have a digital camera, but i plan to buy one at the end of the month.

as for the motors i was thinking of brushless but what size. i dont want to go too mad and make the boat too heavy.

pompebled

Hi Ash,

How heavy is the boat, and what are the dimensions?

I agree with Habaneroe, to go for plenty of power, you can always throttle down...

If your Aquarama is one of the Vietnamese builds, you'll have to seal the inside of the boat very thoroughly to avoid disaster like some have experienced here on the forum, where the hull cracked beyond repair due to the influence of moisture. Adding a layer of glasscloth and epoxy resin to the running surface might be a good thing, to keep the hull from cracking up.

Not all boats from Vietnam are build to float.

Try to keep the running gear as light as possible (aka brushless and Lipo's), use hobbygrade propshafts and stuffing boxes and make sure both motor(s) and ESC(s) are watercooled, as the heat has nowhere to go in a sealed hull.

Regards, Jan.

Habaneroe

My Feedback: (1)

As for size my two use the B36- at the top of the page here:

http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/products.php?cat=42

My boats dont use lipos and so my run times are pretty short- and the 6-cells weight them down as well so yes I think lipos are the way to go.