Delta Force Vortex Hydro, Feigao XL

[spicedcrab]

Getting faster each run, new video

i just got another test run today, this time i used a x640 prop and opened it up. handled like a charm i had a small turn added this time and it really helped the turning. the hull is very stable at this speed, no gps yet but im guessing upper 50's. i ran about 15 mins and checked the temps, again motor barely warm speed control and lipo's both cool, it looks like power wise i can go a lot farther before i start making heat so next run i will go still bigger with the prop. it looks like the hull will take more speed as well since it was so stable.

here is the new video,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9osHGHBBOVw

[spicedcrab]

just ran it with gps, x640 prop

59 mph

it was lunch time and the wind was blowing just a little, very small ripples all over, i made one pass up the creek and one pass back just to get a reading then brought it in. i didnt want to push my luck with the ripples and my wife's gps inside, lol

it seemed to take it fine, it was kind of riding across the tops of the ripples and stayed stable.

[spicedcrab]

it was rainy all day so i worked on some graphics.....

[ace028]

Man, I want one of these now, along with many others

[spicedcrab]

my vortex just blew apart.

it was my 4th run on the boat. the water was smooth as glass and i was running about 65 mph going straight. in an instant, with no warning at all, it made a terrible kind of loud thump and was gone. i mean gone, the seam opened in the right front sponson and water grabbed the opening and it was pulled down faster than you can blink. i have never seen something like this happen before, i wish i was using the video on this run to be able to slow-mo what happened for study later. i had larger size pieces of stryro tucked every were i could inside, and the really small spots i put styro peanuts. we went out to exactly were it happened in a friends fishing boat within two mins of when it happened. the only thing we seen was the peanuts floating. i spent a couple hours with a big magnet and rope that night with no luck. the next day i spent a couple hours with scuba gear and no luck. then later that day i made a 2 foot by 4 foot dredge out of heavy crab-pot wire and dragged for a couple hours as it was getting dark, still no luck.

im glad that i at least took video before it was gone. i really liked this one and will start over, i ordered two more hulls from steven and am waiting for them to get here, it may take a couple weeks before everything arrives since i dont have the boat to salvage what i can from.

[H&MWill]

Man, that SUCKS! That was one sweet hydro. Sorry to hear it. When I saw the new post I was waitin to see the new vid. Again sorry.

[Raydee]

Well sorry to hear about your hull....I personally think 65mph on that size boat is insane. Nice job though, the boat looked fast.

[ace028]

Man, that really sucks, I wonder what happend?

[OJ racer]

That totally sucks! The Vortex is a beautiful boat.

[spicedcrab]

thanks everyone for your sympathy,

yea i really wish i could recover the boat, more than anything else so that i can study it closely and get a better idea of what happened.

i will be building another one and now im trying to decide how much power to use in this one. i may go with an L motor instead of the XL.

hey H&M Will, i see your in baltimore MD, im in pasadena MD, i run my boats in the head of the magothy river, were do you run yours?

[Doby]

Welcome to the club of lost, destroyed, damaged boats...it sucks but it happens .

[OJ racer]

I run an L motor in mine. I just realized, I bet I may know what happened to your boat.

From what I could see, you didn't reinforce the motor mount area any more than I did. It's a thin bottom, so it's flexy. I remembered that when I rev my motor while holding the boat right in front of the motor mount, the bottom of the boat flexes noticably, right side down, left side up. You were running an XL, which was more power, and more flex. I epoxied my mount and it has actually broken off the bottom of the boat twice in a month.

Consequently, while running that fast, it would be stressing your DF22 right side pushing down, a bit twisted. Eventually, something triggered it to break free, tearing at the farthest forward and right side of the boat, the right sponson. The motor torque then twisted this side down into the water, causing forces that could have torn the top most of the way off, losing the flotation. All this equals boat sinking and being probably totally destroyed.

I saw a DF22 youtube vid done by some Asian guys using a 12L 540, but big batteries. Maybe that's your answer.

Hope this helps! And again, really sorry it happened the DF22 is a great boat as I can attest.

[Steven Vaccaro]

Sorry to hear about this. You really had it running well.

[z400]

Still no luck on finding the stuff on the bottom?

it may be scattered out a long distance in a line
from where it happend at on the water.
if it was moving that fast. its not going ot be in one area
not sure where at exactly by the wreck site you were
searching.