a little help please.

[DESERT RATT]

In doing a search to find information on doing a electric change over a member (Hydro Junkie) of this forum recommended Visit y'all.
I had some smaller hulled boats when I was younger, Much younger. I'm reviving a 42" White Lightning. They came out in a Popular science Magazine in 1962 and I actually remember reading the Magazine when I was ten.

I found one by accident about 10 to 15 years ago. Got it in a trade and since I was an r/c Airplane guy, in the attic it went. I, while recently cleaning the attic to see what junk I had aquired throughout the years. This boat was in the Treasure trove.

1. Now, it's in the resurrecting stage. I stripped the old paint off cleaned the hull up and filled in a couple of hull holes with 3/16th marine ply. I have removed the old Skeg which had been broken off and made another glued it back in and was sure to true it to 90* to the flat bottom and with some 1/8th ply reinforced both sides top and bottom side by side of the skeg.
2. Firstly I did a couple of searches and learned a few things but other questions i have were not covered or I just didn't do the proper search.
3. Secondly I will follow your recommendations as I ask.
4. Question at this time, Is there somewhere I can find the nomenclature of the parts of the rebuild I will need to properly ask questions which I have no knowledge of.

Thank in advance for any and all of your help in advance.

Ron (Desert Ratt) Woodgeard in Nevada.
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[Fluid]

First off, what are your expectations for the hydro? We need to know that to make meaningful recommendations.

Racing or sport running?
Pond size?
Speed expectations?
Run Time desired?
Approximate Cost Cap?
Do you have other electric models?
Do you have other FE boats?
Do you have a club or FE boat mentor in your area?

That looks like an Octura White Heat hydro, show us a picture of the bottom - different versions had different designs.




.

[1coopgt]

Looks neat. More pictures please.

[DESERT RATT]

Thank you. i will.

[DESERT RATT]

Fluid, I am near a full sized lake for a playland.
I have lots of R/C parts. Motors new and used, Same for Nitro engines.
I want to change this boat over from it's O&R 1 HP gas engine to electrics. Just tired after 60 years in the hobby of cleaning and tuning Nitro toys.
I believe the boat will come in at High 7lbs to low 8lbs

I am on the high desert with no RC boat owners that I know and I don't care for the politics which is in Clubs.
Cost is whatever it takes to make this a toy to play with taking trips with our Toy hauler lake to lake playing around
Run time I'm guessing. 15 to 20-25 minutes
There is a 1'' step which I'll get a picture of hull bottom to show you.

[Jesse J]

Well one thing about the nitro to Fe conversion is the limited run time.
Heat build up and battery capacity typically get you maybe up to 5 maybe 10 max, depending on speed and driving style.
Boat Speed controls are designed to run at full throttle, and heat up faster if driven at less. Might consider the new car esc, possibly modified for water cooling.

[DESERT RATT]

Thank you. i will.

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[DESERT RATT]

Thanks for the questions.

40MPH range give or take 5MPH.
I would like to get approx.. run times of 15 to 20 minutes

she's 42"x15" 7lbs. to 8lbs. and as mentioned above 1" step

Question are great things. Please keep them coming so I may learn from you guys.

[eehess81]

I'm a little out of my depth with this type of boat but to get 15-20 min run times at 40mph would be very difficult. You would need small prop, large capacity batteries, low kv high quality motor and a high amp esc to keep heat and power draw low. Might wanna shoot for a 10-15 min run time. Good luck

[DESERT RATT]

thank you

[1coopgt]

You might want to send an email to Steve at https://www.offshoreelectrics.com/ , He should be able to suggest a Motor and ESC. The motor I have in my 1/8th scale I have a feeling would be to fast .

[Fluid]

Some of the info the OP has received is good, some not so much. I?ve built and run several stepped boats although none as large as the White Heats. A speed of 35-45 mph is reasonable, the stepped hull has more drag than a typical modern hydro or mono but can give good running. A run time of 15 minutes is probably unrealistic, and to get that would require a lot of battery weight further reducing speed and run time.

You do not want to run a small inefficient prop on a boat that size, that?s a recipe for failure. There are several ways to get close to your goals, here is one possible path:

4ea. 4S/5000 mAh 60C or greater packs wired as 8S/2P/10,000 mAh
Leopard 5692/540 motor
Octura x457/3 prop (a submerged prop will need to be smaller)
A quality water cooled ESC capable of 200 amps/8S

I hope you aren?t planning on using the original steerable outdrive, those were very inefficient and gave tricky handling at speed. A 1/4? flex cable and standard strut with the prop run in a surfacing configuration will be much better. You will want to mount the packs so they can be moved fore and aft to adjust the CG, flat-stepped boats can be tricky to get the CG placement right depending on speed. The boat will weigh a lot more than 7 pounds with batteries.

The single most important thing for fuel guys to remember is that electricity and water do not mix. The entire hull is the radio box and must be watertight. Most every fuel guy I?ve known who tries to transition to FE thinks they can get by without a watertight hull. They always fail and either quit or learn the hard way. Don?t be one of those guys.

When properly set up the stuff above should give speeds around 35-40 mph and run times up to 10 minutes - maybe a bit more depending on how it?s run. Constant on and off throttle running eats up run time, the lowest amp draw/longest run time comes with constant speeds. Let us know how you get on.

BTW, the ?White Lightning? was a monoplane, see below.