How Big is your Club Lake?

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How Big is your Club Lake?

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20 September 2021 at 07:19 #97919
Lee M
Participant
@leem47035
Hi All,

I have a boat that is way too fast for my local club lake and I need to visit another club to run it.

I estimate that I need a clear 800-1,000 meters of fresh water.

Would you say your club lake is as big as this? If so. Please could you reply with your club name and location. Ideally contact info for the club chairman.

Thanks in advance.
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20 September 2021 at 07:19 #4763
Lee M
Participant
@leem47035
I need to run a fast boat in a straight line, my club lake isn’t big enough.
20 September 2021 at 09:57 #97921
Richard Simpson
Participant
@richardsimpson88330
Hi Lee and first of all welcome to the forum.

I suspect it would first of all be a great help if you mentioned where you are in the country and how far you are prepared to travel. The next challenge you might find is that a lot of clubs that use council facilities, such as a public parks, do not allow either fast electric models or IC engines of any sort. This would be the case with my own club which does use a significant size pond but does not allow fast electric or IC powered models.

Unfortunately you are into an area of the hobby that does not seem to be well catered for nowadays. I suspect it might be worth looking into availability of lakes or reservoirs where clubs do not meet, although again, nowadays there are many restrictions that come into play.
20 September 2021 at 10:11 #97922
Lee M
Participant
@leem47035
Thanks Richard.

It is Fast Electric.

I am in the South East but prepared to travel anywhere in the U.K. for the run.

Hoping that someone on here will have a club that is nice and long allowing the use of fast electric boats.
20 September 2021 at 10:38 #97923
ashley needham
Participant
@ashleyneedham69188
Lee. Good luck with your quest. It is a big ask, as per Richards musings.

A reservoir may be the way to go.

Our pond at Bushy Park is way too small for Very fast boats, and although we have some fast boats, we build to “fast but not VERY fast” standards.

An alternative could be the Lake District but this would require a short holiday to make it worthwhile!

Not sure on the legality of using rivers for something like this?

How big is your boat and could you use it in the sea on a calm day, or are you worried about salt and/or recovery?

Ashley
20 September 2021 at 10:48 #97924
Lee M
Participant
@leem47035
I have been thinking about the Lake District. This may possibly be the way to go if I can get permission to run it.

The boat is 1.4m in length and currently an unknown top speed due to the nature if it's experimental design.

Test runs on a lake in Hampshire at 50% throttle, it was still accelerating and I had to throttle back due to running out of space to slow down.
20 September 2021 at 12:13 #97925
Chris E
Participant
@chrise
The size that you are asking for is a river, lake or reservoir and all three will have rules.

Are you sure that you can see your model well enough at 1000m, even if you stand at 500m, for good control at the sort of speeds that you expect?

You would need a very calm day (an hour at dawn or dusk often provides calm water) and a rescue boat of some sort.

Edited By Chris E on 20/09/2021 12:18:08
20 September 2021 at 12:24 #97926
Richard Simpson
Participant
@richardsimpson88330
I suspect your best bet might be a reservoir but you would require permission from the relevant water authority.
20 September 2021 at 12:28 #97927
Ray Wood 3
Participant
@raywood3
Hi Lee,

Chris makes a very valid point about eyesight, most boats have to make some sort of circuit to stay within sight, unless you can get a fast chase boat? rather like the OMRA boys do for offshore racing.

My local club Cygnets at Maidstone have a go fast electric and IC powered section who meet on saturday mornings at Mote Park, maybe worth a visit.

Regards Ray
20 September 2021 at 12:44 #97928
Lee M
Participant
@leem47035
Posted by Ray Wood 2 on 20/09/2021 12:28:28:

Hi Lee,

Chris makes a very valid point about eyesight, most boats have to make some sort of circuit to stay within sight, unless you can get a fast chase boat? rather like the OMRA boys do for offshore racing.

My local club Cygnets at Maidstone have a go fast electric and IC powered section who meet on saturday mornings at Mote Park, maybe worth a visit.

Regards Ray

Thanks Ray.

I was there yesterday running my baby Orange Rigger!

This boat would require the distance between the white buoys to come off the plane, Mote could be long enough for a limited test run if allowed to run from the watersports section, but I doubt that would be allowed.
20 September 2021 at 13:02 #97929
Chris E
Participant
@chrise
What size/ type of model and speed are you expecting?
20 September 2021 at 13:11 #97930
Richard Simpson
Participant
@richardsimpson88330
As Chris suggests rivers may also be a possibility. You would have to study a map though to find a nice wide long stretch but I know of rivers such as the Trent and the Mersey that have such stretches.

Another option to consider would be estuaries around large river mouths on the coast where you can find fresh water but in a relatively unregulated wide open environment.

As for seeing the model perhaps a remotely viewed on board camera might ensure you don't loose it, if you can get one that operates at such a range.

Edited By Richard Simpson on 20/09/2021 13:38:33
20 September 2021 at 13:22 #97931
Lee M
Participant
@leem47035
Posted by Chris E on 20/09/2021 13:02:29:

What size/ type of model and speed are you expecting

My boat is 1.4m long and non-conventional in it's operation. I suppose you could say it's an Airboat or sorts.

Speeds are expected to be >100mph based in the 1/2 size prototype and the half throttle test done a couple weeks ago.

It must be <10kmh wind and relatively flat to run. A small chop would be ok.

It's more about finding a place I can do a couple speed runs to see how fast it can go.
20 September 2021 at 13:26 #97932
Lee M
Participant
@leem47035
Posted by Richard Simpson on 20/09/2021 13:11:12:

As Chris suggests rivers may also be a possibility. You would have to study a map though to find a nice wide long stretch but I know of rivers such as the Trent and the Mersey that have such stretches.

Another option to consider would be estuaries around large river mouths on the coast where you can find fresh water but in a relatively unregulated wide open environment.

As for seeing the model perhaps a remotely viewed on board camera might ensure you don't loose it, it you can get one that operates at such a range.

Edited By Richard Simpson on 20/09/2021 13:12:17

It has a flight controller, GPS and telemetry so I know where it's starting from and which direction it's going. I just need a nice open lake.

Edited By Lee Molyneux on 20/09/2021 13:27:18
20 September 2021 at 13:52 #97933
Lee M
Participant
@leem47035
Edited By Lee M on 20/09/2021 14:16:52
20 September 2021 at 14:30 #97934
Ray Wood 3
Participant
@raywood3
Hi Lee,

Your best bet would be Bewl Water reservoir in Lamberhurst Kent, my mate Tony Nijhuis was able get permission to fly his 14 ft span electric Spruce Goose from there some years back and I think 3 miles long early morning maybe before the wild life gets on the water ? Of course you couldn't see it, but this doesn't seem to be an issue ?

Regards Ray
20 September 2021 at 14:35 #97935
Lee M
Participant
@leem47035
Posted by Ray Wood 2 on 20/09/2021 14:30:56:

Hi Lee,

Your best bet would be Bewl Water reservoir in Lamberhurst Kent, my mate Tony Nijhuis was able get permission to fly his 14 ft span electric Spruce Goose from there some years back and I think 3 miles long early morning maybe before the wild life gets on the water ? Of course you couldn't see it, but this doesn't seem to be an issue ?

Regards Ray

Thanks Ray.

Bewl certainly could be an option. The few times I've been down there it's been a little on the rough side out in the middle.
20 September 2021 at 16:08 #97936
ashley needham
Participant
@ashleyneedham69188
Coniston water, surely!

Presume it’s edf powered?

Ashley
20 September 2021 at 16:14 #97937
Lee M
Participant
@leem47035
Posted by ashley needham on 20/09/2021 16:08:04:

Coniston water, surely!

Presume it’s edf powered?

Ashley

Yes, it is EDF powered.

I've contacted Coniston and there is a 9 week process, I was hoping for something a little more convenient for a full power test run.
20 September 2021 at 16:23 #97938
neil hp
Participant
@neilhp
sorry Ashley but even Coniston, home of the Bluebird is restricted to 8 miles an hour these days, one of the reasons why the saga of the Bluebird only being able to run in Scotland for its only trials after restoration has scuppered that at present.

in fact ALL the waters in the Lake district have a blanket ban of 4 – 8 mph on them depending on which lake.

and the water police are very strict too.
20 September 2021 at 17:33 #97939
ashley needham
Participant
@ashleyneedham69188
Blast! Fancy not even allowing Bluebird to have a run!

Ashley
20 September 2021 at 18:19 #97941
Malcolm Frary
Participant
@malcolmfrary95515
For casual individual visitors, there is a very definite speed limit in the Lake District, but it is recognised that organised groups can and do get dispensations for events.

https://www.facebook.com/recordsweek/

The information is a bit dated, and times might have moved on. Usually, they don't move on for the better when officialdom gets involved. Speed week usually happens the first week in November.
21 September 2021 at 09:33 #97946
Richard Simpson
Participant
@richardsimpson88330
Hi Lee, I have just watched your YouTube video so now have a much better understanding of what you are doing. You should have pointed us at the video to start with and then we might not have come up with quite so many unsuitable suggestions!

I think the build is fascinating and I'm amazed at the manoeuvrability you get from an air rudder. The trouble is you have obviously already used a reservoir for your test runs and I'm not so sure you are going to find a larger body of water than that! It is also worth considering that, with the speeds you hope to achieve flipping the model is going to become more and more of a risk. I see you have already done it close to the bank and recovered it easily with a rescue boat but how would you recover it from 800m away?

Just something that occurred to me while I was watching your recovery, have you ever considered the possibility of making the model horizontally symmetrical? What I mean is that the upper surfaces exactly reflect the lower surfaces so that, if the boat flipped, it would still operate exactly the same? Lots of challenges with the concept but I suspect that someone like you would enjoy at leask knocking the idea around.

For those who haven't seen your video, have a look here:

Skippy
21 September 2021 at 09:47 #97948
Lee M
Participant
@leem47035
Posted by Richard Simpson on 21/09/2021 09:33:51:

Hi Lee, I have just watched your YouTube video so now have a much better understanding of what you are doing. You should have pointed us at the video to start with and then we might not have come up with quite so many unsuitable suggestions!

I think the build is fascinating and I'm amazed at the manoeuvrability you get from an air rudder. The trouble is you have obviously already used a reservoir for your test runs and I'm not so sure you are going to find a larger body of water than that! It is also worth considering that, with the speeds you hope to achieve flipping the model is going to become more and more of a risk. I see you have already done it close to the bank and recovered it easily with a rescue boat but how would you recover it from 800m away?

Just something that occurred to me while I was watching your recovery, have you ever considered the possibility of making the model horizontally symmetrical? What I mean is that the upper surfaces exactly reflect the lower surfaces so that, if the boat flipped, it would still operate exactly the same? Lots of challenges with the concept but I suspect that someone like you would enjoy at leask knocking the idea around.

For those who haven't seen your video, have a look here:

Skippy

Thanks for the advice.

The issue on that day was wind.. 16kmh!!! This was a lesson learned.. When the front is planing there is absolutely nothing to stop the wind pushing it around. Also, to increase the surface area, I used plasicard which could dig in to the water on the outside edges.

Obviously this was not a good idea. Later, I removed the outer edge so that it had anti-trip. Then only ran in super light winds.

I plan on being on the boat near the edge running it from one end to the other, then I can recover it in the event of an incident. The spoiler opposes the intake and nose lift while the rear is self regulating. As the tail comes up the spoiler is more effective.

Edited By Lee M on 21/09/2021 09:48:13
21 September 2021 at 10:11 #97951
Richard Simpson
Participant
@richardsimpson88330
Honestly Lee, I am not in a position to give advice, it was just a wild idea! I was just envisaging something along the lines of a hull of a similar shape to a MiG 15 fuselage and the two sponsons something like large teardrop shapes on the horizontal centre line.

As I said just chucking ideas out.

Edited By Richard Simpson on 21/09/2021 10:13:31
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