TFL Hobbies "Popeye" Hydro

[ray schrauwen]

Also did it come with the TFL 3660 2075kv 4 pole motor?? That is a legal motor by NAMBA since they have been in a production run greater than 100+ units...

[Doby]

Also did it come with the TFL 3660 2075kv 4 pole motor?? That is a legal motor by NAMBA since they have been in a production run greater than 100+ units...

Nope, just got the hull and hardware...as for the legality of the motor......thats a topic for another thread because we all know where that could lead to!!!!

Don't want to get into that on this thread.

[ray schrauwen]

It's right in NAMBA rules as I read them before going to MI Cup. But, yes that's another thread.....

Me so sorry! lol...

[Doby]

Thanks..

[Brushless55]

This is a great looking hull.

It is also available at HOR as a plain hull

http://www.horracing.com/product_info.php?cPath=37_62&products_id=567

or ARTR

http://www.horracing.com/product_info.php?cPath=41_98&products_id=569

I will be very interested in your setup and results Doby.

thanks now I can see the specs of the hull

[ron1950]

i like the room inside...is it very light? say lighter then a fe 30? looks good too

[Doby]

Not sure what an FE 30 weighs......but with all the hardware and electronics in it, this weighs in at 4.1lbs

My current Phil Thomas LSH weighs in at 4.4 lbs.
My Motley Crew weighs 4.5 lbs
My Revolt weighs 3.8 lbs

[ray schrauwen]

Thanks for the PM John, I'd like to see it run. This weekend is a bust with Honey Do'd etc... Next weekend sounds good too. Might have my PT back together to race you against this one...

[kenrid]

WP_20130615_002 (640x360).jpgI have had one of these hulls for a few months now, with limited success. It initially ran quite wet and so I have tried a couple of motors and adjusted the strut angle. First ran with a Leopard LPB4074 2200 KV on 4S and was just too slow. Next I tried a TP4060 motor on 6S and speed and handling was better, but not nearly as fast as my Insane FE30 with Neu 1515 motor. It remains a work in progress.

[Doby]

JB Weld dried nicely....shaft won't be going anywhere now.
More Popeye 001.JPG

[Doby]

Installed a trusty old (2 years) 2030 KV motor and AQ 60 map controller...pretty much the standard electronics for LSH. I was going to try a new 1800 Kv motor, but seeing how light the hull was, opted for the higher KV instead.

More Popeye 002.JPGMore Popeye 004.JPGMore Popeye 005.JPGMore Popeye 006.JPGMore Popeye 007.JPG

[Doby]

Rudder and steering servo next...I really like the rudder, It has water pickups on both sides (a nice touch) and comes with a breakaway nylon screw as well. the leading edge required a small bit of clean-up to achieve an even, sharp edge.

This was also the first time I used ty-wraps as a mounting method....the servo mounting tray has a deep channel where the servo mounting tabs fit in...keeps it aligned perfectly..added the lower ty-wrap and it barely moved...the top ty-wrap slot and some fiberglass resin in it so it didn't side through evenly as the lower one did...but still does a decent job of holding the servo in place.

More Popeye 008.JPGMore Popeye 009.JPGMore Popeye 013.JPGMore Popeye 010.JPGMore Popeye 012.JPG

[Doby]

Turn Fin:

Added the small turn fin that was supplied with the rest of the hardware....it does seem rather small, but lets see what it can do before condemning it.

Both the turnfin mounting area as well as the strut/rudder mounting area have plywood backer plates fiberglassed in for re-enforcement.

turn fin 001.JPG

[Doby]

So now that all the assembly pics are have been posted, I can tell you all that I got it out this afternoon for some trial runs.

Despite what Kenrid said a few post up, I had no problem with the hull running wet, it aired out quite nicely.

My goal is to set this up as a competitive P-Spec LSH.

First off, all tests were done as follows...

Each run was done for 3 laps around our ponds markers.
The strut was raised fairly high to start with and was not adjusted for any of the runs.
Each run used a fully charged 5800mah 4S 25C Turnigy pack.(2nd season for all packs)
Winds ranged from 0 to 10 Mph and water from glass to slight ripples.

The first run used a sharpened and balanced Octura X642: The prop hooked up right away with minimal cavitation. After 3 laps, temps on the motor=109, temps on the controller=105 and the battery was barely warm. GPS said 44.6 Mph.

The next few runs used all sorts of props from Grimm Lifters to assorted Octuras and Prathers (2 and 3 bladed) all with similar results as above (give or take a bit either way).

The last run used a reasonably sharp and balanced Octura X447: The prop hooked up with no issues. After 3 laps, temps on the motor=119, temps on the controller=112 and the battery was barely warm. GPS said 47.8 Mph. This was the best speed run of the afternoon.

Then I went home pretty happy

I'm sure that with some prop sharpening and messing with the strut angle a bit, this will get into the low 50's in spec trim. Even as it sits, its should be a competitive boat.

Note, with the rather small turn fin, I was surprised to find out that it turned on a dime and had almost no slippage in the turns. It might be a different story in some chop and race water conditions though...I will be changing it to a larger/deeper fin in the near future. But for fun running at the pond in light wind conditions, it actually did its job well. Turning left
did result in some cool spinouts though unless the turns were really wide.

The boat aired out nicely with any of the props I tried. There was no sponson walking either...nice and stable.

I did have one rather spectacular flip/tumble/end over end wipeout and when it floated back to shore, there was no damage and dry inside.

Taping the hatch was easy as well, similar to a UL-1, but with the bump in the front cowling making it only a slight bit more challenging.


So to summarize, in my humble Canadian opinion, there is another option available for a LSH hull that people should consider.

[Doby]

Starting to look pretty...