Just have a dive question for the Seawolf. The boat dives automatically as speed is increased due to the angle of the front dive planes. I have done my model with working rear dive planes as well. What angle do the rear dive planes have to be at to hold back the dive, if the rear of the dive planes are tilted downwards does that encourage the boat to dive - if I run the boat with the rear planes tilted upwards slightly will that help prevent the dive, or am I totally mixed up with my idea? Hope someone can clear this up for me. I once found a web site which showed the various angle of the dive planes and their effect - but of course I can't find it now......

Thanks

Ian.

Hi Ian,

I don't own a Seawolf but I think you got it right the first time, as the front dive planes are tilted downwards and the back are down as well, the read gets pushed up due to the position of the stern planes and the front tilts down due to dive angle of the front planes, like this:

/--------------\

And of course, to surface, the planes are tilted like so:

\--------------/

....Or simply release the throttle stick and let buoyancy do the work!

Thanks mate - that's reassuring, I read somewhere in some of the Robbe info that the dive can be delayed by using the rear planes but it didn't say at what angle they should be. No one in my club does any underwater craft so I've no one to ask - reckon I just could become the club's expert eventually but I don't want to start off by diving my sub into the sea bed.....


Ian

hI iAN
If you are using front and rear rc hydroplanes then the rear should point down to dive and the front point down to dive.
However during my construction i only used rear hydroplanes for rc and they work fine with the front planes horizontal.
Sean
P.S Ask SJN

Thanks for your reply Sean - Now that's interesting, I'm wondering now if I should do the same with my front planes and just fix them horizontally - all I want to be able to do is slowly dive under the surface and travel underwater at around one and a half feet. Our club pond is only three feet deep so I'm not looking at doing any fancy stunt work. I take it then that by just using your rear planes to make the sub go under you then level them out at the required depth to travel underwater, then raise them when you want to surface If that's right did you measure the front planes exactly level then fix them in that position? Also did you still cut out the holes in the conning tower and upper front deck to help with the flooding? Actually I did think of asking SJN but I seem to keep pestering him - I've even been sending him PMs so I didn't want to be a nuisance.

Thanks a lot Sean,


Ian

the rear dive planes can be given a little amount of up when you are about 1/3 dive, as this keeps the nose from going to deep and leaving the rear end to cavitate...so it's down, down, up, down...then you are submeraged and your speed keeps you at that basic depth....
why not try a depth control?
and i would be taking that sub to more open water....thats what i do...it is an incredible model, very effective.
I run mine in the might St Lawrence River ( I love when she is in the big waves) by the dam and in the canal and local deep ponds....she is a beauty...no leaks and very very reliable.

Thanks for the info Junglelord - I'm a bit far away from the St Lawrence river but once I get the hang of the sub I'll be looking for some deeper water locally. Glad to hear that you're pleased with the sub, and especially glad to hear about the lack of water leakage into the sub.

Thanks again,

Ian

Junglelord, how's the current? I had a relative that once live near a park that's on the bank of the river, the tide looks and flows pretty fast here in Montreal, don't know how it is over there in Cornwall.

the current depends on if you are east or west of the dam...bigger current east of the dam.
but even my walley Dallas does quite well considering the current downstream from the dam.
i like the bigger waves from the wind west of the dam....very cool
and diving with the bigger fish like carp[>:]
mine is currently set up as a dynamic dive unit because i only have 3 channel radio, but i have the art broder air pump and i am gonna go static like BIGSAX when i get a four channel radio...and also a depth control at that time

Junglelord,

You shouldn't have trouble installing a flexible ballast tank inside a boat like that, I've seen the picture of the WTC, on this boat and the U-47, looks very roomy!

Hi periscope lost the iternet but just got it back online. What you said is right and i fixed the front dive planes and had the rear planes rc'd. You still need a bit of speed to dive put you dont have to go as fast to go as deep. Once you rech a speed at each you dive you can dive all the way to the bottom at that speed. If you use standard 2 channel operation you must keep accelerating to go deeper and the deepest you can go is 1.5 feet.

Hope this helps

P.S Look at my failsafe thread.

Sean

Hi Sean - thanks for the reply - sorry to hear about the computer probs, but it happens to us all now and then. Our club pond is only two and a half feet deep so a 12 inch dive sounds OK to me. I'm still building and today I've filed down the top front section, so the next bit is to cut out the flooding holes and the periscope shape. I lightly stuck the locating tube and the support former in the bottom section this morning, then later on I decided that I need to glue the sides of the nose cone to it in order to pull the sides in a bit to keep them in line with the rest of the sub. I'm going to fit the automatic dive and surface stuff and then experiment with the screw settings 'cos I don't want the sub to dive too early - but maybe even with the front planes at 2 degrees down (as recommended) the sub might not dive too early. I'll have to wait until my sea trials. I've read the other thread about the lost sub - phew! that's all I need - I suppose it's essential to make sure that the WTC is really watertight.

Thanks again Sean,



Ian