24E Zytiron Hydrofoil

[Shawn]

Hey folks, new to the forum and hoping to get back into the hobby. Starting out though, with something a little unusual. I just added a gallery so you can see more pics there if you'd like but here is my fast electric Hydrofoil. You'll also see pics of a gas version as well as a rocket boat in the gallery. All of which ran at one time.

Like some others I've been around RC my whole life but for the past 10 years or so have only been running cars/trucks. I'm addicted more than ever and want to get back into boats. First I need to find a local lake and second I need to get this baby up and running again. Third? I'm not sure yet but hope to have fun here and learn how to do things right.

Thanks for reading!

--Shawn

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[slowride]

Cool ride, Welcome aboard

[Shawn]

Thank you very much! I have a lot to learn but spending the better part of today on here it looks like I've come to the right place.

[jcald2000]

Those were fun boats, I built one for my son. With the cheap brushless eq. today should be a rocket!

[Shawn]

Thanks Jim!

It's great to hear there are/were others out there, I've seen a few more on here as well.

I was lucky enough to be a part of the company that built the boats. My Dad is the man behind Hydrofoils Inc. and my main influence in boats of all kinds. Growing up I'd go to all the local races and shows with him and when the market first exploded for RC in the 90's he started to test and develop the kits. Me, being the in-house RC guy, gave me the chance to be "factory test pilot" for all his designs. Good times. :biggrin:

Now that I'm older I'm rediscovering my appreciation for RC boats. Plus, like you say with all the advancements in brushless set-up I think it's time to give these little boats a fresh start!

[Diegoboy]

I have the same boat (http://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/showthread.php?29434-Zytiron-24E-FE-Hydrofoil).

If your dad is Ken Cook, I contacted him about this model. I think with brushless power, the model will flex too much. it needs to be strengthened in the wing arms. I't so cool that you have one, now we can bounce ideas back and forth.

[srislash]

Welcome aboard Shawn.I came on here last year and have learned so much.This is way better than years back(try something,blow something up,try again).
So any chance of a revival of these Hydrofoils?The idea has always intrigued me.

Shawn

[Shawn]

Hey Danny, that's totally awesome!

TBH you are the inspiration for my finally joining and posting, rather than lurking. He told me about some recent interest in the boats which peaked my own interest again. I have a lot of experience driving them and will be happy to share any knowledge that would be helpful to you. He's of course the technical guru behind it all as I was "along for the ride".

That stock Graupner set-up was perhaps the smoothest way to fly since the boat was designed around it. But of course in the continual quest of looking for more speed we experimented with many different set-ups including a gear drive. This was long before brushless had become what is is today. We were able to make the boats scream quite nicely though, with 8 cells and some high powered car motors. The final motor we purchased for my boat is what is still in there now, an Astro Flight Cobalt marine motor. Pretty sure we got it from Bob Bausher racing. Does that sound right?

My purple boat was my personal test mule and the recipient of the gear drive which is why it has the raised hatch. Knowing more now, even my color was a poor choice as it would be hard to locate out on the water... or worse.

The ABS has certainly held onto it's own after close to 16 years. My float test yesterday showed minor slow some leaks but it could be the old boot on the rear foil linkage.

[Shawn]

Hi Shawn, nice to meet you!

This is great I'm really glad I joined, everyone here has been very welcoming and encouraging.

I've been chatting with my dad some and warming him up to the idea of getting at least my boats back in the water. I personally feel like there's some unfinished business and untapped potential with the strides that have been made thanks to LiPo and brushless. Some hurdles to overcome are time and distance, we are literally on two ends of the state. But perhaps the bigger hurdle, from what I understand, is most of the tooling and supplies for these specific boats was unfortunately destroyed in 1998 Hurricane season where his area of Florida was directly hit either 2 or 3 times. So it's not that he'd be starting from ground zero but there's certainly a long road ahead.

[jcald2000]

I was running a 14T double wind and a 432 prop, made a fair racer on the small ovals we ran then.

[Shawn]

That's good to know. We were never able to run them in competition ourselves.

[srislash]

I was running a 14T double wind and a 432 prop, made a fair racer on the small ovals we ran then. Boy,they must've made a mess if they got tangled up,as opposed to bumping.

[Shawn]

I always wondered how they would fair in a crowded field. We'd run 2 and three at a time but seeing as how we were noobs we gave each other plenty of room anyway. They certainly like full throttle as much as possible. They never got airborn and kite like a hydro because there's so much down force built into the hull. But the flip side is that if it would nose in the boat would shoot into the water like a submarine or a surfer going under a wave so I'd ease up on the throttle and gun it and soon as it surfaced.

[Shawn]

Here's another pic on an old model running. This was a press release photo we ended up using all over the place. You may be able to see the design is a little older than the models that went to market.

[H2OCamel]

Hi Shawn and welcome to OSE! Very nice water skimer there! I would love to see it run and would be very interested if your dad ever made kits again.

[Shawn]

Thanks so much Christopher!! I've been having a lot of fun getting back into the hobby. I just redid the seal on my hatch yesterday, after repainting the boat over the past week. Now it's time to put it back together and I'm hoping to run it again for the first time in over 16 years some time over the next two weeks. I'll definitely be posting video!

We have been chatting about making the boat kits again. There's obviously some interest out there which is a big motivator.

[Shawn]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hydro-Foil-/200743580904?pt=Radio_Control_Vehicles&hash=item2ebd3ff4e8#ht_500wt_1156

Just found one that's been converted to Nitro. I know we offered some conversion kits so this is either one of those or a self made version. I honestly don't remember actually selling a nitro version but that doesn't mean much since it was so long ago. I just wish the pics were bigger.

[Shawn]

Well it's been nearly a year since I officially started my rebuild and I've made a lot of progress. Figure it's time I shared the latest video for my "one year anniversary". This was taken in April, I'd strapped an iPhone to my radio. Hope you don't mind the shakiness. :wink:

The biggest challenge has been fitting everything into the small hull, especially introducing water cooling but I've managed to make it work. Next on my list are a stronger collet/coupler and a faster/stronger servo. Both are suffering a bit from the nearly double power. This run is primarily half throttle throughout. When I finally start to get on it at the end the flex cable spins right out of the current collet. Hope you all get a kick out of seeing a unique brushless FE Hydrofoil boat run even for just a few minutes!! :thumbup1:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELniUQ5m1L4

[jcald2000]

When you get in it the prop lift is lifting the prop out of the water then slamming it back in, that is going to be fatal to the flex cable with that Teflon only all the way back to the prop, it will tie it self into a knot.
I believe I ended up with 1 to 1 1/2 degrees on the rudder foils I bolted on.
Keep at it your getting close!!

[Shawn]

Okay thanks for the tips Jim!

Boy that turns my stomach into a knot just thinking about it - never even crossed my mind that the flex would do that but makes total sense now that I know. I'll add a stuffing tube to my short list. I'm lucky that the reason it's my one year anniversary is its my birthday next week so I'll be able to buy some fun stuff with some play money.

[srislash]

I totally agree with Jim there Shawn. Less prop lift and a new stuffing tube should be a good project. It looks like it will go real good when you get it settled.

[Shawn]

I totally agree with Jim there Shawn. Less prop lift and a new stuffing tube should be a good project. It looks like it will go real good when you get it settled.

Hey Shawn!

Well that sounds good to me, I appreciate all your input and I know you guys have experience with a lot of boats including the hydrofoils. Right now I'm running an Octura x435 prop with a Leopard 3650 motor. I've never cut down a prop before so hoping I can avoid that for now. I've slotted the strut so I can play with the angle of the prop to keep it from blasting against the rear foil. I feel like its close, mostly from hands on run times.

I'll order a stuffing tube when I order the new collet. I see the store is closed for the holiday but no worries I'll order next weekend.