What class?

[Bill Gibson]

Okay, a long time nitro boater(me!) wants to know....what is the CHEAPEST, EASIEST HYDRO class to get into? I like Sport type hydros the best, but riggers are cool too!

 

[byron westman]

well i might not no what the cheapest is but the word cheap doesn't exist in our hobby.

maybe a ul 1 rtr to start?

 

[Jerry Muro]

Bill for a rigger the quickest and cheapest in my opinion is the JAE FE. Super competitive and reasonable in cost to go fast. Next I would recommend a Whiplash sport 20 for Sport racing. Again can be very competitive for reasonable price.Jerry

 

[raptor347]

Do you want a wood kit or glass?

A P-spec boat is going to be the cheapest entry into FE. The bonus is it's the most widely run power class. For a sport boat you can go with a whiplash 20, PT Stealth 20 or insane FE30. If you like to build, the small whip is hard to beat.

For a rigger, the cheap way in is the JAE. It's good running boat. If you're looking for glass, I build a vacuum bagged epoxy glass boat that doesn't lose very often . But it's not a $100 kit.

 

[RaceCraftBearings]

Okay, a long time nitro boater(me!) wants to know....what is the CHEAPEST, EASIEST HYDRO class to get into? I like Sport type hydros the best, but riggers are cool too!

Mr. Windex your going to become an amphead :blink: Please be careful with the windex around all that voltage!

 

[SeanKewley]

Do you want a wood kit or glass?

A P-spec boat is going to be the cheapest entry into FE. The bonus is it's the most widely run power class. For a sport boat you can go with a whiplash 20, PT Stealth 20 or insane FE30. If you like to build, the small whip is hard to beat.

For a rigger, the cheap way in is the JAE. It's good running boat. If you're looking for glass, I build a vacuum bagged epoxy glass boat that doesn't lose very often . But it's not a $100 kit.

Yep. What Brian said.

Here is a link to a Fast Electric guide that we put together for District 4 that outlines some of the popular P-Limited (Spec) classes, hulls, and power systems.

http://www.intlwaters.com/index.php?showtopic=43895&st=0&p=394022entry394022

 

[jayt]

Bill, one important deciding factor is where you race. What boats are popular in your area? Is there an FE club within striking distance? I ask because it is easier to build a first successful FE boat if you have some local help. I have helped quite a few fuel racers start in FE and there is a learning curve. Without help it is easy to make a small mistake (one taken for granted by experienced FE guys) that can damage expensive parts. The most common mistakes I see new FE boaters make - and not just fuel racers: hull leaks like a sieve; poor soldering; wrong motor choice; run for too long and overheat ESC or motor. Having local guidance or asking a lot of questions on FE boards can keep the new FE boater out of trouble. Just food for thought.

The recommendations above are all good ones, you can have a LOT of fun with them!

.

 

[Bill Gibson]

First, thanks for the input guys....ummm here's the deal...ive been kinda wanting to get into an FE hydro for the last few years, but everytime i start getting info, i get completly lost with the battery/motor/esc/charger part, so i just give up....i come from the nicad days back in the 80s racin cars, you know...1200mah SCRs, SCEs, etc....i was hoping that there was a simple boat/motor/batery/charger comination that a simple minded moron like myself could run and maybe race...i looked at the UL-1, but it seems im not hearing much about it from most of you...is there a legal class for it? Perhaps its not such a good boat for the occaisonal race? I have a Nitro powered Whip, and its an AWESOME boat, but i just dont have time to build another one...i was hoping to come up with something cheap and easy to run and maybe race, but maybe what im looking for just doesnt exsist....Ron,for sure Windex and electronics would NOT be a good mix! :lol: To give an example of how old school i am, i had an MRP Miss Budwieser that used two 6 cell packs and the speed control was a mecanical switch deal! I did have alot of fun runnin that thing for a whopping 3 minutes at a time before the batteries DUMPED! :lol: BOY! How times have changed!

 

[SeanKewley]

First, thanks for the input guys....ummm here's the deal...ive been kinda wanting to get into an FE hydro for the last few years, but everytime i start getting info, i get completly lost with the battery/motor/esc/charger part, so i just give up....i come from the nicad days back in the 80s racin cars, you know...1200mah SCRs, SCEs, etc....i was hoping that there was a simple boat/motor/batery/charger comination that a simple minded moron like myself could run and maybe race...i looked at the UL-1, but it seems im not hearing much about it from most of you...is there a legal class for it? Perhaps its not such a good boat for the occaisonal race? I have a Nitro powered Whip, and its an AWESOME boat, but i just dont have time to build another one...i was hoping to come up with something cheap and easy to run and maybe race, but maybe what im looking for just doesnt exsist....Ron,for sure Windex and electronics would NOT be a good mix! :lol: To give an example of how old school i am, i had an MRP Miss Budwieser that used two 6 cell packs and the speed control was a mecanical switch deal! I did have alot of fun runnin that thing for a whopping 3 minutes at a time before the batteries DUMPED! :lol: BOY! How times have changed!

The UL-1 is a fine choice and is quite capable of running in the P-Limited Sport Hydro class (Also called LSH) If you get tired of it, or you wear out the hull you can just transfer the hardware, ESC, and motor to a different hull. As far as chargers and batts go... Did you check out the link I posted? It lists some options for you to pick from.

One thing I will say. 2 minutes of full throttle racing speed will still deplete today's batteries as well. They just pack more punch in a smaller package than their predecessors (Nimh, Nicad)... Unless of course you have more than 5000mAhs

 

[Bill Gibson]

First, thanks for the input guys....ummm here's the deal...ive been kinda wanting to get into an FE hydro for the last few years, but everytime i start getting info, i get completly lost with the battery/motor/esc/charger part, so i just give up....i come from the nicad days back in the 80s racin cars, you know...1200mah SCRs, SCEs, etc....i was hoping that there was a simple boat/motor/batery/charger comination that a simple minded moron like myself could run and maybe race...i looked at the UL-1, but it seems im not hearing much about it from most of you...is there a legal class for it? Perhaps its not such a good boat for the occaisonal race? I have a Nitro powered Whip, and its an AWESOME boat, but i just dont have time to build another one...i was hoping to come up with something cheap and easy to run and maybe race, but maybe what im looking for just doesnt exsist....Ron,for sure Windex and electronics would NOT be a good mix! :lol: To give an example of how old school i am, i had an MRP Miss Budwieser that used two 6 cell packs and the speed control was a mecanical switch deal! I did have alot of fun runnin that thing for a whopping 3 minutes at a time before the batteries DUMPED! :lol: BOY! How times have changed!

The UL-1 is a fine choice and is quite capable of running in the P-Limited Sport Hydro class (Also called LSH) If you get tired of it, or you wear out the hull you can just transfer the hardware, ESC, and motor to a different hull. As far as chargers and batts go... Did you check out the link I posted? It lists some options for you to pick from.

One thing I will say. 2 minutes of full throttle racing speed will still deplete today's batteries as well. They just pack more punch in a smaller package than their predecessors (Nimh, Nicad)... Unless of course you have more than 5000mAhs

Sean, I forgot to mention that i did checkout the link you posted and it was EXCELLENT!Made it much easier to understand my options...perhaps i will look into a UL-1..im sure just like the nitro stuff there are mods that can be made to make the hull stronger, etc...Thank you very much! Maybe that might be a good boat to get my feet wet with!

 

[SeanKewley]

You will be happy with your choice. The UL-1 was my first FE boat as well.

 

[moparbarn]

bill, grim brought a UL-1 to the wtc a couple of years ago. he let anyone that wanted to play with it. it was a blast!! good running hull, stable, fairly fast & turned very well (it was bone stock except the prop). seems like a good, quick, fairly inexpensive place to start .

 

[Bill Gibson]

bill, grim brought a UL-1 to the wtc a couple of years ago. he let anyone that wanted to play with it. it was a blast!! good running hull, stable, fairly fast & turned very well (it was bone stock except the prop). seems like a good, quick, fairly inexpensive place to start .

Thanks Sean and Robin! Gotta wait for my tax refund...Winternats kinda left my ass BROKE! :lol: :lol:

 

[Andy Greene]

Bill,

Brain (raptor347) and Jay (jayT) are certainly 2 of the most experienced F/E guys around,

liken it to 'listening to Marty'

And from one friend to another- you can take that to the bank.

Andy

 

[Bill Gibson]

Bill,

Brain (raptor347) and Jay (jayT) are certainly 2 of the most experienced F/E guys around,

liken it to 'listening to Marty'

And from one friend to another- you can take that to the bank.

Andy

Andy, anytime we compare somebody to Marty, thats definetly saying something about thier abilities!....FOR SURE!

 

[moparbarn]

bill, when i drove the ul-1 in c-town, that was the first sport hydro i had ever driven. heck, it was the first hull other than a ob tunnel i had ever driven. granted, it was set up by grim, but the boat had no ill traits, even to me, who had never driven anything but ob tunnels. going to a sport hydro & a fe one at that, from my background has to say good things about the boat, not just setup......... even in full scale boats, i have always been an ob guy.

 

[Mike Hughes]

To give an example of how old school i am, i had an MRP Miss Budwieser that used two 6 cell packs and the speed control was a mecanical switch deal! I did have alot of fun runnin that thing for a whopping 3 minutes at a time before the batteries DUMPED! :lol: BOY! How times have changed!

Aaaaahh, the good old days. That was my first boat at age 16. I kept it till I was around 25 or so. So after a few beers one day, me and a buddy decided to go off on it. Kept a little piece of the sposnon deck and nailed it to the wall. The rest went into the can. Fast was series and slow was parrellel with the batteries. What a piece of crap.

Mike