Boats & Kids, and Other Misc. stuff

[Chop]

Hi Guy’s, I’m just getting into this sport and have some of the usual questions.

I just purchased a SV27, but want to have something to play with, with my 10 year old son. What sort of boat would you suggest? Is there something more docile for him that could be hopped up as he (or me for that matter) learned to control it?

The Mini Z's look pretty neat, but fast for their size, does fast = hard to control? I was also thinking about the Cen Aqua Jet.

What do you guy’s with children do?

I might also be looking for a Blackjack26 (so I can compare it to the SV) but I'm on the fence on that right now, especially if I buy a small boat or two to run with my son.

I have two 6 cell 3600 mah batteries from Cheapbatterypacks and a Duratrax Pirahana Digital Peak charger. How do I maintain the batteries over the winter months (I can’t run the boat when the lakes are frozen)? These batteries will probably sit on the shelf for 4 months straight, each year.

Since I have not gotten too far into this sport yet, would you suggest using Lipo's or conventional NiMH batteries? I don’t have lots of money invested in NiMH so the conversion to Lipo’s won’t be as costly for me. Lipo's seem like you need to baby-sit them a little more, but you get more speed. Do they last any longer than NiMH – in both the run time, and how many re-charges you get with them?

Thanks a lot for your help.

Chop

[Rex R]

SV's can be docile or wild just by changing the prop (graupner carbon k-42(mild) k-45(like stock) k-48(getting wild)). if you haven't already read them, there is a forum section dedicated to the sv(and prepping it for use).
Nimh
should be charged once a month for storage(about 1.5 amps*), note the first few runs in the boat will likely be shorter than what you might expect, this is normal with nimh cells till they get used to being batteries :)
*first charge should be a '12-14 hr trickle charge at approx 1/10 cell capacity, in this case .3amps this conditions the batt.s for use

[Eodman]

Well you might consider a Traxxas Villian EX! Can be hopped up a little plus you can use it as a rescue boat when he starts driving your faster boats!

They are also pretty bullet proof and hard to flip on lakes!

[Chop]

Thanks Rex.

What about those of you with kids? What do you let them play with??

[Avanti]

I would get them a cheapy at walmart or off ebay so they can learn to drive
then unleash them with the SV or a faster boat
but if money is not an issue let them have at it (I know money is an issue for most of us)

JL

[ReddyWatts]

I started out with some cheap dual 380 motor boats from ebay for the kids, then they kept wanting something faster. Most kids these days are good at remote controls because of games like Xbox, Playstation and arcades. It was no problem for them to pickup on driving r/c planes and boats.

[Flying Scotsman]

I agree with Reddy. Personally, I would purchase a used SV27 and then you and your son can have some fun racing together.

Douggie

[Rex R]

from what little I've seen of 'non boater/ non r/c'ers' driving sv's I would say that with a k-42 prop just about anyone can drive them. sadly the esc is not properly set-up for use w/ lipos so, for the inexperienced I would strongly suggest staying with Nimh cells( if you are running an otherwise stock sv, lipos don't really make a notable difference in speed). would I reccomend the sv for the under 12 age group, er yeesss(w/ supervision).

[Chilli]

I just got a Aquacraft Hammer electric for my 9 year old son for Christmas. Whole setup was about $130 not including batteries and charger. I'm not too hot on the ABS hull but it's plenty zippy for him and its forgiving so I don't have to worry about him getting into too much trouble. He loves it and made me put it up on the fireplace mantle. There is one other problem. Now I have the bug bad and am looking seriously into building a AeroMarine Mean Machine. In the mean time, I picked up another hammer on ebay cheap so we can horse around together.

[Chop]

Let’s see, this is what I have so far…

I’ll stay with NiMH batteries until I find out if I get more serious. And I’ll use Rex’s advice on how to maintain the batteries over the winter.

As for the boy… I’ll keep an eye out for a boat for him to use. It can be something like the SV or maybe even better. It would be nice if I had two similar boats so we could “race” against each other and have it be a fair competition. He should be able to handle most any RTR set up – maybe even better than me. What about those small cats (mini Z etc.), are they any good – I mean are they easy to get used to? I know that they won’t be like a SV but they look pretty cool.

I really appreciate the advice – Thanks!