Todays Boating

[Dave_PParticipant @dave_p]

Thank goodness that evil stuff has long gone.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Street, or pond, cred is very important at a family orientated sailing venue, to interest the kids and get the young mums talking.

​basically you need a) people or cars on board, perhaps aircraft or animals as well (ferry has sheep on board)

b) squirters (fire hoses etc)

C) a bit of speed.

I could add a fourth I suppose…making the boat in a popular image..croc, Minion, shark or something.

Watneys red barrel….yuk! Ashley

[Kev.WParticipant @kev-w]

Posted by ashley needham on 09/07/2016 08:45:10:

Watneys red barrel….yuk! Ashley

 

There was a very good reason why we called it Grotney's red barrel

Edited By Kip Woods on 09/07/2016 11:10:50

[Mark Jarvis 2Participant @markjarvis2]

Dont mock the stuff guys, it saved the NHS a fortune in laxatives

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Mark2. Admonishment noted..

On another subject, having sanded and filled for England I have deemed that the latest project, No5, was ready for its first topcoat. I have a very exciting colour to use, and after having given the old tin a jolly good stir I dipped brush in pot and splashed away.

Oh dear, the boat has gone a horrible streaky Salmon pink. The paint obviously has a very low opacity and I see at least three or even four coats to build to the required colour. On a better note the first coat appears to have gone on ok with no runs (as far as I can see) but no doubt a closer observation tomorrow in the daylight will show up any sags/runs/dust…the usual.,

I also ran the motor/propulsion unit (out of water) the day before…(getting v keen!) and this did not appear to "go" as well as expected, still, its the water test that counts. Nothing fell off, no grub screws flew off or gears stripped so I suppose a success. This was my third attempt at fabricating the unit. Must get some more welding practice in.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Tomorrow looks as if it will be very nice so I am looking forward to some decent boating.

Hovervan with the new quiet lift fan

Project No3, finished, need pics of it going fast, actually, need all sorts of pix.

Sunderland and lastly may bring down Proj No5, will need sunglasses to view though….4 coats of paint and JUST starting to cover. Perhaps I should have varnished it instead.

OBVIOUSLY I will have a lander as well, probably the ferry or lcm(flack) as the mood takes me.

Ferry has been boxed in a strong triple wall corrugated card box with bridge extension to stop the people on the bridge being knocked off. One child thought it was a cardboard boat! Don't tempt me.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Lovely morning at the pond. On me own until Mick the sail turned up….where are u all?
. Proj No3going, not that well.me pictures, not so many good ones. Has a nose down attitude under power and with the wind I dare not open it up. These rubbish old designs! The Lipo seems to be the only way with this one, startling speed in the calm on a Lipo.

Sunderland as usual going nicely with the small 2/3 C battery pack. Mucho admired by one and all. It may be my favourite boat. Actually ran the battery completely flat, just enough juice to get to shore.

Blinded Mick with project No5, are you sure about that he said (actually he said something else). I was tempted to just try out the propulsion system with a watt-meter attached, but had goose poo on knee, hand and shirt by this time so couldn't be bothered. When the time comes I will meter it up and you can read all about it, that's if it makes the grade of course. PF does not print any old rubbish! They may decide the printing process does not do justice to the effervescent colour that is no5. Actually it may simply be a step too far for the average reader, it is quite…er, novel. If it goes as well as it looks….oh boy!!

And of course the hovervan, so much quieter with the new lift EDF unit. Not quiet per-se, the propulsion prop is v noisy, but before the whole ting was deafening. It does not hover QUITE so well it must be said however it still works well enough. Takes ages to dry out before it can be put away though.

Ashley (no disclaimer, everything is true)

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Cor. Started clearing out the top shelves of the shed in prep for the new roof. Took 15 boats over to Mums for temp storage today in garage. The issue will be removing the old roof and weatherproofing the hole as it is bound to rain. Ordering stuff tomorrow, delivery hopefully within a week.​Will have loads more storage space after including roof space for flying boats.

Not cheap this lark, but I am using steel roofing and insulating it, fit and forget. Will be able to reposition lights for better lighting, and store all my long stuff better in the new roof space (just sloped roof but adding a foot or so in height at the tall end.. What with sealing the gaps up, insulation, new window and draught proof door (have to thin k about that) I should be able to beaver away ALL YEAR ! churning them out, all those specials. Luvvly.

Ashley

[The Long BuildParticipant @thelongbuild]

Yes, need to upgrade my shed, it is over 40 years old ( came with the house) and think the door was built for a hobbit, !! good and solid as my head can testify on more than one occasion…

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Its amazing that you don't realise sometimes how long you have either had tools or wot-not, or sheds/workshops, and how little they do get upgraded over the years. I know before any new project I have to spend a week putting the workshop in order before starting work.

Todays boating…there was none. Got to the park gates at 0905 and they were shut and coned off….halfway down the park avenue there were blue flashing lights. Turned around and headed home. Had no less that 5 boats, and was going to test out Proj No5 as well.

Spent the day re-doing the electrics in the garage. They had consisted of several chock-box leads, various assorted sockets and 4 separate lighting leads. I have condensed everything now, have a separate light switch (luxury!) and even bought some plastic trunking and "no-nails" glue (to stick the trunking on the garage walls) to get everything ship-shape.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Garage wiring nice and tidy, but the shed looks like a bomb has hit it! The park is closed (effectively) next Sunday as there is this damn cycle race taking place and the H/court bridge is closed most of the day, so no boating. just as well as there is stuff everywhere now and I dare say I will not be able to find anything.
Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Finally given up on the paint for project No5, Humbrol Fire orange. It has the covering power of an ant laying on the Sahara. I have gone with a …certain….shade of Humbrol Red, and even at just one coat, AND over the Fluorescent stuff, has achieved almost complete coverage. A second coat and I shall be there. It does mean to say that it will be difficult to photograph, red colours never come out properly. I will see if a filter helps, polarising or what have you. failing this I shall have to use the use of bright light and shadows to delineate the various lines.

​Boating of a sort today, used the Hampton Ferry to get across the river to go to the brass band job at Sunbury walled gardens.

​Wood and STUFF for new shed roof coming tomorrow, all £500 quid's worth. £350 of steel roofing to follow. Whew!

Got to spend the retirement fund at some time, eh?

Ashley

[Kev.WParticipant @kev-w]

it will be difficult to photograph, red colours never come out properly. I will see if a filter helps, polarising or what have you.

Try changing the 'white balance', it usually helps with this problem.

Kev.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Kip. Thanks for that, I will give it a go (when the time comes) Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Despite it looking like a nice day tomorrow I am staying in to attempt to impose some sort of order in the garden. There is just so much stuff loafing, roofing sheets, insulation, the Old roof, old felt..bags of rubbish. A right nightmare.

​I am not sure I could actually find a boat to bring along ! HOWEVER work is progressing nicely and the woodwork is all done, and really next Monday may see the steel sheets screwed in place and then all that needs doing is the roof insulation, wiring (lights and sockets etc), re- doing all the shelving to accommodate the stuff a bit better. I will have over a foot of extra headroom at one end now and the flying boats will be able to be hung up in this room, out of harms way

I shall be in if anyone wants to pop over for input on the DDR, or I shall be nipping out in the afternoon I could pop round.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Well well. A bit blustery but managed to test out No5. Went like a dream.
7.2V nimh pack ​Measurements….8.8A on s40 prop, a tad more on a 45mm prop not much, 2S Lipo….10.25A all well within motor max current recommended values. .

Performance really good esp on Lipo, and I may say that it ALMOST achieved its design "feature" when on a 3s Lipo, just the tail dragging a tad but I see this now as unavoidable. On a flat calm day I could fully expect the thing to literally fly. The tail issue I am not sure would be resolved satisfactorily on something without flaps or a hidden underwater device, both not within the spirit of the original design. I cannot believe that the designer cured this issue as getting the balance JUST right under a variety of wind and load conditions would be much too difficult.

As far as manoeuvrability goes, even with a rudder that looks way too small, first class, no worries, remains flat and planted at all speeds

Peter down with his fishing boat and remarkably stable it was too.

Ashley

[harry smith 1Participant @harrysmith1]

Hi Ashley

Finally finished the shed and back to the important stuff!!!!

Added a kettle for a spot of tea???

No5 sounds like a bit of moving the battery forward or a bit of lead.

My Sea Hornet required a bit of the lead under the driver's seat.

I added to much to start with and it was nosing down in the turns.

The old Lipo under the hood, a 4S would get her cracking!!!!

Harry

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Hi Ash

All these project numbers are confusing my poor brain, coupled with the lack of photos its like a weird code that only Alan Turing could solve.

When will these secret projects become public property?

Paul

Its cold and wet uphere int north, the cobbles are slippy and me flat cap is drenched.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Ah Paul. I am sorry but the projects are secret and my postings reflect this. I am a bit obscure and that is to stop people guessing what it is I am making (not that anyone would guess, but you never know) ​I will mail you, anyone who wants to see what I am up to can pm me and I will update them.

Paul is of course aware of what I am building, and his input now and then is invaluable. I always welcome input…the Bushy park crew is quite vociferous and this is helpful (once I have given them a good slap for being cheeky).

Todays boating was informative. Project No5 (based on some obscure design) is supposed to perform in a certain fashion, and this has been difficult to achieve. Indeed. we are wondering if the craft actually worked as it was supposed to, and we suspect not. Todays boating used my power meter to ensure that I was not horribly overloading the toddy 28mm outrunner, and all was well. Then I actually turned it loose and conducted more than a few runs with different props and battery types/voltages to see if this made much difference.

There was a bit of blustery wind and so waves on the pond. My experiments lead me to believe that the craft will perform moderately well in the calm, but not as per the designers intention, which we believe to be unattainable.

This is in the reverse to project no3, which I suspect actually runs much better then any craft built by the inventor, in fact, the performance was spectacular, and the inventors trial run (using a low powered motor) appears to be the only run of this particular craft, as if it DID achieved its design criteria, it would have featured strongly in the magazines of the period. sadly there are no such reports.

Building obscure designs is full of uncertainty in that you don't really know if the things worked or not. Certainly Trevor is building and offshoot of project no3, and there is no concrete evidence that this particular craft was built at all, despite the sensational magazine feature

Ashley

 

 

 

Edited By ashley needham on 21/08/2016 20:20:35

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Ashley,

Do you have a secret society who understand your posts ? we mere mortals hav'nt the slightest idea what your up too ! I know Top Secret exists as I have a few projects for future publication which I keep under wraps Just thought I'd ask.

Best Regards Ray

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Ray, no secret society. They are not so secret that no one can know about them. pm me and you will be enlightened . Just like you I keep these things under wraps a bit.
Ashley

[harry smith 1Participant @harrysmith1]

Hi All

Ashley is report lee the General Projects Manager of AREA 51B (British) section M(model) sub section B(boats and other projects).

Harry

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Harry. Only boats here no aliens. But some would say……
​Ashley

[harry smith 1Participant @harrysmith1]

Hi Ashley

No, aliens are in Section A.

Dave is in Section F.

Work that one out???

Harry the Larrikin

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Unusually I was able to go to the pond Tuesday with an ACCOCIATE who will remain nameless to carry out the last trials on my project No5 and his similar craft, the one that started this in the first place.

It was a lovely sunny day and there was little wind and I was hoping for good things but alas the behaviour was no better at speed than in the bluster. In fact it was less convincing than Sundays test. We ted various props and batteries all to no avail. The thing achieves a certain "look" and not even at its max possible speed and that's that.

The other person`s boat had similar results. Despite further tinkering it also maxed out without achieving the supposed design agenda.

Photos next after finishing the boats…paint, pilots, whatever, and of course the completion of a THIRD design, for which we also hold little hope for, although it is likely to be faster than the other two.

Harry. An alien craft is on someones list here at Bushy.

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