TFL Hobbies "Popeye" Hydro: P-Sport Hydro

[ron1950]

all I can say is get the blank hull and pre plan the cg around the motor mount and battery placement,,,,its tough to get cg correct with factory motor placement

[flraptor07]

I don't want to burst your bubble but there are a lot better hulls out there. The Delta Force Vortex 34 is much better it'll handle up to 6s. I have both the Popeye and the Vortex I also have a BBY SS30 that is a nice hydro. http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/pro...d=df-vortex-34

[Raceprep79]

No bubble burst at all. That is why I wanted to ask the question before buying. Thanks for the recommendation. I am not a big fan of the looks on the BBY, but the Vortex looks pretty cool. I am sure it is a good bang for your buck deal with the popeye like most other ARTR stuff.

What kinds of speeds are reliably possible with the Vortex? How does the vortex compare to the Insane FE-30?

[RayR]

Oops, wrong thread.

[Fluid]

...What kinds of speeds are reliably possible with the Vortex? How does the vortex compare to the Insane FE-30?

We have one Vortex34 in the club, the owner runs it mostly on 4S2P. It is much larger than the FE-30 and is better suited to open motors and rougher water. I don't know if he has GPS'd it or not, but he is not much slower than our other P Sport Hydros - and he is not finished setting it up. I am surprised at how well it works at speed with all those air traps......



.

[Brushless55]

Could the Vortex34 be run in Q Hydro ?

[flraptor07]

The FE30 is probably a little better boat for all out racing, I've never had one so I couldn't tell you any particulars on it. Tony "Propper Chopper" Heller could tell you more on the FE30, he's built a ton of them and I think he's hooked up with Insane in some way. I have not GPSed my Vortex yet but rough guess I've been over 60mph with it and no ill effects. I'm still tuning it but it ran pretty nice right off the bench. If you're looking for a all out race boat, also look at ML Boat works. Mike does some beautiful boats, I'm doing a GP400 now which is a Q sport hydro 39.5" long http://mlboatworksrc.com/index.php?m...e9a7702903a335 Here's some pics of my Vortex and the GP400.DSC02496.jpgDSC02498.jpgDSC02839.jpgDSC02823.jpg

[Fluid]

Could the Vortex34 be run in Q Hydro ?

Yes, but IME it is a bit small for Q in anything but smooth water. Competing with 36-39" boats it will be at a diasdvantage.

The FE-30 is really too small for P with an open motor, unless the water is pretty smooth. Several club members started with an FE-30 in P-SH but soon they put in P-LSH power and were much happier. The ML340s are much better size-wise than an FE-30.


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[flraptor07]

We have one Vortex34 in the club, the owner runs it mostly on 4S2P. It is much larger than the FE-30 and is better suited to open motors and rougher water. I don't know if he has GPS'd it or not, but he is not much slower than our other P Sport Hydros - and he is not finished setting it up. I am surprised at how well it works at speed with all those air traps......



.

The Vortex doesn't trap as much air as you think, if you look it has about a 1/2" step behind the sponsons up to the center section. The only place it's really trapping is about the last 2" or so at the transom.

[Raceprep79]

Thanks a ton for the info and recommendations. Apologies for sort of taking this Thread off on a tangent, but maybe useful for others that are interested in going fast and stable. I have inquired with Tony and will probably go that direction as my pond is not big and rough enough for the larger boats

[SlickZERO]

all I can say is get the blank hull and pre plan the cg around the motor mount and battery placement,,,,its tough to get cg correct with factory motor placement

I am building one from bare hull. Where do you suggest I set the cg? Thanks, Bret