E1 Seabird

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Have you seen the new E1 racing boats, electric outboards running on hydrofoils. Well I've got to try it haven't I. My own outboards are perfect for this project.

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E1 Seabird

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First primer//filler sprayed on, I decided to paint it dismantled. Otherwise when pulling it apart the paint would spoil. Also a little paint might just tighten up those two foils which are not glued. I am excited by this project, as I was a couple of years back developing my own outboards. I have printed the first vc jet water pickup with wings, what ? I hear you say. Well I will post a photo, basically the back end is lifted out the the water by a wing on the outboard. So my easiest option was to use my vc jet outboard, then if we are short on power I have a couple of ideas for adding a wing to a prop outboard. There are problems to solve, like being able to slide the outboard up and down and still maintain steering connections. It needs this to set the ride angle, also needs to tilt to adjust the angle of the rear wing. These can be adjusted by the pilot on the real boat at the touch of a button. What I have in common is the main foils can only be adjusted whilst standing, then fixed in that position.

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I just was looking these boats over thinking the same as you. I have too much on the go to try to make those hydrofoils

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I am sure it will be modeled in the future, I have seen one already but it was slow and quite underwhelming, it had a wing on the outboard which was 10 times oversized.
The foils sit well back, and my instinct is to have the cg just a bit forward of the main foils so it rests on the outboard.
The intake in the pics is shown with its new wings added.
Correction, guess the cg should be behind the main foils to keep some weight on the outboard.

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E1 Seabird

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I put the partly painted foil together to show Paul at the club yesterday, he was impressed. I got the jack plate working, it ended up being able to move twice as far as I thought it would, about 36mm . Also found an adjustable way to connect the steering arm, see photo. I didn't want to disturb the steering servo as I glassed its mount in the boat, and I want to be able to return the boat for normal use, so with it being high up I am making a vertical pivoting arm about 70 mm long. Then the steering arm can exit near the bottom of the hull.

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20240215_133038.jpgTohave a break from painting I made the parts which bring the steering arm very low down. This is needed to allow the boat to rise up about 2 inches from the water.
At least that's the plan, I am relying on speed to get this boat airborne as its very heavy.

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E1 Seabird

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Had a full day in workshop today, got these hydrofoils fitted, then put another outboard on my F1, and a stronger mount on my jet rib.
The F1 engine was designed to be short, unfortunately that made it weaker, so coupled with high speed runs, a few cracks appeared. I could have kept running it, but as I had another engine to hand I decided to make the change.
Great idea of Robin to have a wear ring , I have needed to replace a few times, in this case one grubscrew came loose.

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E1 Seabird

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I chose the original E1 logo because it has straight lines so nice and easy to cut out. Both foils painted now, so no excuse, I need to decide where to put the hole through the hull . Because the hull lifts out the water I need to bring water cooling from the outboard to feed the esc. The pick up in the hull is sealed, but can be used if converted back to a normal jet boat. We need to film the maiden run, even though the chances of it working first go are near zero.

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I look forward to the results.

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E1 Seabird

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Ready for a first run, fingers crossed. I adapted a carry base for it with slots to accommodate the foils. I won't fit the cowl until some tubing arrives from China to connect the water to the esc, I used what I had. Might have another try at getting the base of the foils square after having a run on the lake. Might try body filler behind them, pulling them gently on the screws till it sets. If the base is not square, it throws the foil out when tightened up.
So wish me luck for Saturday.20240221_123718.jpg

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Hey buddy, hoping for a decent result for today!

Shawn

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E1 Seabird jet outboard

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OMG it actually works. I ran her gently trimming for straight runs, then gave it half throttle and up she popped. OK there was far too much spray due to the intake on the jet outboard. Also increasing throttle made the nose drop, so I had some fun at half throttle and tried a few adjustments on engine height and trim angle. None of which was an improvement on the first run. There will be a video soon, but to start here are some stills from the video.
Where next, I think it's worth trying a prop outboard, if only to cut down on the spray, so watch this space.

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https://youtu.be/_VD5EfkhuNs?si=VjQDm9oqrP6x2oiW

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E1 Seabird jet outboard

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OMG it actually works. I ran her gently trimming for straight runs, then gave it half throttle and up she popped. OK there was far too much spray due to the intake on the jet outboard. Also increasing throttle made the nose drop, so I had some fun at half throttle and tried a few adjustments on engine height and trim angle. None of which was an improvement on the first run. There will be a video soon, but to start here are some stills from the video.
Where next, I think it's worth trying a prop outboard, if only to cut down on the spray, so watch this space.

Yeah!!! Pretty good, I would agree with the open propeller idea. But dang fine first go!!

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Ready for round 2, this is the engine that had a brief go on the f1, then had its gearbox serviced so no excuses. It looks like it could lift the prop out of the water, but there must be a balance point where the prop stops driving and settles back. It's a lot more streamlined than the jet version which can only be good, but what about torque from the prop, that could be an issue, it doesn't seem to bother the full size version though.