Darin's Raptor P-Spec Rigger Build

[Darin Jordan]

Motor mount, strut, rudder, and steering servo are all reinstalled.

I used to have the brass stuffing tube running the full length to the strut, but I've decided to trim it just out of the hull, and leave the .078" wire open to the strut. We'll see how that works out. Will be a little bit difficult to install the driveshaft once the ridepad is installed, but I think it can be done with a little finese.

I built a brass reducer for the nose of the strut to handle the .078 wire...

[Darin Jordan]

Loctite dried on the brass reducer for the strut, so I test fit the wiredrive and it seems to fit nicely. I'm still a little skeptical that it'll hold up and work properly without full-length support, but we'll see.

Got the motor and the electronics reinstalled. Going to stick with the stock ProBoat ESC for now, mostly because it works, I have it, the boat is already setup for it, and I want to see how effective it can be. There is a weight penalty, as it weighs 6.8oz all by itself, but the boat balances well with it where it's located. We'll see how well it holds up. I used this setup for the first couple of heats with it and it seemed to work just fine powering the ProBoat BJ26 motor that was in the boat. The ESC has some closed cell foam-rubber ramp-shaped pads on the bottom of it, to angle it up and over the stuffing tube.

I used the stock length phase wires, and made some heavy gauge extensions for the battery wires. It's all a tight fit, but fits. Were I to build this again, I'd locate the motor about 3/4" or so aft, just to give a little more room for the batteries. As it is, I have 6.1" (~155mm) of battery length room, and about 1.5" of height. Width isn't an issue. Luckily, there are several pack options available.

[Darin Jordan]

Just have to fab a new turn fin, set the boom heights, and then seal the boom seals in place. Ride pad gets taped on, just like the hatch... I was going to glue it in place, but I think I'll wait to figure out what's going to happen with the driveline configuration first. Plus, I think I'll need to have it removed in order to get the driveline into the boat, as the leading end of the wire needs to be guilded into the stuffing tube.

[Darin Jordan]

Just weighed the hull... 3.35lbs without batteries... 4.9lbs with 4S1P Elite 30C 4500mah pack. Not too bad, especially knowing that I can shave another 7oz or so just by switching to a lighter ESC... like a B80 or Hydra 120...

The booms on this boat are a tad heavy as well, as I've epoxied aluminum tubing inside the sections that have bolts going through them, and sleeved them with brass... Durable, but I may be able to fab a new set that are an ounce or two lighter... Not sure that will be necessary, but it's an option.

[AndyKunz]

Nice pix, Darin. I hope it runs as nice as it looks. P-Spec should be a "standard" class instead of the red-headed stepchild.

Andy

[detox]

That is one cool looking rigger Darin...especially since you widened the sponsons. I hope it does well against the new Zippkits FE rigger.


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[ncornacchi]

Excellent build Darrin! I love the strut work you've done with reducer...Looks like you're going to put your .078" to the test on this one! Do you have any tricks where the wiredrive exits the stuffing tube at the motor side to keep water from weeping in? I've been experimenting with bushings and drilled plastic inserts in the stuffing tube, but trying to peek at this masterfull build..

[Darin Jordan]

Do you have any tricks where the wiredrive exits the stuffing tube at the motor side to keep water from weeping in? .

I use a piece of silicone tubing inside the boat on the end of the stuffing tube. If you look carefully enough, you can find it that fits the wire well... Seems to stay dry... I'll try to get a picture of how mine is setup...

I'm also thinking of adding a oiler.. or at least a port to oil the shaft with...

[peells]

Nice work!!! very clean and nice use of the turn rod boots for sponson seals looks great that thing is going to be a very low flying aircraft and it looks sharp!! you always do such a nice job with your boats my hat is off to you (if I wore one).

[Darin Jordan]

very clean and nice use of the turn rod boots for sponson seals looks great

Thanks for the compliments.

I'm going away from the push-rod seals, and going to silicone on some nylon washers once the booms are set instead... The nylon washers give a cleaner look, are easier to install, and still allow full adjustment. The push-rod seals didn't allow for full adjustment of the booms.

[detox]

Good thing I have not started building my Raptor rigger. It seems that the longer I wait the more new tricks and better ways of building it are exposed. I recently purchased the 3/8" nylon washers along with some Black 3/8" fiber washers.

Darin, Why are you still using the antenna. Didn't antennas go away when the 2.4 systems became popular? Wouldn't the antenna cause more wind drag?


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[Darin Jordan]

Darin, Why are you still using the antenna.

The only 2.4 system that doesn't use an antenna is the Tactic... The Spektrum actually has two... a primary and secondary... the Primary is in the tube... the secondary is coiled up in the tub...

I still use it because it needs to be there!

[detox]

The only 2.4 system that doesn't use an antenna is the Tactic... The Spektrum actually has two... a primary and secondary... the Primary is in the tube... the secondary is coiled up in the tub...

I still use it because it needs to be there!

I did not know that.

FYI my Tactic is not glitch free...especially going around turn 3 and 4. I cannot send my UL-1 out too far.


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[detox]

Darin,
Just started my Raptor Rigger build in jig. Sponson inside spread is 14" with 1/16" toe in. The 3/8" carbon tubes will be glued to first generation wood sponsons (no telescoping). MDF blocks were measured, cut, squared, then glued to old setup board before clamping on sponsons. I will glue more MDF blocks to setup board to hold the tub centered in jig before attaching tub to booms. I will post more pictures at a later date in a new tread.

[Darin Jordan]

Tinkered for a few minutes tonight starting to make a couple of turn fin options for the Raptor...

I was going to make a JAE .21 fin, but DAMN, those things are WAY too big in my opinion...

Found another pattern that I decided to try out. I am building two... one with two bends toward the bottom, and one with a single bend up near the top... Will try them both and see which works best...

Material is 7075-T6, .060 if I recall correctly... I cut it with my large band saw, and bent it using my vice and a wooden block and hammer... One of these days, I'm going to build a fixture that can do these bends in my 20-ton hydraulic press... but for now, this will do.

All that's left is to sharpen the outside edge, and clean them up.