I’ve been getting all my RC toys back in working order over the last couple of weeks. One being my Traxxas T-Maxx monster truck and the other is the boat. I sorta stripped the radio from the Maxx to put in the boat so i got another RX and a couple of servo’s to get the maxx running again.
The boat also needed a new radio box and some other minor repairs. With a little work and some help from Tim, i got it back up and running. I also found a new/better site to run the boat. It’s the old (now abandoned) Lakeside Leisure park site. There’s a nice little pond in the middle to run the boat on. It has a couple of downsides like limited access to the bank and a shallow spot in the middle but the huge plus of it being FRESH water and not salty onkaparinga river water far outweighs them. It’s not all festy and stagnant either like one might suspect.
I’m not 100% sure on the legalities of using the pond since it is infact private land but there are no signs up telling me to stay away and i did not even have to jump a fence or anything- just walk straight in. Not only that, other locals seem to be using it extensively for riding motorbikes on. I don’t think i’m going to have too much to worry about. That is, until the land gets sold off and subdivided as the land is for sale…
So, we got the boat in the water and even remebered the camera this time! There’s a couple of problems with it after the run. Mainly the fact that the rubber/silicone header -> pipe joiner split which caused it to stall (no back pressure). I’m going to have to find something else to do the job. The engine also seems to either detonate or misfire every now and then – you can hear it in the video. I think with 98 octane fuel and a bit more oil it should go away tho. I’ve also made up a stand for it now. Makes transport and use so much easier.
I’ve also now decided to make up a new skeg. The current one is not ideal, it uses teflon as the bearing and wears too quickly. I’m changing it to use brass and to have more bulk. More on that later.
In the mean time, enjoy the vid…