instant boat

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Ho hum. I built a square section hull out of some left-over 3mm lite-ply, in order to test a few things out for a future project, and this square, pointy featureless hull sat unloved in the shed for a bit.

 

THEN a small boy started saying ” dad can you make so and so or so and so out of this hull…and he wanted a flying boat, ostensibly to play with his and my 1/32 WW1 soldiers. SO, I made some wings out of  3/16 ply and he wanted 3 props..no problem, I had unwanted props from the Sunderland project..props too clumsy to use, so…

 

 I said…I shall use some cheap 3V motors wot I have stripped out of some old  cheapo toys from christmas last, to mount them on AND THEN he said..he wants it to float.

 

Ah..well..   I decided to try an AIR RUDDER, as there was a prop in the middle, and this seems to work ok, at least, a quick test with a scrap bit of balsa gets pushed about when held at the back. Twin rudders might stand more of a chance, and why not make it a biplane tail to make a difference.

 

Extra large floats were needed as the wings were A BIT heavy, and a flashy paint job hides the crudity. Wells in the top hold soldiers (5 so far) and after a bit of fiddling it seems to  go O.K.

 

Not today of course, it is too windy and the boat weathercocks round and you cant steer very well…ok.. not at all. It works O.K in the stream however, where the wind is stifled by the bank, and last week when I dashed out for a quick solo test. I have moved the battery back a bit now and that has sorted an attitude problem (shame this doesnt work on small boys) and so the raised bits i fitted on the the float fronts is not actually needed. Its impressive no doubt. More impressive that his OTHER flying boat as it has an extra engine, but not (ho ho) as impressive as the Sunderland, with 4 props. Yes.

 

The dazzle  finish is actually not so out of character, Felixstowe f/b were dazzle painted in WW1 so as to distinguish them as British and not get shot at. They had individual paint schemes as well. As ours has, or at least, I have not seen another like it in Bushy Park.

 

Any questions??

 

Ashley   Yet more snaps in Album

 

 

 

 

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Nice one, Ash the Dash!

 

Looks very attractive and must please the publick gaze?

It`s almost one of those Russian thingy`s!

 

Bob

[Len OchiltreeParticipant @lenochiltree67043]

Wot Ekranoplan ?.

 

Len

[The Long BuildParticipant @thelongbuild]

That is just so cool..Its Brilliant..

 

Sunderland Project !! have you completed that or is it 1 to be done..As thats 1 I have down to do.  and actually bought a shed load of wood the other day from Woodvale .

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

LB. The Sunderland is a reality..check out  “SHORTY” article in Features, build features,  ,page 3 I think,    Also

which is a bit bigger and was a “planned” model, rather than this one which was not actually meant to be a proper floater, has balsa wings etc. See also an article in mag….(cant remember which one now offhand)

 

Len, Ekranoplan, like that appearing in my Ashleys boats album, as a drawing,.I can see a small resemblance…long and thin, big tail, truncated wings (truncated so it can fit in the living room and not take up too much room..

 

Ashley

 

 

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

After a session on the pond last Sunday , i am pleased to report, for those interested, that with a change of centre motor (to an MFA 280  1.5-3v unit, just to show how one can up-the-ante) and a lesser amount of breeze, the BFB3 manoeuvers A o.k.

 

Turns are reasonably tight, and  it  would appear  to travel in a straight line hands off (not that it gets much chance with an enthusiastic pilot at the helm). It of course doesnt steer in reverse but does travel in a reasonably straight line as per going forwards.

Berengar even managed to rescue a ridiculously fast rtr that had conked out !! the combination of outspread wings and high props being the key.

The only faux-pax of the day being that i had neglected tp check the direction of rotation of the newly installed motor– something i had thouight about when soldering wires on, and promptly frgot about– and as all the chosen prop type had the same rotational direction,,,we were a bit stuffed…until i substituted a different prop and we were away, albeit a bit odd in the propulsive department.

 

I also need to splash some varnish inside, as there was “an” amount of water getting in over the sides and some of the glue seams looked decidedly white.

 

Ashley

 

Postscript.    Among other things, the rtr chap– boat new to him, first time on the water,,was having trouble controlling it past 30 feet or so. He opened it up, and i made a suggestion that it MAY work a bit better if the reciever wire was soldered on to the ariel  lead. A quick strip,wrap and tape..job done.

 

Addendum.  I promise the NEXT craft with wings will go fast enough to be in danger of taking off….

[Len OchiltreeParticipant @lenochiltree67043]

Now that I will be interested in!.

 

Len.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Len. I took my plans to  a man who knows, to ask about small high-speed brushless motors and he was of the opinion that at the size I was contemplating, and using the motor I had,the problem MAY be stopping it taking off, let alone just go quite fast..my sort of problem!

 

Ashley             But you never know.

 

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Took the BFB3 out on Sunday morning along with Shorty, and I thought a fine pair they made on the water, the Sunderland comparatively noisy compared to the puny motors and large paddle-blade props on the other one.

 

Oddly alike with the green tops and white (ish) sides.

 

BFB3 going well and turning nicely now with the correct prop and a rewired centre 280. I wonder if it will work on ice???

Then it started being a bit windy and so we had to abandon flying …

 

and get the Toyboata out !!  a vehicle totally unaffected by wind and wowing the crowd with its totally unexpected dash OUT of the water and up a steep gravelly slope (its not so keen on grass) “do you want it pushed back in luv?” they said…No said the small boy and nipped it smartly in reverse and dashed backwards into the water. No doubt pushing lots of the stuff through the rudder control arm hole although the inside was as dry as expected on retreival. Probably something to do with hot battery and poor overheated speed 600.

 

Ashley

 

BFB3 = Berengar`s Flying Boat (3 engines)

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Out once again with the Sunderland, but this time, after I had finished playing with the Sunderland,I put the 7.2v Battery pack in the BFB3 (normally 4.8v remember).

 

UNFORTUNATELY the wind had got up, and whereas there was an increase in performance, the hoped for increased maneuverability (due to more wind-over-rudder with more volts to centre motor) did not materialise as planned and I was again unable to turn to the right very well, although turning to the left was ok (ish). Curses!

 

The next project MAY have a brushless motor, and at 9.6v the RPM will be about 36,000…(whew!)… the question was raised at the pond as to if my Graupner 5×2 prop will be up to this? will the prop tips be going supersonic and will the blades fly off???

 

The other props I have look much more wicked but are 5×4.5….so thats a lot more pitch, and I think I shall need less pitch for more low speed thrust. We shall see. i dont want to go on a model aircraft forum and attract lots of one liner answers.

 

Next week I think a change of boats. may give the Titanic an airing, along with my HMS Devastation and perhaps Berengars German flying boat as we havn`t used that yet this year I believe…

 

Ashley

 

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