Making an outrigger boat kit available for $35 shipped, need input!

[siberianhusky]

Since you have used a lipo and smaller motor than the boat was designed for does the CG work out correctly? One of the biggest issues getting a boat to run proper is the CG.
One other thing I just thought of, do you have permission to kit and sell a boat that was designed by somebody else?
Chances are the designer won't care but he could make life difficult for you if he decided to.
I personally don't care but it would suck if you got a lawyer letter!
Use epoxy not cheap polyester resin and mix according to the instructions, polyester will add stink but not much else. Finishing resin is available in small bottles from every hobby shop I've ever been in. I personally use West System epoxy for just about everything boat related. Bonding, laying up glass and sealing wooden hulls. There are others out there just as good but I can get West locally.

[slowsl]

Since you have used a lipo and smaller motor than the boat was designed for does the CG work out correctly? One of the biggest issues getting a boat to run proper is the CG.
One other thing I just thought of, do you have permission to kit and sell a boat that was designed by somebody else?
Chances are the designer won't care but he could make life difficult for you if he decided to.
I personally don't care but it would suck if you got a lawyer letter!
Use epoxy not cheap polyester resin and mix according to the instructions, polyester will add stink but not much else. Finishing resin is available in small bottles from every hobby shop I've ever been in. I personally use West System epoxy for just about everything boat related. Bonding, laying up glass and sealing wooden hulls. There are others out there just as good but I can get West locally.

From what I see, the lipo/motor I will be using will be a bit on the heavy side for what the boat was designed for. Just looking on the net, it looks like most lean setups have the batteries positioned pretty far forward in the tub. I should have enough space to keep the lipo weight back enough to get a 60/40 balance. If not, it will be easy enough to modify.
As far as the plans being designed by someone else... I thought these were public plans, at least that's the way people speak about the predator plans. I did just take a look and there is a copyright symbol on the plans. Hmm, don't want to step into that legal arena. The model will be a bit different once the final version is done, I just needed something to base the design from.
Ah! I have fiberglass resin I was going to use, but if you say to use epoxy, that is what I will use, thanks for that tip!

[slowsl]

Update....
Should have it ready for a test run Sunday if the weather is okay. If all goes well I should have some video, hopefully it doesn't sink. At least it will make for a fun video if it does. I've got a good list of things I'm improving for the next version. It will grow slightly in length by about 1.5", width by about 1/4"- 1/2", and height by 1/8". The way it is right now I have a mystery 200a ESC that barely tucks in there sideways. I've placed it in the back in order to counter the heavy battery pack in the front. The motor mount now has more passage holes for cooling lines & electrical, and will be adjustable, both angle and location. I have completely removed the doublers, and added small stiffeners where needed to save on weight, the tub still feels rock solid. I could go even further by using more 1/32" ply, but that would increase cost dramatically. Not sure the trade off is worth it, as my goal is to keep it cheap and fun. The turn fins are now adjustable by way of a long slot rather than two holes. This should be able to adjust and fine tune turning characteristics relative to balance point.

Scratch the 60/40 balance, I'm not sure where I pulled that info from, but they were wrong for a rigger. I've mocked up the weight in the tub with pretty much the largest battery/motor that should be run in the boat w/ a 15% balance from the front sponsons rear wet edge. Once that end of the spectrum is tested and good, then the smaller setups I would assume will work as well, as the space for the smaller lipos will be plenty to shift the weight forward.

[Fella1340]

Sounds great, any pictures to show of your current progress?

[Fluid]

Actually, a 60/40 weight distribution works well for many riggers, particularly those with rear sponsons or those running a lifting prop. An example is the very successful JAE 21FE rigger which needs 60/40 distribution to run well without a lifting prop. Yours may do better with the CG 15 percent behind the sponsons, or not. Depends on the weight and prop. That's why we test.



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[slowsl]

I went with...
Leopard 3650
4s Lipo
Neewer Mystery 100A esc (also bought a Myster 200A, but cannot get it to program)


Well that was a monumental flop and I didn't even get it on video! I don't know exactly what happened, I suspect it lost radio contact at only about 70 ft. out. I went in a few small circles at slow speeds, then I straightened it out and applied about 1/2 throttle. Out of nowhere it went wide open and I had no rudder or speed control. It crashed into shore about 1/4 mile down the lake. Luckily it didn't hit anything hard. I used an air receiver from one of my planes, as that's the only Tx I have. I had no clue it would lose contact. I've had my plane a good 1/8 mile up without problems. Anyway, pulled the hatches off and there was smoke coming from the motor. The ESC is for sure fried, it does not initialize or anything. When I put a multitester on the battery pack, it starts at 5V and slowly makes its way to 14+ volts. Don't know if that means it's fried or what. I plugged in my 200a esc to test the motor and it barely spins. I'm hoping it's the battery pack and not the motor. Soooo, gonna throw the battery on the charger and see if it straightens out with a full charge. I'm going to order a ground Tx & Rx, and either figure out the 200A Mystery ESC programming or get a new speed controller. I can get the ESC into program mode, but it doesn't go into the sub menus when you push the stick to mid throttle. Maybe a programming card is out there that will work for it? If the motor is shot guess I will need another.

On the upside of this situation, it must have gone about 45-50 mph easily without even being setup properly. Just by eye, it appeared to be faster than the riggers in the video above.

Any thoughts? How in the world should I test my motor? Can it be repaired if it was overheated?

[slowsl]

[slowsl]

[slowsl]

Okay, new motor, esc, & Rx/Tx ordered. This time with failsafes, don't want this to happen again.

[Fluid]

Sorry about the crash. We all have to remember it's Radio CONTROL - no radio reception means it's a free running missle. Boats do not have anywhere near the range of airplanes, the water they run on screws up the transmitter's signal. Always do a range check with any new boat to avoid this problem.

What radio were you using? Better ESCs and radios will shut off if the radio signal is lost. I don't see a receiver antenna exiting the boat. With a vertical antenna 6" above the deck my Spektrum DX3R/MR3000 combo is good for at least 900 feet (as far as I've tested it). A club member's FlySky with antenna inside the boat is lucky to make 150 feet.

Other observations: good looking wood work; no gap between drive dog and strut; unsharpened prop; pretty flimsy rudder pushrod; no need for dual water pickups on this boat, extra weight and mess; unsharpened turn fin(?); cut off the skeg on the strut;

I realize that you may have fixed some of the above before you ran the boat....I hope you have better luck next time. Before you run the boat, post more pics of your setup so we can help avoid another crash.




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[slowsl]

Thanks for all the help fluid, I really appreciate it. Yes, I will test extensively next time out. I didn't realize that water had such a negative effect on the reception. The radio was a Spektrum dx6i. The new ESC and radio have the shut offs. I ran the antenna out of one of the canopy openings a couple inches, then taped the canopy on, with the wire sticking out still. There is .150" gap between the dog & strut, what you see is seaweed wrapped around when it crashed, I hadn't cleaned it up yet before the photos, lol. As for the prop, I didn't know if there was that much benefit in sharpening it. I didn't want to mess it up. I did make a balancer and found it to be quite a bit off balance, I ground it down and polished it up. Yeah, I pretty much just threw together what I had laying around (pushrod, brackets for the strut, water pickup.) I work at a fab shop, I plan on making professional parts when I have a few more minutes. Should I run the water pickup from the motor, to the esc and back out instead of a dual puckup system? Again, thanks for all the info, it really helps.

Sorry about the crash. We all have to remember it's Radio CONTROL - no radio reception means it's a free running missle. Boats do not have anywhere near the range of airplanes, the water they run on screws up the transmitter's signal. Always do a range check with any new boat to avoid this problem.

What radio were you using? Better ESCs and radios will shut off if the radio signal is lost. I don't see a receiver antenna exiting the boat. With a vertical antenna 6" above the deck my Spektrum DX3R/MR3000 combo is good for at least 900 feet (as far as I've tested it). A club member's FlySky with antenna inside the boat is lucky to make 150 feet.

Other observations: good looking wood work; no gap between drive dog and strut; unsharpened prop; pretty flimsy rudder pushrod; no need for dual water pickups on this boat, extra weight and mess; unsharpened turn fin(?); cut off the skeg on the strut;

I realize that you may have fixed some of the above before you ran the boat....I hope you have better luck next time. Before you run the boat, post more pics of your setup so we can help avoid another crash.




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[Fluid]

All props need to be sharpened. It is easier to do when you are balancing it. Run the water from the ESC to the motor and out. Drill a hole in the deck (through a doubler) and insert a car antenna tube at least 6" long. Run the antenna up through the tube. A marine receiver will have much better reliability. I am interested in how this turns out...



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[slowsl]

All props need to be sharpened. It is easier to do when you are balancing it. Run the water from the ESC to the motor and out. Drill a hole in the deck (through a doubler) and insert a car antenna tube at least 6" long. Run the antenna up through the tube. A marine receiver will have much better reliability. I am interested in how this turns out...



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K, will do. I'll sharpen & balance all of my props before running next. I just bought a couple smaller props to play it safe to start with. So far, I have Octura 1732, 1735, 1740, 1747, 1750, 1938, and x642 to use. Not sure which size will be optimum for my setup. So, what I need to do is install the smallest prop, run it for 30 seconds or so, pull it in, and check how how the ESC & motor is? What rule of thumb should I use since I don't have a thermal gun? I've read if you can put your fingers on it for more than 5 seconds, it's not overheated. I believe my ESC logs temperature, and I bought the handheld box for it.
On a side note, I should have revision 2 cut over the weekend. This will have some good improvements, all listed in above posts, plus I've reworked the canopy openings so that it's much easier to get a screwdriver in for the motor, and wrenches in to tighten the flex shaft. I'm also adding a couple 1/32" ribs so that the main sponson construction will be super easy, and maintain the intended shape. I thought I would have to increase the surface area above the wet areas due to a heavier setup drowning the boat, but fully loaded, mine sat pretty good in the water, and jumps right up on plane, so maybe I shouldn't touch that. Is there any other suggestions that might improve the functionality or performance that anyone can suggest? I want to get all the changes in before I cut and build the next kit for testing.

[slowsl]

One more thing... what tape will work good for sealing the canopy? I'd like to be able to go to a local store to get it. I'm guessing packaging tape will not work well.

[Fluid]

Most use either hockey tape or colored vinyl tape like this: http://www.shop3m.com/scotch-vinyl-e...-x-20-1-m.html

I get the latter at home stores like Home Depot. Renfrew shin pad tape works well too and is cheaper if you buy in bulk.


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