Here’s what my “thunderboat” looks like now

[Jeffrey Hammond]

I am thinking that I will buy waterproof servos, and mount them outside a plastic radio box. Plastic “ project box” will have an on/off switch, a 2s life 2200 battery, and a receiver( probably one of my airplane6 channel receivers.)

 

[Craig Hollingshead]

Here is my setup.

Craig

 

[Jeffrey Hammond]

Very neat and nice! I am thinking about doing the same thing with some slight modifications:
1. I would like to use the rotary action of the servo post to rotate the throttle arm, so I do not have any any bellcranks in the system. Fewer moving parts. I think Zipp kits offers this hardware setup.
2. I would like to use a project box for my waterproof area. I can get one with a rubber lid gasket, and mounting lugs to mount it to raised plywood blocks on the floor. 4 screws to tighten lid.

Your rudder servo setup is very nice. Clean, straight, tough.. have some general questions:
1) In general, do you worry about getting water in your boat while running? Did you keep you pipe cooling vents open?
2) I notice that you kept some of your upper cross- frames intact. Were you concerned about the hull twisting?

J.B.

 

[Jeffrey Hammond]

Let me know if this thread is in the wrong section. I’m thinking maybe it is. I don’t know who to contact to pose the question. I guess if I piss someone off completely, they will let me know.

 

[Jeffrey Hammond]

How big a gas tank do I need for this 260 PUM motor? Does everybody use these pouches for fuel?

 

[FloridaScaleBoater]

How big a gas tank do I need for this 260 PUM motor? Does everybody use these pouches for fuel?

Whe I ran Thunder Boat, I ran 16oz Sullivan hard tanks, plenty of fuel for a heat

 

[Craig Hollingshead]

I run with the bags.

 

[Jeffrey Hammond]

Hey Craig
Any response to my other two questions in post 43?

 

[Craig Hollingshead]

1). Boats get wet. Vents are open
2). Just didn't cut them off. Doesn't add much weight, and it may stiffen the boat, but I don't think it flexes much anyways.

 

[Jeffrey Hammond]

Thanks for your responses. Gives me something to think about.

 

[Rich Jones]

Yeah don’t worry about water. You have floatation in the boat. It won’t sink. Make sure you also add floatation to the cowl. At some point it will fly off and it will sink if you don’t add something that floats. When the boat is on plane, water will not come in to any great degree. It may when the boat is sitting still but again you have floatation. It’s best to let air circulate in your hull so don’t close up open frames . Make sure your electronics box is sealed up tight and you silicone around where the wires enter. I saw where you mentioned using an airplane receiver? I don’t recommend doing this. I would use a surface radio and surface receiver. Most modern radios have memory and you can run all your boats with them. On the throttle, I use the Zippkits cable setup on ALL my gas boats. It works great. While it is a flexible setup, I try to keep the line between the servo and throttle as straight as possible. You can do somewhat of an S bend but mount the servo in the direction of the front of the boat. If you try to do a 90 it creates drag and your throttle response is delayed or inhibited in my experience. I’m attaching a pic of one of my setups.

 

[Jeffrey Hammond]

Rich
Great info, thanks. I will. Be running two waterproof servos outside of the radio box. Very aware of straight line geometry on servo setups, so I am good to go on that score. Appreciate the advice on water in the boat….my old crapshooters had holes in the bottom of the boats and water just went out when you were running and came in when you stopped. But this Missile is a little different.
Roger on the cowl flotation. A good project for tomorrow.
Would prefer to use a stick radio…..do they make surface stick radios? Are surface receivers different than airplane receivers? Are the transmitters different ( other than the wheel function)? I need to do some research on this radio thing.

 

[Rich Jones]

Rich
Great info, thanks. I will. Be running two waterproof servos outside of the radio box. Very aware of straight line geometry on servo setups, so I am good to go on that score. Appreciate the advice on water in the boat….my old crapshooters had holes in the bottom of the boats and water just went out when you were running and came in when you stopped. But this Missile is a little different.
Roger on the cowl flotation. A good project for tomorrow.
Would prefer to use a stick radio…..do they make surface stick radios? Are surface receivers different than airplane receivers? Are the transmitters different ( other than the wheel function)? I need to do some research on this radio thing.

Here’s one to look at. You want a surface frequency to run boats. Here’s a stick radio you might consider:

https://www.amainhobbies.com/futaba...ystem-w-r304sb-receiver-fut01004366-3/p645524

 

[Hydro Junkie]

Actually, just about all radios sold today are on 2.4GHz so there isn't really aircraft or surface frequencies anymore. As far as receivers go, there are surface and aircraft versions but what makes them different is something I don't know.

 

[Rich Jones]

Actually, just about all radios sold today are on 2.4GHz so there isn't really aircraft or surface frequencies anymore. As far as receivers go, there are surface and aircraft versions but what makes them different is something I don't know.

Good to know. Probably more of a feature thing. Dont know. Maybe others could chime in as well.

 

[Jeffrey Hammond]

I have been flying for about 14 years now, and I have a 2.4 DX8 G2, and it has more features than I could ever possibly use. I was thinking that I could use one of my 8 channel receivers that has a fairly long antennae coming out of it ( 2 actually). If I mount it on the lid of my radio box, that wire could stick up a couple of inches above the box, and through a hole in the cowling. Put it in a tube with a sealing nub on top, and it might work. I hate to pump out another $400 if I don’t have to.

 

[Jeffrey Hammond]

I m trying out a new radio box design. First shot out of the cannon……

 

[Jeffrey Hammond]

I also did some flotation work on my cowling. Pics later, simple stuff…..

 

[Jeffrey Hammond]

Rich Jones
Got the cowl flotation thing done that you recommended. Pics follow. Nothing real dramatic.

 

[Jeffrey Hammond]

More work on the proposed radio box setup. I ran a string from the hole in the transom where the rudder control rod goes to the projected servo position. Drew black arrows on the picture to point it out. I had a couple of plastic radio boxes, but I didn’t like the way they fit. I decided to order a box with stainless hinges and clips.