Todays Boating

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Bob. The areil is a bit long, and only a few inches needs to be sticking up, but the receiver and so on was lifted from something else for which the ariel is full length, and hence the amount on show in this picture

The original one gets airborne with a Lipo battery easily enough..I was going to try my light 9.6v NiCd but it was too windy and then started to rain on Sunday.

The hull is really really light, being foam, but oddly enough only very slightly lighter than the original, which is balsa/ply. Several aircraft workshops I have visited are of the opinion that balsa wings are usually lighter than foam ones (for any decent size).

Eventually I would like to build a slightly larger model in foam, to acommodate a normal Nimh pack, but using a brushless (for weight reasons). This would result in a good "day-to-day" boat able to be taken out on a whim and not using special batts and calm weather.

The performanvce of the foam flyer is creditable, considering the heavy battery and bog standard 480 brushed motor, and the whole thing could be made in an a day using just foam and 5-min Araldite…

Picture, complete set of parts to build.

Ashley

Edited By ashley needham on 21/04/2014 10:23:35

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Tomorrows boating will be The Duck, and I think I have solved the vibration problem…screws that are difficult to get to were not down quite enough, the two Ecranoplans ,,the Nelson and Oberon (with shark top in addition).

A car full to be sure but the Ecranoplans will eat my 9.6 AA packs and the duck is fairly juicy too. The Nelson uses two 6v SLA and rtuns for ages so will be tomorrows "hanging around" boat.

Its unfortunate but I seem to have built lately craft that are more performance orientated in one way or another, and so have to take double the amount of boats down to the pond, or a shedload of batteries. The KM Ecranoplan…well.. I dont know how much current that takes, but the Nimh battery gets really hot after just a few runs…but does it go!!! I have yet to fit some large non-scale full width flaps on the tail planes to get more lift and this is on the list of things to do.

The problem with it, I have decided after a couple of years of thought (!) is that although it is a hydroplane (of sorts), it is too heavy for the wetted hull length/width . Other fast craft on the pond appear to easily skip across the surface, but they are light and they have relatively fat hulls. The KM is heavy (as the wings are not part of the hull as such) and the body long and narrow. This makes it fast, but does not give much hydrodynamic lift. I had hoped for more lift from the wings but as I said in the article, if you are making something to look like something else, it has to LOOK like it and so there is only so much tinkering to be done on the basic design, and when comparing my boat to the plan, I have taken it to the limit without losing the right appearance.

When you look at the pictures, the craft does rise a fair old bit, and I have it (eventually) rising level, this is essential for the correct look, and has taken some doing in getting this right. On a bit of a blustery day there is daylight under the hull, now and then, and this is more like what I was hoping to achieve on a reliable basis, and this why the prop is 50mm below the hull…so drive is not lost or diminished with a bit of lift. Trouble is with flexidrives and dog drive props is that props are expensive and you cant keep splashing out on fancy props just to find they dont work! I have a small selection of plastic Hydro props and some converted X and S plastic two bladed ones, but only one works demonstrably better than all the others, anyway..

I had good input from the chaps at the pond when I was carrying out runs, and you need alternative views sometimes, especially when things are not looking good!!!

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Well. I set out at 0855 and it poured with rain!! I started to turn round but it stopped so I pressed on, Just as well becauise it didnt rain again and was ok.

Foam Flyer going quite well, down-wind. Didnt like going into wind as the waves didnt clear the wings and so it never attained full speed (at which point the wings are clear of the water. Didnt go very well with 9/6v AA pack…I think there may have been a current, or lack of, issue?

Oberon going well, and shark fin on later also fun but no one much about to see it.

Peter had his schooner- rigged sailing boat down, and its nice to see two masts on a ship at the pond! Trevor has the Corvette along for more trials. Finally Ray cycled down minus a boat, but was able to take his LCM away.

Too windy for the a90 and the DUCK . Next week perhaps.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Tomorrows boating will be Duck, Proj no5 and the Nelson.

The Nelson will of course be making an appearance at the D-Day extravaganza, or at least I hope its an extravaganza and that we will be well supported with landing craft or it will be a bit of a non-event.

I will have the LCT4, Berengar will have the Large LCM I made to carry the TOG2, and there will be three spare LCM`s. One of which I will be commandeering for the various "events", oh yes, .

We could play "IT" I suppose as well, that will sort the men from the boys!

I need a design of rope for the tug-o-war. I will have to lay6 the craft out and see what sort of spacing might be required,,,,,OR…some small plastic chain could be used, and simply tie on strops as required for the craft..

I have just incorrectly ordered some brushless speed controllers!! so will be purchasing some brushless motors to go with them soon. They are very cheap now and I may re-engine the foam-flyer with one.. this will lighten it up no end and may improve the performance some what.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Tomorrows boating will be Duck, Proj no5 and the Nelson.

The Nelson will of course be making an appearance at the D-Day extravaganza, or at least I hope its an extravaganza and that we will be well supported with landing craft or it will be a bit of a non-event.

I will have the LCT4, Berengar will have the Large LCM I made to carry the TOG2, and there will be three spare LCM`s. One of which I will be commandeering for the various "events", oh yes, .

We could play "IT" I suppose as well, that will sort the men from the boys!

I need a design of rope for the tug-o-war. I will have to lay6 the craft out and see what sort of spacing might be required,,,,,OR…some small plastic chain could be used, and simply tie on strops as required for the craft..

I have just incorrectly ordered some brushless speed controllers!! so will be purchasing some brushless motors to go with them soon. They are very cheap now and I may re-engine the foam-flyer with one.. this will lighten it up no end and may improve the performance some what.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Well well. What a lovely morning at the pond. A grand total of 8 of us.

Mishaps.. Barry`s boat blowing off the back off the motor, Rays Landing craft battery being low (and needing an extra bit of shaft support) Peter`s yacht getting stuck in the middle of the pond on an umbrella (yes really) and THE DUCK conking out.

The Duck has the type of speed controller that will cut off if the battery voltage goes below a certain level, and unfortunately due to mismanagement on the battery connector front I had to use the battery from Proj no5..which had been working very hard to free the yacht…to demonstrate the Duck and so the battery had been used a bit and guess what happened ..yes the speed controller switched off. There is another motor running all the time of the Duck and so the voltage was being dropped and I could not turn this off. Its funny but this is actually added realism!!! the conking out, as you will see later on.

I have ordered the Planet r/c set and so I will have extra channels and a remote on/off switch will be fitted in due course in case this happens again.

Proj No5 was running very well and had to rescue the Duck later on (with a fresh battery) and it does make an ideal rescue boat, being very manouverable and also something else.

The Nelson ran reliably and very quietly as usual, despite that I had to glue two ships boats back on before sailing and after noticed two 6 inch turrets were just sitting on their pillars and will ALSO need gluing back. The issue here is the very low freeboard and the deck being constantly wet.

Next week at the park is the Chestnut parade, and the gates will be locked from 1200-1330 to allow the parading bit to go ahead. There are displays of cycles, vehicles, motorbikes, army things, food stalls, a band or two. Depending, I may even stay for it if it is a nice day.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

I have just seen the most amazing picture… a WW1 mK IX tank, amphibious version!!

A pair of long floatation cylinders were fixed to the side and the tracks had hinged flaps on them to propel itself in the water. Apparently this actually worked.

Another one for the list. Makling the tracks might be the sticking point though…..

Ashley

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Ash
To make the tracks you could make a mould for a single piece of track and use resin to knock out as many as you need.

hover van?

Paul

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Paul. But would they be strong enough? they need pins in them to pivot and for the flaps, and the tracks need to haul the bulk of the thing along..it wouldnt be very light!!.

i`ll tell you how to do it….3D printing!!!! only need to make one master then.

I didnt realise, but the thing that made the tracks work ona rhomboid tank is the flange underneath the track that engages on the lip inthe bogy wheels and stops the track sagging. With the crude tracks available at the time they could not stop the track from coming off as son as it went over a trench and designed the eventual one from scratch.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Oo er its a bit blowy here and threatening rain, but I am forced to go out as there are so many things to check out…LC(F) stability…Iowa ….new 2.4 set…. and so on.

It may be a quick session, also it is chestnut Sunday so the park gates will close at 1215…have to be away sharp by 1115 in any event to ensure clean departure and avoid getting stuck if there is heavy traffic.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Well. i drove to the park in the driving rain but it mostly stopped and allowed me to test the landing craft (flack) in the stream and the Iowa. Come to think of it, it didnt rain again and was quite bright. If it had been a bit warmer and I had more weatherly boats with me it would have been a great morning!

No suprises for the Iowa, as this has been out before. The 9.6 v batt does confer it with the ability to plane though, and I think the battery is past its best., I do have a 6x AA battery plastic holder from the converted Severn though which will give 7.2V and be flat so I will use that in future.

The LC(F) was suprsingly stable but way too fast! This is the lander with the two piece bottom rather than the 3 pce type and gosh did it go. I like a bit of oomph but this will be one of the spare boats and I could see it turning over, so will have to get a 385 motor to fit. Radio reception not great and I will substitute on the the receivers with the half length antenna wire so that should sort that out.

Sunderland running ok on the new 2.4G receiver, no news there, however the wind was quite strong and so I only had a few mins out before (trying) to return to shore. Wings and wind dont make a good pair, on a boat.

Trevor down with the corvette. Looking so much better in a coat of grey paint and white deck. Trevor has a job on his hands to finish before the first and it might be a work-in-progress, but even now 30 feet from the jetty it looked to be fully completed.

Chris the only other soul to brave the wind with a couple of fast`n`pointlesses.

All in all a good morning.

Ashley.

[Trevor HollowayParticipant @trevorholloway99134]

Definitely will be a "work in progress" but efforts will be made to get it nearer to looking reasonable.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

What a lovely morming and the pond was looking stunning.

Had collection of 5 landing carft to test. Big LCT4 running ok, but needs more oomph. Motors getting very hot, so either bigger motors needed of smaller props. I will endeavour to get another pair of 385 for the outer shaft and 30mm props.

The larger landing caft for TOG2 running ok needs no mods…the original landing craft also running ok, but the second LCM is very slow. Needs either a 30mm prop or a better motor. It was, from memory , running better with the 30mm prop i swapped to the LC(F) so another candidate for a 30mm replacement.

Finally the LC(F)…even with a 30mm prop (see above) the motor is too fierce, so looks like I will be ordering 3 or more 385 motors to go with the smaller props…

Suprise was the Hippo head, from Ian..and another masterpiece..even down to the bristly nose (which, to be honest, looked like it needed a bra to be decent…?) courtesy of the bench sweeping down brush. It unfortunately make Andy`s croc look a bit small..so theres a challenge, eh??

Chris down with the fast`n`pointlesses and also..and I am sorry but the name escapes me…a chap with half a dozen REALLY quick boats, and his girlfriend!!! Yes, no slip of the typing finger…his associated female half..playing with boats. he should marry her quick. My Mrs thinks I am an anorak and go to meet anoraky mates.

Unfortunatelky I managed to drop one of the transmitters and have broken it. The throttle lever has become detached. I think I can mend it ok, but a session 10 mins ago ahs not quite seen it sorted, perhaps tomorrow.

There is a fairly tame Heron on the pond, for those with an ornothological bent. It sits on the end of the jetty as we are larking about, and pinches bread intended for the ducks. Next week final testing for D-day extravaganza..or not eh?? see the thread.

Ashley

 

Edited By ashley needham on 18/05/2014 19:19:50

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Have fixed my broken transmitter. The tiny pivot on the trunnion for the throttle arm has snapped. It is hollow (although only about 3mm in diameter) and so i drilled this out in stages and inserted a tiny brass rod (about 5mm long) and glued over this an aluminium tube (3mm long !!) with superglue. Very fiddly. Even more fiddly getting the thing back together, but after about an hour of drilling and total exasperation, it was mended, and tested, ok.

Day off today, fixed the faults on the LCM`s, changed one motor and one prop, changed all motors in big LCT for three new 385s, but kept the 40mm props. The motors were getting really hot on Sunday and I am not sure why, as the 385s in the Devastation and Titanic are turning 35mm brass props no sweat, and these are much pitchier than the 2mm shaft plastic sorts. I may get a small computer fan to waft the air about a bit. My vents are actually vented to the interior, and the cabin portholes have been drilled through so I may be able to get some breeze through the rear equipment section.

Also used the test tank to balance the landers and stop the weights moving about. The LC(F) was losing reception at a short distance, and this may have been the unknowm hot Johnson motor (changed now for capacitored 385) and I have lengthened the sticky-up bit of ariel wire so that should be ok now. The other one was fine on an identical radio setup??? must be the motor.

Lastly increased rudder throw on the LCT. On Sunday the wind was making turning very difficult, but I have a tiny bit more power now as the 385s are twice as powerful as the two wing 360s previously fitted.

Cracks on the Nelson not as bad as first feared, and I have scraped them, painted them with superglue and repainted with red oxide.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

What a nice morning. Sunny and a bit of breeze. Park looking stunning. Deer a bit of a nuisance but the public will insist on coming along holding plastic bags, and the deer know what this means.. Tame Heron still on the lookout for bread. Swans taking absolutely no notice of my LCT4 sailing between them. Just as well, I dont want anything pecked and thrown overboard!

LCT4 going a bit better on its new 385 motors, and manouverability improved somewhat with the larger rudder throw. Didnt bother with a cooling fan. Nelson running ok on its new 2.4Gig receiver and no water seen inside after a 40 mins or so.

Two landing craft ok, full range on the one that I changed the motor on, both now slow, but they are landing craft!

The New Jersey (not the Iowa as previously called) NOT running well on its new battery pack, the one from the Severn boat..ie ordinary AA cells in a holder. They are obviously unable to supply enough current, despite that an AA pack DOES work? it cuts out and this may be a function of the aircraft style ESC.. the voltage drops and the ESC cuts out. I will have to use the 9.6V pack and just zoom around everywhere, assuming it gets used that is.

Ray down and has done a really good job of his landing craft, weathering it and best of all, making a card Sherman tank for it!!1 Top marks Ray, when painted green it will look fabbydozo. He has a 540 in his, it will be hot stuff for the racing.

A new chap appeared at the pond, with a fast`n`pointless and an RTR tug. Didnt say much, but warmed to us when we pestered him sufficiently. He had come by train from Clapham!!1 as he had been told about the pond and the one in the common is a bit…well, you know, well, I know having seen it. Top marks for effort. Handy the pond for the train as it is a direct train line from clapham, and h/ct station is only probably 15 mins walk away. Boating in a bag, entirely possible.

In all nine of us down. Grassy knoll full of boats, Andy not having much luck with two and barry not much luck with one but his big RAF rerscue launch powering along nicely. Barry bring the MGB81 and whatever down next week plse.Thanks..

Ray exhorted to bring his big Belfast and HDML down for next week. Everyone needs to bring something else besides landing craft to make more of a show. I have no control on the number attending, I am just spreading the word.

#### I need one more 27M set to use ### if anyone on the day has a spare.

Ashley

 

Edited By ashley needham on 25/05/2014 17:56:52

[peter ward 9Participant @peterward9]

ashley

i have a spare 27 mz set and will bring it down

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Last Sunday of course our D-Day celebration. Thanks to all who turned up. Thanks to Mike F for coming a long way, and to several others who bought boats down just to display.

Special thanks to Peter and his wife who put up a bit of bunting and so on, and who thoughtfully brought along a couple of medals and a little hooter for the racing, sadly there was no chance to use these items due to the weed, This scuppered not only the racing but any chance of formation cruising as well, although the valiant attempt to get going was rather funny! I had even made floats for the racing/slalom/football and everything.

Besides landing craft I had the Sunderland out, a safe bet when the weed is out!! and the NELSON, perversly I had this out for about 40 mins and never got weeded up once?? The New Jersey I dare not put in the water for fear of getting stranded, and Ian`s very nice S-boat similarly just did not want to know.

next week more of the same perhaps we may get a bit of order in the proceedings…

Anyone who wants to join in we will be pleased to see you. I will have several spare landing craft ready to go for those without boats.

Ashley

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Ashley

Would the owners of Bushy Park do something about the weed if you asked them nicely?

Paul

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Paul. Unfortunately all the waterways are connected so it would not be possible to do much I think.

I beleive in the past they may have scooped off excess blanket weed as if left to pile up this can become v smelly, but the weed on Sunday was hardly noticeable as far as anyone without a boat would be concerned.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Todays boating resumes normal service as the D-Day thread will not be updated having served its purpose. What purpose I am not sure, but..

What to do with all the landing craft I have now?? The big`un, the flak lander and Berengars original I will keep but the others need to go really.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

MESSAGE FOR STEVE H (big fairmile geezer…fairmile, that is!!) Need your surname plse for credits, can you PM me cheers Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Tomorrow will be back to normal. I will have the Hovervan, Sunderland and the HBA DV11A (mk1).

C u all there. Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Bit breezy and not so sunny but not raining at least.

Hovervan very noisy, vibration…has to be the new fan blade I fitted to the lift EDF. Not so bad when out in the middle of the pond but obtrusive closer in. Went out once and struggling in the wind, so retired early..but not before demonstrating superior duckweed conquering properties!

Both flying boats coping in the breeze, Sundeland sopping wet as the props keep on catching waves, and it was v bad when the wind was on the beam. of into or along with.Also duckweed proof.

Steve H has a new boat along, its a drug runners skiff!! Steve in an engineer and the hull has been very nicely hand crafted from Aluminium sheet, cut bent and welded…excellent job. There are bales of drugs along the side and FOUR outboard motors at the rear, for that authentic look!! (dummies I hasten to add. There is a driver in the seat, he looks suspiciously like Ally G, but I am sure that this is a coincidence. Stonking performance and quiet with it. Loads of nice details abound, gun on the rear parcel shelf and so on. This will pair up with Andy`s Special Forces RIB as a chase boat, closely followed by the Sentinel customs cutter!!

Ray out with his airboat, running nicely one we had put the prop on the right way round….

Several others with fast`n`pointlesses and then latecomers with boxed fast RtR just as we were leaving.

Good Morning, Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Aircraft carriers tomorrow, Invincible and Argus. Will be bringing the Flak LCM for rescue and small boy or "others" to use. We should have something at the pond for when someone says "gis a go mister"; We get into too much trouble keep on chucking them in the pond.

I have those speed controllers (brushless) I mentioned some posts ago and thought that i might get a 3Kv brushless motor for the Foam Flyer. If it was to go very FAST I might make a 50% bigger A90 Ecranoplan and use ordinary Sub C cell Nimh packs to power it and not the weedy AAA pack in the existing A90. I dont want to get lipo for the A90 particularly , on the other hand they would certainly make the Km fly (literally)

Anybody else going out tomorrow or am I only writing for our crew??

Ashley

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