Rudder system for custom electric
 

Hi
i have a rather custom built racer from the 50s, looks similar to a crackerbox / wildthing type shaped boat. It is of ply construction. my father built it years ago but never got round to adding motors etc. (no radio then was there?)

As its a custom i have no idea what sort of rudder system, off set, straight etc. i want this as a working general boat for my son, not racing so needs to steer both ways!

I have a 540 and 700 motor, neither are fitted, nor is a propshaft. The hole for the prop leaves the transom at the base not under the boat.

Sorry but im not overly familiar with terms used, so please exuse my ignorance. Im in the UK. i have no photos as of yet.

Thanks

RE: Rudder system for custom electric
 

what are the dimensions of the boat?

i think it would be better to have a rudder behind the prop...they are better for sport running as they give better steering control at slow speeds and usually have more responsive steering as it also uses the force of the water being pushed from the prop to steer...

like this

http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/pro...ct-oc6str-130a

the reason the hole for the shaft is at the base of the transom and not out of the bottom of the boat is it uses a surface prop setup, which means that whem the boat is on plane, only one blade of the prop will be in the water...this allows for more top end speed and lets the motor spin faster....

you will also need an ESC (electronic speed control) that will work with the motor...the # of cells to use will depend on the size of the boat and wich motor you use (540's normally run on a single 6 cell pack, while 700's run on 2 six cell packs to make 12 cells total)

RE: Rudder system for custom electric
 

Thanks for the reply, ill try the inline rudder. Also is there a good source of online equipment as its difficult for me to get to model shops, the nearest town is 2 hours and there is no model shop in inverness that i know!!

RE: Rudder system for custom electric
 

sorry forgot to mention im in the UK!! so any UK online resources firstly

RE: Rudder system for custom electric
 

'W.F.',
There are probably as many sources for R/C things in the UK as there are in the USA. And while there are a number of 'you guys' on this forum, you would probably have better luck getting the information you are looking for from one of the UK forums. They are just a lot more familiar with where to look for things there. "Locally" means a lot of different things to different people, but at something like 4500 miles, the UK just isn't all that 'local' for me :).
Try here;
http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/Forum_1.htm
Even the language 'translation' will probably make sense to you (Ooo, some of the common 'English' phrases just do NOT mean the same thing here! ;))
Also, please understand that I'm not trying to 'get rid' of you! You are certainly welcome on this forum, we need all the help we can get too.
- 'Doc