Fluid
01-03-2009, 02:56 PM
Today I took the UL-1 out for the third time, now with the large prop. The stock prop has worked well with good speed and handling, but I wanted to try the Graupner K45 to see how it effected handling and speed. Knowing it would give higher speeds than the stock prop I lowered the strut to 1" with about 1 degree of down angle at the prop end. The two 2S/5000mAh TP packs put the CG 2.7" behind the sponsons; I heated them up to ~90F before running the boat.
The hydro had no problem getting on plane with the 'heavy' packs, I simply gave it full throttle and up it jumped. (Trying to ease into the throttle just makes the model submerge.) The K45 really yanked it out of the hole and top speed was attained quickly. I was running on 3/4" chop but the boat was stable as it skipped across the waves at full tilt. No GPS but it appeared to be in the low/mid-40s on rough water. The larger prop did seen to widen the turning radius a few feet versus the stock prop.
I thoroughly enjoyed the 2-3 minutes I ran the model, and the temperatures afterwards were around 100F on the motor, ESC and cells. I just wish I had a larger pond to run on with fewer obstacles. BTW I had complete control up to 400 feet away, the furthest I could test on the water.
You'll notice I've modded the appearance of the model a bit, although nothing that would effect its performance. The more I run the UL-1 the more I like it. Next weekend is it's first race and on bigger water - I can't wait!
http://i40.tinypic.com/2rzw0ic.jpg
.
The hydro had no problem getting on plane with the 'heavy' packs, I simply gave it full throttle and up it jumped. (Trying to ease into the throttle just makes the model submerge.) The K45 really yanked it out of the hole and top speed was attained quickly. I was running on 3/4" chop but the boat was stable as it skipped across the waves at full tilt. No GPS but it appeared to be in the low/mid-40s on rough water. The larger prop did seen to widen the turning radius a few feet versus the stock prop.
I thoroughly enjoyed the 2-3 minutes I ran the model, and the temperatures afterwards were around 100F on the motor, ESC and cells. I just wish I had a larger pond to run on with fewer obstacles. BTW I had complete control up to 400 feet away, the furthest I could test on the water.
You'll notice I've modded the appearance of the model a bit, although nothing that would effect its performance. The more I run the UL-1 the more I like it. Next weekend is it's first race and on bigger water - I can't wait!
http://i40.tinypic.com/2rzw0ic.jpg
.