Spirit of Australia

[NativePaul]

I would have thought your racing season was just starting not finishing like us, you stop for the summer because it is too hot?

[785boats]

That's part of it Paul.
It gets very hot here in the sub tropics. Our clubs' racing season starts in late January & runs through till now, mid November.
We don't have a real 'winter', here & the weather is usually pretty good through the middle of the year.
Plus many people go away for holidays through the December/January Christmas period.

[Shooter]

Amazing project! Very impressed. Can't wait to see it on the water, or even the grass again!!

[785boats]

Thanks Pete.
I don't think I'll run it on the grass again. There were some rocks up near the end of that little run & they scratched up the ride pads a fair bit. Took the edge off one of them.
No biggie. A bit of auto body filler will fix it.

[NativePaul]

Nice, I'd love a 10 month racing season we only race half the year here, April to October.

[NativePaul]

Nice, I'd love a 10 month racing season we only race half the year here, April to October.

[nobbiworld]

FB_IMG_1479112685755.jpg

[785boats]

Beautiful picture Steve.
I get the hint. I'm still doing bits & pieces on the Bluebird at the same time.
But this one has just sort of taken over for now.

Paul.
That's too short.

[785boats]

A few pics of this weeks' progress.

Some stringers & balsa added to the bulkheads for the cowling plates & the tail fin. Bottom of the cowling plates epoxied on.
The gap between the 1/4" stringers at the top is for the tongue of the vertical fin to fit into.

001.jpg

Carbon pushrod tube & rudder mounting plate.

002.jpg

Clamping the tops of the cowl plates of the first section

003.jpg

Fin pieces & wing with lightening holes from 1/8" ply.
Note: the holes in the fin pieces don't line up with each other in an attempt to maintain strength.

005.jpg

Fin pieces epoxied together & wing mounting brackets glued & screwed to the top of the fin.

007.jpg

[785boats]

Balsa added to the sides of the fin & the top of the wing & roughly shaped. Then the wing was epoxied to the top of the fin.

012.jpg

Sitting in place.

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Fom the top.. Just the balsa to add to the bottom of the wing, & shaped.

011.jpg

[Doug Smock]

[Beaux]

WOW!!!! Very nice!

[TheShaddix]

This is some amazing work, man. I got nothing but respect for it. I am sure everyone, including myself, is super anxious to see this on water! I don't recall anyone has ever done something like this before.

[785boats]

Thanks for the kind words & encouragement guys.

Shaddix.
I can assure you, that once I get the hold down bolts for the cowling sorted & the hull sealed & primed, it will be getting wet.
I need to know if it works or not before I bother with the painting & detailing.
I just need to streamline the transiton from the inlets to the fan, inside the cowling.
I'm adding a bit more foam in there & will carve it to shape. But I need to leave room for the batteries & ESC too.

I received the ESC the other day that I thought I might try. It is a Flycolor HV esc for agriculture drones. No water cooling but the fins will be in the air duct.
They will be easy to add water cooling to for ordinary boat use too. We'll see how it goes first. If it is not up to the task I'll rob a Swordfish 240 out of one of my other 1/8 scale hydros.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Flycolor-waterproof-150A-HV-Brushless-ESC-support-5-12S-for-Agricultural-Drone-/291873009188?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368

I'm just fitting the ski at the moment.

[TheShaddix]

That's cool! You could always just epoxy a few brass tubes in between those fins. I did that on a seaking 180 esc. Or just get a watercooling plate on ebay and attach that instead of the fins. I am working on a few projects here as well so I always check this thread for inspiration. I like that this boat is made of wood too, makes it more special.