Yes, another Catamaran Build!

[peells]

maybee we will smoke test and sink test

[Avanti]

take pics in the water
good luck
also if you could get a full weight that would be cool

[ace028]

Here is some progress that we have made tonight. We got the servo mounted. Then had some clearance issues with the reciever and the hatch, so we took care of that. Then we were trying to figure out where and how to mount the escs and route the wires. We started by triming the esc and motor wires, we cut about 3 inches off between the esc and the motor wires, and they still seam long, but those motor wires for some reason are really hard to solder to, once that was done, it still seams like there is no room for the stuff. So we decided to power it up. We are a bit tired, so here is some pics and a utube link. (my dad wanted to show off his project motorcycle, you'll see in the vid.

[ace028]

And here are some more pics. and a video link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j21VIuKq7I

[Avanti]

looks great but I am kind of worried about the bends in your flex shafts at the coupler. I hope they work out for you. I noticed you glass reinforced the tunnel, not a bad idea with all the weight. Did you get the weight of it by any chance?

Wow, I just watched the video. I did not realize that there were counter rotating props available that small. What is the part number? Also did you remember to use a counter rotating flex shaft?

[ace028]

Avanti, I know I am concerned about the flex in the cables by the coupler also, but I didn't plan well enough for that, they seem to spin very freely despite how they look, I guess we will see.

Yes they are counter rotating props and cables here is the prop numbers, I got them from here on ose.

octura x430
octura x430r

octura flex cable, .130 right lay, and .130 left lay.

I have not water tested it yet, I hope I will today. I didn't get a good weight on it yet, maybe I will take it to the post office. I did measure it on a food scale that goes up to a pound, and it pegged the needle past the mearurement marks, I am thinking its about a pound and 10 oz, I will try to get you a exact number soon. It is a heavy weight though lol.

I think the glass turned out well, I should have used 2 layers, but it did make a significant strength increase.

I think we are going to try to put in the water right now, I will keep you posted.

[ace028]

Well, we did a float test, then we did a maiden voyage, it went fairly well, nothing blew up, or caught on fire or sank!

Here is my setup for the first run
counter roatating x430 props (raw and unsharpened or balanced)
1 4000 mah 2cell lipo
2 30 amp escs
2 400 size outrunners
.130 flex cable
Spectrum reciever
Hitec HS-81 servo

I was disapointed in the speed, it was fast, but not crazy like I was hoping for, though I don't think my battery was fully charged, and my props are raw, the boat is pretty heavy with the huge battery, and its only on 2 cells, so I think I am going to buy both 2 and 3 cell packs to run in parallel that are more space efficent then the large single. We also had some water leakage that need to be addressed.
I don't have a lipo cut off yet, so we kept the run short, my voltage when we brought it in was I think 7.8 volts. A cut off is next purchace on my list of things to do!


The boat drove very straight, handles well, the motor and escs were barely warm, I don't have a temp gauge but felt luke warm to the touch.

Over all I am satisfied with the boat, it does need more tuning to get more speed, but it does what I was hoping in that it can turn well both directions and is stable on the water. Hopefully my dad will update this thread with the rest of the body work while I am gone. When I get back, hopefully we can see if we can make this thing fly off the water.

Float Test

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI8waSjsaQQ

Mayden Voyage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1LhhHggmeM

[Avanti]

Very cool, it floats alot higher than I thought it would
and it looks very fast for 2s, I cant wait to see it on 4s
I need to get mine finished now

[ace028]

I don't know if I will go with 4s, but I do hope to get some more speed out of it. I thought it would launch out of the water and flip over, well I was hoping it would lol. This cat aint done though, its going to get more attention, but it will have to wait till I get back from training.

Hope to see some progress on yours soon, hey you can learn from all the mistakes I made on mine lol.

[ace028]

My dog was trying to get my boat, he loves my boats for some reason, he has good taste lol. I almost took out that duck on the water, opps.

I can probably prop up, but I think for sure I will try 3 cells. I still have to route the wires better, its really hard to fit all the stuff in there.

[ace028]

Well, fired her up today to show the guys at work, and one esc didn't work. Got home, checked it out, found a bad solder job on the deans connector that was already installed from the factory, fixed it but no luck, I guess thats what happens when you get cheap stuff. Hopefully I can find another one that is the same.

[bonewar]

GOOD JOB ACE , THE LITTLE FELLOW FLY'S , LOOKS REAL STABLE AND FAST, NOW IF ONLY POP'S WOULD HURRY UP AND PAINT IT!!!! TWIN CATS RULE BONEWAR

[Simon.O.]

. I almost took out that duck on the water,

As far as Paddy and I are concerned that would be a public service.

You need multi-grain bread toaste, cooled and ground to make the bread crumbs, then a little spice, herbs and garlic to do the stuffing, from there you will need one fresh orange and some apricots to make the glaze to go over the ba$tard bird....

J/K I do not condone the killing of ducks with FE boats, but I do like a roast from time to time and I can cook !!

Back on topic.
That boat ROCKS
I am now very inspired to carry on with my research and design into Twin Cats.
I want to do a L or XL powered 30+" boat.

Rick. Real boats are not painted they are varnished !! You are right too that Twin Cats rule.

Keep it up guys !!

[peells]

Chasing Ducks is taboo with an FE I chased a few Geese and they turned over my boat and BOOM went the speed control (Thats when I learned that hatch tape was a necessary thing)
The micro cat runs real stable It is about 1" wider than the original plan we got the Idea from plus it has a few mods

[ace028]

Thanks guys, it should be really fun on 3 cells. I can't wait till its painted! It indeed was pretty stable!! I was surprised how well it turned, I was throttleing down for the turns, I think it can take them faster. My COG was probably like 50%. I think it will be hard to get the approx 30% untill I get the twin smaller batteries to run in parralel, as they will be more space efficient, and give my the combined mah for runtimes that is close to what the big battery is.