Todays findings
I need a bigger prop and here is why I think so.
Yesterday I ran it with a 35 and a 40mm prop and with what turned out to be over depth rear ride pads.

I made a new set of ride pads that sit about 6mm or ¼” above the tail shaft.
Big changes.
With the tail shaft flat at 0 deg the boat has enough speed to get up on the front and rear ride positions, however the prop is still a little low in the water to make maximum effect as a surface drive prop.

I angled the tail shaft a little prop down to create more lift but this just held the prop lower with the same result.

I angled the tail shaft a little prop up and got great rpm but little effect as the prop cavitated a lot.

Back to 0 deg and it runs well with great rpm and an occasional cavitation. I got a few good straight runs from it and it fair flys !!
The big rooster tail is nearly here !!

Therefore I feel that I have enough rpm in the bank to go for a bigger prop.

I am going to get a 45mm prop in the same series that I am running so that will make it 45 x 1.4 = 45/63mm or 1.7”/2.4”

If this is too much of a bite and kills the rpm then that is good. I will “machine” it down to a 44, 43, 42 or whatever it takes to get this little boat up and running well.

I am not afraid to up-prop as I have done it before with my Great Planes Wildcat. With that one I upped the rpm with more cells and got nowhere. I changed the props against advice from some “experts” and got fantastic changes in performance. This is still a work in progress.
See here.
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_58...tm.htm#5890379

I will be back in a day or two to report my latest findings.

Bring on the BIG rooster tail !!

I shot another video of my lindenau rigger today ,

Here it is : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy0nwJs_kpA

Major discovery
I have discovered that my propellers that I am trialling are x1.2 pitch and not x1.4 like I was lead to believe.
This leaves me with 35x1.2 which is 42mm effective pitch or 40x1.2 = 48mm pitch
Given that the original design that this boat is based on calls for a 1732 or 1735 which is x1.7 pitch giving 54mm pitch for the 35mm dia prop it is small wonder that I am having performance issues, having only 65% of the required pitch is deffo not a good thing. [&:]
I now have a handful of props of various sizes and pitches and will do a trial when the wind dies down here. It is currently blowing 40 – 60 mph [X(]

I have been doing a bit of R&D on this boat over the last few days and have now got it to fly !!
I took a 45x1.2 prop and spun it down to a 42x?. What ever it now is it does the job well.
I have also fitted a set of ride pads to the front sponsons and these help it launch a lot quicker, however as they are tack on the transition between sponson bottom and the ride pads is still a little rough. This causes spray / drag and will have to be smoothed out.
These pads also add a little dihedral to the sponsons assisting with frontal lift. I will sand and paint them properly soon.
Overall I am happy with it at the moment as it is very quick and looks good. It has cost me very little and consumes a lot of time so that is good too.
I had a few problems today when the ESC “thermalled” and shut down. I have now gone back to the other esc that when it hits thermal will allow limp home power.
There is no room to add water cooling to the esc at the moment so this is something that I will have to live with. 1 run per session at the pond.

Here re a few pics of it running, you may notice the spray from the front modified sponsons but I will hopefully tune/sand that out. The last pic is of it being recovered by my GP Wildcat, when I had an esc thermal.

Hi guys

Please find my progress so far on my first rigger. Im looking forward to order the hardware next week from offshore electric. Actually i will test with a magnetic mayhem motor first , then go with a brushless motor.
Planning to order the following


Octura Coupler Flex Hex 5mm to .130 Cable
dh-kstubing K & S Brass Tubing tubing size: - 7/32" Diameter pn#130
cen-g82108 Cen Standard Servo
grp-2317.40 Graupner K Series 40mm
ros-21-strut Speedmaster 21 Strut
Round or Flat Bottom Strut?: - Flat Bottom Style -
dh-100 Pushrod Seals


Is that going to be ok, btw no cheap rudder in stock [:@] any ideas

Thanks

Iv got a rigger that im building right now Can i just screw the turn fin into the rear of the Spoon Or do i have to use something to extend it back further

Given that your center of gravity should be a little aft of the front right sponson I would suggest that it is mounted on an arm so that you can move it fore and aft to adjust turning ability.
Keep in mind that I am pretty new to riggers and still modifiying mine so my opinion may count for squat.
I search........I read...........I play..............I learn..............I write............I search......

Yes that is correct. The rear of your turnfin should be the axle of COG. So you should mount it on an arm or something to bring the turnfin a little towards the rear of your right sponson.

what Should i use for an arm cus i dont have and CF what else can i use??

A piece af aluminum , or even a piece of wood or hard plasic or ... whatever you have around.

mhmm ok do i have to varnish the wood??

O.K todays developments

I am now running a cut down prop. It was 45mm dia x1.2pitch it is now 42mm dia and is showing a lot of promise.
HULL
I have smoothed in the new front sponson pads and this has dramatically reduced the spray that was there yesterday.
Less drag is more speed.
While we are on about drag I found that the turn fin boom was causing a bit so this has been moved up the sponson, this meant making a new longer turn fin but that is fine.
MOTOR
The motor is an old Tamiya “Technigold” out of an old car and has the ability to adjust the timing, at least that is what I think the adjustment is. I have until now being running it at max rpm,I have now turned it so that I have lower rpm and I think it will be higher torque. This should help with launching and getting around corners.
I am hoping that it may increase run times too.
BATTERY
I am using cheapo 2000 mAh Ni-cad pack and I think that this may have to end soon. I can get some 3400 mAh Nimh packs for a good price so that will have to happen soon.

This is so much fun trying to get a 6-cell rigger going on a very limited budget.
I am on duty for the next 3 days so I will report back with the results of tonights changes in a few days.

You should do anything possible to stop the wood from sucking up water and become heavy and weak. Varnish or thin CA or thin epoxy will do the job fine.

ok thank you

Today was very good for me.
I got it up and running well.
I have now got new rear sponsons on that give a little more lift and get the prop up.
With the motor de-timed there is much more torque for the launch and the rpm is just right.
I ran a 42 x 1.2 prop and got the beginnings of a rooster tail. WOOHOO !!!!
I ran a different 42 x 1.2 and the little rigger fair skipped across the pond.
I am now in a position to play with the rear strut a little to get the prop up more.
I am also looking at playing with front sponson angle of attack to get it running higher and faster.
This R&D thing is waaaaaaaaaaay more fun than work.

I also figure that I need better cells, so they are on the way soon. 3300 mAh Nimh packs and a compatible charger.

More runs tomorrow morning so don’t go far, I’ll be back !!

Todays report.
The lake had a lot of surface debris so good clean runs were not possible, however I got a couple of good runs anyway, well as much as you can get from 2000mAh packs !
I have got it down to two props with the favorite being the Kyosho 42 x 1.2.
I am now playing with the lift height and angle of attack of the front sponsons and am making progress. If they are too deep the motor is expending too much energy lifting the main hull up that far. If they are too shallow then the main hull drags. Balance is everything. AoA is critical too.
A I will run again in the morning, hopefully before the swans wake up as one of them has a thing for small FE boats, he want to kill it !! [X(]
Wait until I have the new recovery tug/barge built, he will bust his beak on that as it is made from 17mm marine ply !!
The rooster tail is here and I am now working on making it bigger.
I am very happy and need another beer !! [8D]

This is becoming a bit like a blog isn’t it ?
Well her is todays progress.
I was initially suspecting a dodgy charge, but that was not the case. It turned out to be a loose wire to the motor. I resoldered it and tested it in the paddling pool. It was still bad..
I am now suspecting that the 15+year old motor could be on its last legs.
I have fitted the stock 540 can off the air powered boat as a trial unit.
I will run again in the morning and bring the results back tomorrow night.
If you think this is too boring with me updating day to day then say so. Otherwise I will continue to do so until I get this rigger running well.
Cheers guys.

Hey Simon

Good on you! man, keep us updated, will sure help us in setting our rigger. My hardware from offshore electric will be here this coming week and then the fun will begin

cya

yea man sounds great!!!!!!

Well this morning began a little later than planed due to the temperature outside.
There wasn't any...........it was GDF cold!!!
Anyway off to the lake with the now stock 540 power and my trusty box of props.
It was o.k but needed a little more power.
In goes the stock 550 out of a power drill and things changed rapidly.
It is now looking very good except that the battery dumps too quick and the esc goes to low power mode for a limp home.
I said earlier that I will have to get some 3300 mAh packs or higher. This is now an necessary.
The rigger will sit on the shelf untill I can "divert" the funds needed and get a pair of packs plus charger sent to me............hmm I may get them sent to a mate down the road and then I can slide them into use without someone else seeing them.
For those other guys setting up your riggers, DO NOT give up, I nearly did but have chosen to persevere and am now seeing results. It takes a lot of electons and a lot of hours to get a home made rigger running.
Put your findings here as this may become THE thread for rigger beginners.
I am enjoying the development.

i to am running a home made rigger and have similar problems to you Simon
i think props have a lot to do with it and testing out lots is a good start!
also strut adjusting is fun to play with as well! not that i have any clue as to what it does!! lol
im Brushless on mine and lipo batts and the power is there ! i just have the heat prob and thermal cutout aswell
just ordered an X637 metal prop as up to now i run with CF or plastic
nice log by the way -good to see your still at it
good luck

What motor are you using ? A X637 is a pretty big and way to high pitch prop for a rigger unless you have a really powerfull motor in the 4000Kv range like a Lehner 1535/6.

No wonder you're getting thermals from the ESC IMHO. Just trying to help here.

I'm running Feigao 380size L6 turns with a X433 and it's fast as hell. I'm also running a Lehner 1535/6 with X435 and X437 and it's even faster ( 60Mph range ) on 7 cells in my Lindenau Executive H1 rigger.

I've tried lots of props from Octura and it seems like riggers are most fond of the X4.. series.
X6.. series is way to high in pitch and shortens runtime allot
Y... series makes riggers act very funny and hard to drive with kinda too much prop walk

Can you tell me your motor please .

Thanks.

Oh dear then lol
the motor is a turborix! Turborix 3400rpm/v 255w D2632
it seems to have plenty of poke though!
its an ebay job-heres link
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=300115432653
it would be handy if someone could put some figures to it for me like what amps it REALLY might pull!
got no way of measuring over 20 amps -my meter doesnt go any higher[&:]
i have run an octura 2035 on it and it pushes it no probs
the ESC im using is a 30amp with 40 amp(10 secs)
but i would consider going bigger if i needed it?
im at a loss and stabbing in the dark really as i've got no real ideas what sort of power its matched to in brushed to get an idea for starting props
HELP!!
i run 3S lipos with it 2200 mah

is there another way of conecting the flexy shaft to the stub shaft?

Dylan -the only ways i know of are to solder it in or glue it using loctite 603 or similar sleeve retaining glue
i think 603 has some slight allowances for the metal being oily but its still a good idea to clean it properly
personally i have only ever glued them in as im not to hot with a soldering iron! lol
hope thats helps a bit
or if anyone else knows some otherways?