Todays Boating

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

No idea what to take tomorrow. Saucer for one in case it’s dull and I can photograph the lights, but…

Will wait and see what the weather is like.

Lots of faff with the skimmer. You know that old saying measure twice cut once?. Well…..

Ashley.

[Richard BarnettParticipant @richardbarnett67129]

Bring yer camera Ash, the Slipper is ready to rock and roll! (If it stays upright I’ll be happy!)😂

Ricky ye pirate 🏴‍☠️

PS weather looks ok, could even be some sunshine ☀️

[Trevor HollowayParticipant @trevorholloway99134]

Missed today's session as the car park was full (went round several times with the rest of the cars).

Should be better parking on Tuesday.

[Boiler BriParticipant @boilerbri]

By the time I got to the res at 9.45 the guys had been trawling for half an hour with a boom fixed with 12 hooks. It made my grappling hook look a little useless.

They had to stop to set up for junior sailing and set the buoys out so it stopped. But promised to have another bash in the afternoon.

The owner turned up and announced he has bought another boat to arrive on Monday.

We leave it to reside on the bottom of the res.

On a brighter note we had a good sail up to lunch. A and A+ rigs. One B rig. The weather was great but mr weatherman said it would be 8 knots!! More like 12-14 with strong gusts. It made my A+ a challenge down wind and tacking – well that’s another story.

Bri

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Brian. Better luck next time???? or is it residing with Davey Jones?

Trev. Richard says car park was almost full at 5 to 9. I arrived 9.20 and snuck on. Peter had to park a wayt away.

Apparently the Rut had been news on the telly, at Bushy and Richmond parks, and there were millions of photographers out with big zoom lenses….

Mixed bag today. Swordfish and Terry ok, Richards slipper….summat wrong with the motor…not delivering the revs and getting VERY hot…

Peters airboat turned upside down due to some action by a Canada goose….

Snaps….this is what we have to contend with.

Ashley

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

I think I will stay under the duvet Ashley.

Colin

[Boiler BriParticipant @boilerbri]

Oh Deer Ashley.

yep staying on the bottom.

The res leaks so next time it low ?????

Bri

[Richard BarnettParticipant @richardbarnett67129]

Now there’s a thought, a deer boat! Need a really big brushless motor for that one 😂

Ricky ye pirate 🏴‍☠️

[Trevor HollowayParticipant @trevorholloway99134]

Cloudy but dry forecast for tomorrow morning so car park should have spaces.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

A bit nippy but very nice at the pond.

”the slipper” underperforming with a 545 motor…Ashley to provide a selection for experimentation on Sunday from the spares box.

Hobbies Hydro “fell over” (as a small boy put it) when I took advice from Trevor that I should try a 3s Lipo..”you know it makes no sense” he said. And he was right. It flipped on just 1/4 throttle and I must say I was expecting more but….

Ashley

[Richard BarnettParticipant @richardbarnett67129]

Yet again Ricky Salvage Waders to the rescue! Propellers should be under the water 😂

Still, nothing like a bit of drama to spice up a chilly morning, eh chaps.

Ricky ye rescue pirate 🏴‍☠️ (no, that just sounds wrong!)

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Despite having a large box full of motors, I find the only 540 types are three 555’s, which are very slow, and one Graupner ECO speed 600.

This should do for the slipper. It has wires on the terminals with male bullets but these can be lopped of to fit whatever is on the slipper. A straight swap, mechanically.

I also have a very hot boxed 540 with adjustable brush timing (which I have just remembered.i will put wires on that as well.

Hydro drying on the fish tank.

Good show’n’tell withTrevor in the afternoon. The latest project (air propelled skimmers) discussed and “what if” f’d. Disputes our differing build techniques the craft are progressing on very similar lines, but I suppose it is not surprising when the overall shape and purpose of the boats are taken into consideration (ice and snow).

Despite looking a bit dumpier than I thought, my boat (hull, fins and motor and double props only) weighs in at 450g.

To this has to be added two servos. 100g, Y lead 6g, Lipo 200g. Receiver 8g, radial engine 17g, esc 33g. And the top probably about 50g

making approx 850 ish g in total. A bit heavier than envisaged, but the Swordfish weighs in a 400g all-up and there is really nothing of it to speak of. The micro servos I had planned to use would only have been 20g a pair, a considerable weight saving… I may yet try to find some mid-way size servos.

Ashley

[Richard BarnettParticipant @richardbarnett67129]

Sounds good Ashley, bring your selection of props too, that three blade went well last time. Thanks👍

Ricky ye pirate 🏴‍☠️

[Richard BarnettParticipant @richardbarnett67129]

Sounds good Ashley, bring your selection of props too, that three blade went well last time. Thanks👍

Ricky ye pirate 🏴‍☠️

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Will go to the shed now and stick everything in a zippy bag. Should get it flying on Sunday….

Ashley

[Richard BarnettParticipant @richardbarnett67129]

Thanks mate👍

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Put some wires on the hot 540 and touched it up on a 6v sla battery. Wasn’t as whizzy as I thought it might be…however, the battery is old and probably wasn’t giving out sufficient current, even on the unloaded motor.

200w says the leaflet, on a nominal 8.4v, quite some punch.

Tricky choice ahead as to colour for new skimmer. Going to hobbycraft Woking today to get some of their nice acrylic paint. Will get red, a light blue and a Budgie blue, dark grey, black and whatever else I like the look of. 60ml is £1.60 so not expensive.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

FMade the cabin for the airboat yesterday. 0.8mm ply over an assortment of balsa/liteply bits with a styrofoam “hat” on top to shape.

I had to bend the ply for the front of the cabin, using a hot air gun, leather gloves and a Dulux 500ml paint tin.

Side rails today, they also need bending, but I am torn between half-round styrene strip, which forms its own nice flowing curve when held at either end, or steaming/boiling some wood strip. This would need holding to shape whilst the glue sets and risks being less “organic”.

A few small projections have to be incorporated at the rear ends of the strip so I am favouring the wood: Keeping the materials the same will be easier. I may need to get some new superglue as well. The stuff I am using I think is old and although it sets ok, it takes ages to go off….but there again…it’s only a few mins.

Richard kindly thinned down two prop centres on his lathe and they fit a treat, however the blades look a bit thin compared to the originals set. I have a second set of props which have much broader blades but also much less pitch…7×3 as opposed to 7×4. The scimitar blades I also bought look fab, and are 7×5 but the centres are too thick to thin enough to fit and this is due to the high pitch. I am worried that the motor will not develop its 200W potential using even twin 7×3 blades.

It’s about “the look”. Probably, cutting down some 8 inch props would look right, but the centres would be much too thick to even consider using as a pair. I suppose it might be possible to mill the centres to get them to dovetail into each other but worried then I would lose a lot of strength and have blades flying off?.?

Ashley

Edited By ashley needham on 16/10/2020 08:12:29

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

…..tricky choice on colours soon. Without having any specific original to follow, the choice is wide, but boils down to the use of fairly solid colours. Discounting all black (too stark), white (lacks interest), grey/brown (a bit murky), or yellow (too bright) it sort of leaves green, red, blue or perhaps a metallic colour, silver being the only real candidate.

its tricky to paint over silver or I might spray mine and see if I like it……what to do??

We did chat about colours on Tuesday but can’t remember if we decided on the different schemes or not?

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

No good. The 2mm sq strip won’t bend evenly, and I thought that might be the case. Plastic it is!

Have splashed some primer on the skimmer…..cabin needs work at the back by the motor mount.

Off to mum’s with fish’n’chips now.

Ashley

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Ashley,

Keep taking the tablets 😀

Regards Ray

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Sob sob….I nowt to do but take the tablets.

Trouble is, when I am into an interesting project, especially a straightforward one, it’s difficult not to stop fiddling at all hours of the day.

I have already (7.30) sanded down the foam cabin end-piece, ezekoted it and glued it in place.its nesting in the kitchen drying in the warm.

I am favouring a bright pale blue colour, to go with the red star on the tail and white cabin/fins.

Ashley

[Chris FellowsParticipant @chrisfellows72943]

I'd get more done if I worked during the evening but I prefer having some natural light and after tea a bottle of red starts calling me. Not every night mind, just the extended weekend!

What are these skimmers or are they on the secret list? 

Chris

Edited By Chris Fellows on 17/10/2020 11:16:49

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Da!

[Boiler BriParticipant @boilerbri]

Well done to Gerry for his persistence. Nicks boat recovered.

[Author]

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