41" Kneeler FE Hydroplane build (well, building 2 of these)

[cybercrxt]

Thanks William, Here are a couple more from this evening so far. Waiting on the black to dry...Probably going to start cutting up my new Hornet tunnel hull for FE! ouch! lol

Oh, as you can see, 2- 4 cell lipos fit just fine...and if I wanted to get crazy, 4- 4 cell lipos would still fit fine! That would be crazy tho. This boat is much to light.

[Brushless55]

Looking good bro!

[cybercrxt]

OK, I got it in the water this weekend. Ran really good. Turn fin still needs to be mounted, but that will be done this week. I did some straight line runs. Here is the setup, Turnigy 180A Marine ESC, 4s2p Zippy 5000mah Flightmax 20c and also have 30c packs as well, Medusa 36-80-1600kv V2 motor, K&B 7.5 lower unit, Hyperformance 7.5 Electric conversion kit. Sooo, I am running 4s2p for now. I am going to order some 5 cell Zippy packs in the next week or two. That should bring my speeds up from high 30's to low-to mid 40's. That is all I am really wanting from this boat as I never planed it to be ultra high speed, and I was on an electronics budget on this build. I was running the x642 prop, and the motor, batteries and ESC were not even warm to the touch, so I feel there is a lot of room for top speed improvements. Here are pics, and a video that I made, while driving, LOL. Its just a straight line run. The kneelers are pretty cool boats! I do believe this hull could handle 50+mph with no issues as it was rock solid stable. Enjoy! Mike

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV6rAuhAJSQ

[sailr]

Wow! Very impressive! Can't wait to see more!

[Brushless55]

That boat looks so cool!

[cybercrxt]

Well, I ran it again last night, but I removed the 36-80-1600kv Medusa that I was running on 4s2p, and installed a 36-70-2000kv Medusa on 4s2p, and let me just say...WOW, the boat is easily in the mid 40's range. The extra kv made the boat really move. It was 3-4" chop, and the hull was ripping threw it. The best part was even with a 70mm can vs. the original 80mm can, the motor, batteries, and esc stayed just about cold to the touch with the X642. I cannot believe the power these Medusas have. I actually ordered a 36-80-2000kv for this hull to be a permanent setup and I cannot wait for it to arrive. I am staying 4s2p..forget 5s2p on the 1600kv. I am getting all the power I need to make it fun. The best part is I ran it for at least 3-4 minutes, and only drain about 1910mah from the 5000mah zippys. And did this consistantly with 2 separate runs. My VS1 with UL-1 motor goes threw mah worse than this boat! Anyways, Im really pleased with the boat, and power. To another story, I added some decals to the boat. Thought it looked realistic, let me know what you think! Also, I am listing my other identical 41" kneeler in the FS thread today if anyone wants to have one for theirselves! Mike

[sailr]

Wow! Impressive. Where do all of you guys get your decals!? ... like the Hardee's?

I can't believe Medusa just announced they are out of business. I went to their site hoping to buy some motors but they are sold out of all of the goodies like you are using. Anyone know any other sources for them? I've read nothing but good about them. Can't believe they are shutting down just as their motors are taking off! Bad timing for sure!

Hope to see some more video of this boat!

[cybercrxt]

Sailr, The Hardees decals, are old Parma nascar decals! haha. The Merc decals, I have someone that makes them if you need a set. Go right now to RC-Monster.com, and he has a full line of Medusa. I picked up 2 more yesterday (now have 5 of them!). Better hurry tho, Mike

[sailr]

Seems a lot of the stuff Parma had isn't made anymore. Too bad. Thanks for the tip for RC-Monster.com! I'm almost afraid to try the motors now that Medusa is out of business. No warranty, etc. It's a shame.

[ace028]

Wow, i'm impressed at the quality of your work, looks great!!!

[cybercrxt]

Thanks alot for the positive comments! I really appreciate it. I just got a special request from an intlwaters member. He wants a 52" version to do Gas outboard with! this thing is going to be huge! I will do a build thread with it once I get it started. I also have a request for the 35" version. Im going to build them both at the same time, so I will share that soon!

[cybercrxt]

Here is another video. Still no turn fin, and CofG a little off. Its fast tho! This was from yesterday. Since the lack of hi speed steering has finally got on my nerves I went ahead an made the turn fin assembly today. That should make my videos a little more fun that straightline action. Oh, and about 20 seconds into the video, check out the drifting action..full speed sliding sideways! I love this boat! I will have some pics later tonight, or tommorow of the turn fin setup. Should be able to test it once this bad weather ends. Mike

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tl58hVEFg6c

[sailr]

setting up the steering on the outboards can be tricky. It's going to be difficult for you to dial it in on that small a lake. You need to be able to see how the steering reacts at high speeds. On short inspection I would say you need to reduce the steering rate a bit and you're right, move the CG back a tad. It's hooking in the turns. VERY IMPRESSIVE BOAT!!