HARTLEY FLARELINE, FIRST CRACK AT TRAILER LAUNCHING.
I decided to risk a salt water trial, as there is no place I can think of with fresh water and a smooth beach or ramp which doesn't involve a 100 mile round trip (most beaches where I am are ocean beaches and others are soft sand/shell. The only lake I can think of is 112km away and I'm not THAT keen. Launching went ok but retrieval was another matter, not helped by an 8mph side wind (looks calm but is windy) Had a number of goes and discovered a few things which need changing, (extra front guide posts and rollers either end of the pads) The rubber resting pads stick like glue so I'll have to make some pop up rollers at the ends.
The pads hold the boat slightly above the centre rollers to avoid damage and stop it sliding off while shifting it. New front guide posts are needed as the boat only draws about 30mm and goes right over the trailer with it underwater 😮(no prop or rudder sticking out,) so it might help locate it when coming in. Jeep had truckloads of power (just fitted a new even lower geared -geared motor -1000rpm/min @ 12v), but unfortunately being only 2x2 (not 4x4) and being half the weight of the boat/trailer combo it couldn't get a grip in the mud, so needed a bit of assistance, (as did the boat getting onto the trailer). Cut out most of the vid with the boat missing the trailer about 10 times, but scored a direct hit once😊. Heaps of fun trying and heaps of washing and CRC when I got home! Going to need some new bearings at some stage, - the ones in it are rubbish and have only lasted for about a few hours running, noisy as anything now, even with gallons of oil. Stainless NMB ones next if I don't change the jet to something else, (another thought on propulsion happening)💡
Hi JB - Martins eBay one looks like the place to start - add metal diffs and a good body - away you go .
Was thinking its a pity you are stuck with two transmitters - be nice to only use one like the old Futaba/Graupner F14 set they used for the German Rescue & Daughter boats..........
Hi Peter, I could probably drive the boat on the right stick, and the truck on the left stick of the 9x TX,- I'd just have to sort out the smoke/air/water pump starting, which at present uses the left stick moved right and left to start/stop. The smoke etc doesn't run all the time, (just for starting as a display thing) and can be turned off at any time with Grahams clever little control board. It's not too much of a problem really though,- if I was better organised, I could probably hang one over each shoulder (or clamp them back to back)😁
Tested the new reversing bucket, and it has improved reverse power quite a bit (actually was backing into a strong wind). Bit hard to gauge the reverse steering as there was a 10-15mph wind blowing the boat all over the place, (looks calm but wind funnels through the area from either end at times). Performance hasn't changed with the new grille unfortunately, but the flow looks slightly better. I noticed the reduced brass nozzle I had made was creating a small amount of back pressure, so have re-fitted the original oversized plastic nozzle for the next test.
Trying a method of producing correct engine sound using BT for the seaplane tender.
I purchased a small BT player which has a number of features including recording. It can output using BT to a BT speaker, so I recorded an engine sound (Detroit 4-53 for the seaplane tender) I found, and copied it a number of times using the player and the vid on the computer (paused the recording, ran the video back, started recording again, etc etc) worked reasonably well. Very hard to find a sound which is continuous for a decent length of time, especially sounds of older engines which may not exist or are in museums. Used the BT feature to send the sound to a small BT speaker sitting in the boat.
Now I need to find out how to get the sound to accelerate and somehow get it into my 'GT Power' engine sound unit files, (the sounds on that are in lots of small WAV files linked to the TX throttle movement (I think they are on an SD card and they just loop where you stop the throttle, and advance or retard to the next file as you move it) A bit of investigation is in order.😀
Hi Peter, the new little BT player can actually record sounds, then you can play them straight to the BT speaker which is quite cool. I can see having a lot of fun with this😁. Re the bicycle spoke idea, you could link a geared motor to run with your main motor to get the correct lower and top end 'revs',
Hi Peejay, I have a number of GT Power sound units and a couple are the sound and light versions for cars, (stop/tail lights, indicators, headlights) which have 50+ sounds, from formula 1 cars to diesels (but not much I can use) and the also have provision to select a horn. Haven't tried any of that stuff yet as not needed on the boat, (could probably use the horn) - hence I have a bunch of LEDs (red, white. orange) which plug into the unit still sitting in the boxes, waiting for the right project. Was going to use some for dash indicators etc but couldn't be bothered with all the extra wires!
Finally got a good day, so raced down to the pond and threw the boat in. 2 problems, 1: battery had run down a bit with all the testing, and the new 18kg digital servo winch needed every bit of 4.8v, so functioned intermittently, meaning not much sail control, 2: jib boom needs a kicking strap to stop it 'skying' and tangling (knew it would happen but wasn't a worry). Apart from that, everything worked perfectly ( cheapo China Futaba knock -off rudder servo still worked fine on the low battery which is a bonus)
Sailed brilliantly like it did over 40 yrs ago, and as it's set will sail hands off on a reach, being nicely balanced, (even with the crappy jib,- which I had to make,- well actually my mother made for me,- back in 1980 after the original was stolen by a kid at the beach, while my back was turned😠) Funnily enough it was made on the same Bernina I used to sew (horrendously) the jib foot after trimming it for the boom a few days ago.
A few more things to improve and add, but pleased to have it back on the water. Another crap video, -seems to get blurry once it's been through the movie editor and You tube ) One day santa might bring me a Gopro, ("yeah right"!)
Looks like a perfect day. I find sailing very relaxing and quiet, with no engine/motor noise. Can be quite challenging though, especially when you need to bring it back in to the dock.
Hi the Graupner yachts are the best, I have a Gracia and she sails very nicely and such a pleasure to watch. She had a small change last year to the servos and works for ever on a 4 AA cell pack 2300mAh. I have a little less sail area and have a sail servo the same size as a standard servo and this copes OK.
regards Roy
Weather was perfect tonight for a test, so I did the 15km trip out to the Gulf harbour pond (most weed free pond) to throw the boat in. After a thorough under water hull inspection from the marine department, she was off. Everything worked ok except the silicone drive tube which had become enlarged due to soaking in the grease coming out the front of the jet shaft. It was slipping badly and probably losing about 60% of its' thrust. Manoeuvrability is excellent but reverse leaves a bit to be be desired. Steering in reverse is perfect but the thrust is not going forwards enough from the bucket. Might have to build in some nozzles to direct it better.
Smoke air and water are working as well as can be expected, (smoke is a bit wafty, but with too much air introduced it will disappear as it gets thinned out too much to see) I was not expecting miracles as this was a bit of an experiment (modified cheap jet unit with unknown abilities) but at least it shows promise😁. If I can find a coupling which is concentric it will solve the drive problem.
Trouble is, the Chinese insist on making a 4mm shaft, 4.95 (or whatever) which is useless for balance in a 4mm ID bearing for example. Fine for cars, but no good for boats or planes due to balance requirements (it's a mission trying to balance plane props due to this thinking,- they do it with everything) shafts for electric motors are a nightmare at times as the play they build in, can ruin an otherwise good motor. I might have to buy a flexible rubber/nylon universal or a collet style( preferable as these take up any undersize on shafts) to fix it. They included a spiral alloy one with the jet unit which is as loose as a rooster in a sock, and only good for slower things like 3D printers etc. One of these days they will learn how to machine things to fit.😐
Seemed to work a whole lot better in the tank for some reason Martin. Possibly due to the coupling slipping, (the squealing is it slipping) Just a bit of silicone fuel tube. I use it on all the boats as it's quiet, self aligning, and lets go if your prop gets jammed by weed. Problem is with the jet, it has a flat on the shaft for some reason which doesn't help the tube grip, and lets grease in causing slippage. I'll sort it eventually,- didn't expect miracles first time out (same with planes) - Almost always some small initial problems.
Motor should be spinning at 15,000 rpm with a 3 cell, but performance is not matching that, obviously,- just piddling along😁 Mind you, I used to cruise like that in the full sized boat, as the Zodiac motor used to suck gas like nothing at 20 knots plus, (gallons per mile, not miles per gallon!)
"Fairey Huntsman" - Following renewed recent interest from Model Boats Website members,
here are three variations from BMBC members of the popular "Huntsman".
(Ref from Wikipedia)
Fairey Huntsman / Fairey Huntsman 28 / Fairey Huntsman 31: The design of the Huntsman and its smaller sister, the Huntress were the inspiration of Ray Hunt and designed by Alan Burnard.
Thor is a freelance design of a multicat vessel. These rather unusual ships are real workhorses, designed as a work platform, often with a hiab crane. The square hull gives a large flat deck, with plenty of open space for a work area or for deck cargo. The design also enables the vessel to be used as a tugboat, either pushing or towing and are often equipped with large deck winches and strong points for this purpose. A true Swiss army knife of the sea, able to adapt to most roles, some even have additional internal fuel tanks for refuelling other vessels.
More info found on -
Model Boats Website - BoatClubs & Lakes - Buxton Model Boat Club
A couple of shots taken at Dovercourt in September 2016. I was visiting and so am not able to tell you anything of the boats or skippers. Dovercourt is a salt water pond and plays havoc with switches and brass fittings.
Geof L.
Was thinking its a pity you are stuck with two transmitters - be nice to only use one like the old Futaba/Graupner F14 set they used for the German Rescue & Daughter boats..........
JB