trim tabs on miss geico

[kfxguy]

Hi, new guy here. New to boating but not rc. I got bit by the boat bug about a month ago and bought a shockwave 26. Then ended up buying a miss geico 29. The bouncing....omg. cant stand it. I ordered the offset rudder. Tried different strut positions. Tried different battery positions. Tried different props. I have an x642 on there at the moment. I thought about putting trim tabs on. I know some of you dont agree with that but it doesnt bother me. I read on here where one guy put trim tabs on and it helped. Didnt really elaborate tho.

What do you guys think. Btw, sanding and repainting to blue print the bottom is not something I want to do. Heres my fleet btw. What ive collected in a month lol

[Darin Jordan]

Trim tabs on a Cat can help, but they are a band-aide for a setup issue. They induce drag, that will force the nose down.

I will be the first to admit that the MG has some "bounce" to it out of the box. However, most have been able to tune this out using proper strut and battery position, and picking the right prop. There are countless threads on it here.

Let us know how the tabs work out for you. Could be the ticket.

If you get adventurous, look at my "MG Race Prep" thread and attack the job of blue-printing the ride surfaces. This helps a ton. None of my race-boats "bounce", but they've been tuned and tweaked to get them there. The factory ride-pads are pretty "concave". Put a straight-edge on them to see yourself. Takes some work to get flat, but worth it if you are really interested in optimal performance.

Hopefully, Pro Boat can work with their manufacturers to get these a little cleaner out of the molds so this kind of custom work wouldn't be necessary.

[photohoward1]

Rase the strut to about a 1/4" above the sponsons. You may have to open up the strut to do it though. I have no Bounce in mine. Also put it on a flat table and check to see
how straight it is. They need work.

[kfxguy]

I would have never bought this boat had I researched it better beforehand. Its dupposed to be rtr out the box. Then it says capable of 50+ mph. Yea right. At 35mph mine blew over. Im a proboat fan obviously, but the thought of sanding and repainting a 4 day old boat just to be able to drive it, just doesnt sit right with me. Youd think proboat would have taken notice of this issue and corrected it by now.

[photohoward1]

Welcome to the world or RTR Boats. Start researching some better hulls. There are tons if you want to put all the hardware on yourself.
You will find all boats need some work.

[SloHD]

Some guys say blue printing works wonders, some guys say its a waste of time.

I've been able to get the bounce out of my mystic. You need to adjust the strut up and angle down, and battery placement for CG. Every hull is slightly different. You just need to tweak, and tweak, and tweak some more until you get it to stop bouncing.

You have to find that sweet spot where she rides high but stays stable.

[Darin Jordan]

I would have never bought this boat had I researched it better beforehand. Its dupposed to be rtr out the box. Then it says capable of 50+ mph. Yea right. At 35mph mine blew over. Im a proboat fan obviously, but the thought of sanding and repainting a 4 day old boat just to be able to drive it, just doesnt sit right with me. Youd think proboat would have taken notice of this issue and corrected it by now.

If you take it out of the box, throw 6S in it, and expect to go 50, it ain't happening. If you take a few minutes to set it up properly, THEN throw 6S in it, you'll get very, very close. It's not like an RC car... You don't just DRIVE it fast... You have to get it setup first.

I've NEVER blown one of these off the water, and I RACE them near 50mph all the time. I've rolled them a lot, but it's pretty rare to blow one off, if they are setup correctly.

Set your strut height, get your batteries in the right location, and go play.

All that said, just because the box says it is CAPABLE of 50mph on 6S, doesn't mean you can just GET there without some tinkering... No two of these are alike and you have to make some adjustments to go from stable at 35mph, to stable at 50...

That's just the nature of Boats and running across the water.

SO... Exactly WHAT is your setup right now??

1) Strut Height? (3/16 - 1/4" above the table)
2) Strut Angle?? (FLAT - no upward or downward angle)
3) Battery Position?? (CG should start around 30%, or ~8.75-9" from the back of the sponsons. )

Let's start from there...

[Darin Jordan]

... Believe me... I, of all people, would LOVE for these to come out perfectly out of the box. Believe me! Everytime someone finds a flaw, I do feedback the information to Pro Boat in an effort to get it corrected, or at least note it for the next development phase.

All I can say is that I think they are getting better every year. All RTRs have some kind of issue out of the box. Production compromises and costs and a companies desire for a profit margin can often create less that perfect designs or products.

Hopefully, we can build on the experiences each time to create better and better products.

They are certainly better than they used to be, and, I think, getting better with each release.

:)

[ray schrauwen]

Just a setup Question Darin: At the Mi Cup last June I ran my modded Geico in P-Limited offshore and P-limited cat. The strut is level with hull bottom and in the 4min race I ran a OSE S/B M445, in the 6 lap sprint I ran same AQ1800kv motor esc and batts but, used a D/T x447 prop.

Since I flipped once in offshore I was out of the running but, the motor and esc were decent temps coming back after 4 min. After the 6 lapper races I had to Post cool the motor because it was hitting 150*F+ . I am going to add extra cooling so motor gets fresh water but, can you advise me on anything I could change to bring temps down? I did come in 1st place in the 6 lapper event and the motor is still going fine but, too hot for my liking.

Any suggestions?

[kfxguy]

Well im not sure of my strut angle or height. I tried it all over the place. If I raise it like you guys suggest, my mph goes from 37.2 to 30mph. Thats alot and it doesnt completely cure the wawawa that it does. I ordered the offset rudder from a black jack. Im going to try trim tabs this weekend. Ill of course report back. I sldo have a 1515 2200kv castle motor to go in it. Ive already put a 120 amp turnigy esc in.

[Darin Jordan]

The strut is level with hull bottom and in the 4min race I ran a OSE S/B M445, in the 6 lap sprint I ran same AQ1800kv motor esc and batts but, used a D/T x447 prop.

I've never tried it with the AQ motor, but your strut seems too low to me for that diameter of prop. A lot of blade in the water...

If found that these hulls handle REALLY well with a smaller diameter prop, like an X440/3, with some pitch added if necessary. The 1800 AQ motor is truely 1800KV, and has lots of torque. The 2030 is actually more like 1960KV, so if you figure out the % difference there, you can figure out how much more pitch you need at 1800KV to make up for the speed.

Mine would trip on the outside sponson in rougher water once things get choppy with the X447 or X450 props (running 1500KV at the time). Boat was REALLY fast... I was usually out front by a good margin when it would happen. With the higher KV and smaller prop, it doesn't seem to happen.

Hope this helps some.

[kfxguy]

Id split the cooling up. Stock motor on 4s with x642 prop mine runs pretty warm with stock cooling. Ill be doing d
some cooling mods this week.

[kfxguy]

What prop should I try with the castle 2200kv on 4s. 1515 series motor. Im looking for about 50mph

[Darin Jordan]

What prop should I try with the castle 2200kv on 4s. 1515 series motor. Im looking for about 50mph

With that power system, on 4S, if you can't hit a VERY confortable 50mph with an ABC 42x55 (Grim 42x55)... then you aren't doing something right!

[Darin Jordan]

... I would look at an X440/3 as well. You can run the strut right about at the bottom of the sponsons (flat on the table), or slightly up (1/16" or so)... Boat should comfortably run with that setup. There is way more power there than the hull can realistically handle, so your goal shouldn't be a problem.

Like Howard and others have said, however, it takes some setup and getting the balance right.