Has anyone tried staggering their battery placement?

[offshore1]

It is common in 1:1 offshore racing to stagger the engines to even the weight distribution.

It would stand to reason that the same effect could be achieved by moving one battery a few inches farther forward than the other in our RC applications. Has anyone tried this? If not I will be the guinea pig this weekend and let all know the outcome.

[Ctonez]

I've messed around with it a bit. I'll bet Ken Haines and his club have messed around with it too:wink: .
In my experience it exaggerated the barrel-roll and hooking traits of the boat, so I keep mine pretty much even.
I haven't done very much testing of this though...maybe you can find a sweet spot. Let us know.

[Bill-SOCAL]

On my little Viper hydro I run one pack in the left sponson and one just left of center to keep weight on the port side. This helps counter its tendency to pick up the left side. Not sure if it would have any effect on something like an SV But it might

[offshore1]

On my little Viper hydro I run one pack in the left sponson and one just left of center to keep weight on the port side. This helps counter its tendency to pick up the left side. Not sure if it would have any effect on something like an SV But it might

I was thinking of front to back staggering vs. side to side.

[Bill-SOCAL]

I understand that, which I why I made the comment about the SV. If you move one froward the other will have to move the opposite direction to keep the CG the same. It is not clear how that would affect the boat.

I do know that moving packs out and in relative to the centerline makes a big difference. I may try what you are talking about the next time I run my SV.

[Flying Scotsman]

With large available power and a large prop, you will induce prop torque. That is the boat will flop to to the right under power

[Bill-SOCAL]

Indeed, and that is why on my hydro I run more weight on the left versus the right sides.
The question, what is the effect of having say the left pack farther forward and the right pack farther aft, or vice-versa.

[Fluid]

If the CG remains the same, you will probably not notice any difference moving the packs fore/aft relative to each other. In theory the moment of inertia would be greater, which "could" add directional stability, but I have not seen that effect in years of mildly staggering saddle packs in my boats. The important thing is to get the CG is the right place.


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[offshore1]

If the CG remains the same, you will probably not notice any difference moving the packs fore/aft relative to each other. In theory the moment of inertia would be greater, which "could" add directional stability, but I have not seen that effect in years of mildly staggering saddle packs in my boats. The important thing is to get the CG is the right place.


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Yes! Now we are stabbing at where I was going with this. My theory is this:

By distributing the weight along a broader plane it could be said that the vessel might be less prone to flips and/or nose dives and be more stable by placing more weight fore and aft while at the same time maintaining a perfect center of gravity.

I look forward to testing this.

[skidooguymxz550]

besides wieght distribution the point of staggering in real boats is because the boats to narrow to fit the motors side by side. it's also to get the drives closer. i don't think this theory matters in rc as much

[Ocean Racer]

The only problem i could c happening is what Ctonez was talking about and turning the world upside down. Or what we have on our 24' Skipjack when we have to much wieght on 1 side. What happens is it will tilt/turn the boat so u might have to mess with your steering a little. Or if u get to much weight in the bow u might do a bowflip. Same thing with the stern but not a full flip. But we shall c how this test will turn out. Good luck and bring a recovery craft.

[CarolHazlett]

I've messed around with it a bit. I'll bet Ken Haines and his club have messed around with it too:wink: .
In my experience it exaggerated the barrel-roll and hooking traits of the boat, so I keep mine pretty much even.
I haven't done very much testing of this though...maybe you can find a sweet spot. Let us know.
From your avatar picture it looks like barrel rolling is one of your better skills. Having raced against you, I am always thrilled to watch your aerobatics!

[Ctonez]

From your avatar picture it looks like barrel rolling is one of your better skills. Having raced against you, I am always thrilled to watch your aerobatics!

Haha - My skill isn't in initiating the barrel-roll, the SV in the right water will do that all on it's own...the skill is in recovering the boat during the barrel-roll and continuing upright, which is one thing I have become really good at!:cool2:

[CarolHazlett]

Well...to be honest you are usually doing your boat flying tricks in front of me, not behind me.....but I can always hope you are not going to land hull down and pointy end forward.:olleyes: