50" Expresscraft Thunderbolt Twin Electric

[bill34207]

Today was the maiden of my latest "project". An Expresscraft 50" Thunderbolt Cat built as an electric twin. Powered by a pair of Castle/Neu 1717 1580kv motors running 6s 2p 5000 ma lipo and Turnigy 180 marine esc's.. All up weight with batteries. 23 pounds.

You Tube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52Ch_Fdvd8A

Link to build: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1331421

[Jesse J]

What a treat! thanks for sharing. great video work and that baby looks/sounds amazing. Great inspiration to get me one of those built up for the great thaw.

[Ub Hauled]

I have one of those hulls as well, yours is looking great!, I will be using one motor on mine, hope it works as well!!!!
Funny you have the Goldfinger paint job, I was going to have the Quantum of Solace on mine... lol

[bill34207]

Thanks for the compliments gents. It was actually a pretty fast build (for me) as it only took a little over a month to complete. I was happy with the end result for it's 1st outing. A little tweaking and might have a 70 mph+ boat.

[blackcat26]

Got any idea of the speed? Looked great especially for that size boat!

[sailr]

It was super windy and rough that day. I doubt Bill could open her all the way up!

[DISAR]

Very nice boat. I will use the same setup in a 54" custom cat. Are you going to add extra caps on the T180s?

[blackcat26]

It was super windy and rough that day. I doubt Bill could open her all the way up!

Yeah she looked a little bow light on full power! I was just wondering if he had a GPS on there to see it's speed so far.

[bill34207]

Sadlly there was no GPS on board. Hebner was there along with Truckpull, Osprey21, Tiqueman and myself. Hugh said 65-70. Scott and I were thinking along the lines of 55-60, but that was at about 3/4 throttle. Full throttle was a little too scary to use in it's current trim.

Here's a thought to bat around. It's currently CG'd at about 33% of the sponson length. Should I go for a more forward CG or go for a little down trim on the stingers?

[bill34207]

Very nice boat. I will use the same setup in a 54" custom cat. Are you going to add extra caps on the T180s?

Yep. Ordered the cap banks last night. That was the only thing that got hot.

[bigpapa]

that is truly awsome

[timjz]

Sadlly there was no GPS on board. Hebner was there along with Truckpull, Osprey21, Tiqueman and myself. Hugh said 65-70. Scott and I were thinking along the lines of 55-60, but that was at about 3/4 throttle. Full throttle was a little too scary to use in it's current trim.

Here's a thought to bat around. It's currently CG'd at about 33% of the sponson length. Should I go for a more forward CG or go for a little down trim on the stingers?

I had one of these boats with a stock RMCK gas engine. The spark plug right at the front of the hatch scoop, as far forward as it would go. Mine ran very bow light, even at the low 50's I was getting with it. The gas guys usually add some weight to the nose.

[mpg43]

Yep. Ordered the cap banks last night. That was the only thing that got hot.

What cap banks did you order for the 180's? that is a great looking boat, thanks for sharing the video with us. some day I will have to learn how to post a video.
Where in FL. do you live, I'm in Ft. Pierce.

Thanks,
Mark

[bill34207]

Thanks guys. Gotta admit that I'm enjoying the compliments. I've only been playing FE boats for a year now and this Thunderbolt was my 1st attempt at a twin. (chose it because it was roomy enough to allow me to work inside it).
I've been playing with battery arrangement and can move the cg about an inch forward of where it was just by lining them up lengthwise with the hull and as far forward as possible.

The cap banks I ordered are the etti's sold here at OSE. Nobody would really give me a straight answer as to whether there would be any benefit in running the big monster HV cap sets so went with the LV ones whish are supposed to be good for up to 7s lipo.

As for location, I'm in Bradenton which is roughly 50 miles south of Tampa.

[mpg43]

Are you coming to our pond for the Nat's in June. Our club is hosting the 2011 Nat's in Ft. Pierce.

[bill34207]

Are you coming to our pond for the Nat's in June. Our club is hosting the 2011 Nat's in Ft. Pierce.

Won't make any promises since June is a long ways off still. It would have to be a Sat or Sunday for me since that time of year is peak season where I work and getting time off is harder than in the winter months.
If hebner can get his motor repaired and back into his 1/8 hydro we might try to do a little run there with his and mine if the race schedule permits.

My Miller American: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRmowNJ1GW0

Hebners: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlBjxw5mIXA

[bill34207]

Got another run on the T-bolt yesterday with the cg moved up to 37% from the rear of the sponsons. Still a little floaty at full throttle when the packs are fresh. Still no GPS for actual speed reading though. Maybe next week at Ackerman.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlcxrxuFIFw

[blackcat26]

That's a sweet boat Bill. You did an excellent job!

[bill34207]

Thanks blackcat. You know, even if it's not fast, it still has an excellent coolness factor just from the sound it generates under acceleration. When the motors hit synch it almost sounds like a turbine.

[blackcat26]

Who says it's not fast? Looks fast to me especially when you consider how big it is!

[bill34207]

Who says it's not fast? Looks fast to me especially when you consider how big it is!

LOL I guess that was just me talking to myself. I have a few model jets as well, and one of them is close to 150 at full throttle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nhybk_xMsvk

[cwrelic]

Bill,Was this shot at Ackerman park in Sarasota?

[bill34207]

Hi cw. The 1st vid on the T-bolt was shot at Ackerman. Same with the 2 1/8 hydro vids. We usually meet & run there on the 2nd & 4th Sundays of the month. Come out and visit if you are looking for some other boaters in that area.

The 2nd Thunderbolt run was on Lake Padget in Land of Lakes. Part of our group (that was willing to make the drive) got together at highndry's house for a New Years cookout and ran in his "back yard". We should all be so fortunate.

The Tamjet F-16 was a few miles south of Ackerman in Rothenbach park off Bee Ridge. (Sarasota RC Squadron)

[highndry]

The TB is awesome. Our group is discussing a warm-up race at one of the Waveblasters regular monthly events. We run a 1/6 course so we would like our group to spend some time with the smaller corse in anticipation of the Nats.

[bill34207]

Finally got a GPS run on this one today. Not the best of conditions for doing it with a 10-15 knott wind stirring up a 4" chop on the lake. I gotta say this big heavy oil tanker handles chop quite well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_35OP8yHMU

(I still think it's faster on calmer water too)

[sailr]

Can't seem to catch a break from the rough water at Akerman lately! How did the new trolling motor work out? If it's a 40 pounder it should push the jon boat faster than our other one.

[bill34207]

Can't seem to catch a break from the rough water at Akerman lately! How did the new trolling motor work out? If it's a 40 pounder it should push the jon boat faster than our other one.

Going into the wind at WOT it almost makes the john boat feel like it wants to blow over. Definately got more push than the old one.

[highndry]

Taking the Pickle off the auction block due to lack of interest. I put a UL1 motor in it today and turned it over to Clay....look out LSH guys , there's a new kid ( ten year old ) in town. I dont want to hear it. Lock the doors and hide the virgins.

[highndry]

The Tb plays with that chop Bill. Looks awesome.

[Brushless55]

Finally got a GPS run on this one today. Not the best of conditions for doing it with a 10-15 knott wind stirring up a 4" chop on the lake. I gotta say this big heavy oil tanker handles chop quite well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_35OP8yHMU

(I still think it's faster on calmer water too)

Looks better bro!
what did you change on this run?