R/C airboats

Another airboat fan here too!

I have the Dumas "Lil' Swamp Buggy" done in natural mahogany with clear finishing resin. It's powered by a throttled "Sure-Start" with a "B" head conversion running two channel 2.4 gig RC. I run a "pusher" prop unlike others here. (the source if you wish)

On a lake or on a lawn it "scoots" much too the entertainment of both myself and our grandchildren. I am known to respectfully "herd" pesky Canada geese from waterfront lawns after the new goslings are capable of flight in the spring.

Be glad to provide any "pointers" that you might wish.

My little swamper that I built 20+ years ago. It's been thru many re-incarnations as well as refinishes, it's safe to say it has "gained a few ounces" from the refinishes. The first build I had a babe bee 049 and 3 blade pusher prop mounted. In a effort for more run time, I drilled a hole in the side of the original babe bee tank and ran a external 2 oz wedge tank. The next engine setup was a GMark .061 RC from my crushed ranger 42. The 4th engine setup as you see now, is a 2200KV brushless.

The best setup for maxmuim run time was the babe bee and external tank.

The worst setup, the Gmark and extra standard servo,,waay to much weight and it wouldn't get on plane at all. it would just wallow in the water tail heavy.

The fastest setup is the now brushless 2200 KV. I was able to get some weight adjusted right and moved around and it popps right up on plane and gains speed incredibly fast,,to fast almost.


My advice is to keep it as light as possible when building and finishing. Newly finished, with a 049 and 5cc tank, with a just a couple coats of sealer and paint,,it would jump right up on plane. My advice is to keep it as light as possible when building and finishing.

The downfall to a rc boat is,, you have to have a full size boat, to retrieve your boat. if you want to run out into the lake or any distance from shore.

PV:

I always take my fly fising float tube and fins when I run my "Little SB" on water because it has been known to flip upon ocassion. I full-sized boat would be a PITA.

I use two Futaba S3114 micro-servos (rudder and throttle) and the boat planes nicely.

I had a tennis ball tied to a fishing reel, to chuck it out there over the boat and pull it back in,,but I can only toss it out there so far,,lol

Hey Dins, I thought these might be of interest to you.....

SuperDave wrote:Another airboat fan here too!

I have the Dumas "Lil' Swamp Buggy" done in natural mahogany with clear finishing resin. It's powered by a throttled "Sure-Start" with a "B" head conversion running two channel 2.4 gig RC. I run a "pusher" prop unlike others here. (the source if you wish)

On a lake or on a lawn it "scoots" much too the entertainment of both myself and our grandchildren. I am known to respectfully "herd" pesky Canada geese from waterfront lawns after the new goslings are capable of flight in the spring.

Be glad to provide any "pointers" that you might wish.

G'day. As you would've seen above I've been offered Lil Swamp Buggy plans and would be keen to build one in the not-too-distant future. Noone imports Dumas stuff into Oz, much to my chagrin. Around 20+ years ago I made a Platypus airboat, by Aeroflyte, for my young son. Alas, Aeroflyte went bust years ago and I can't locate any Platypus plans anywhere. It was great little boat and would plane easily with its OS10 - guessing about 30kph.

I bought the Babe Bee then, for that boat, but ended not using the Cox. So my Cox is >20 years old and only been run in on the bench. Had it running yesterday in fact, but can only get hold of 10%nitro fule until I get to the big smoke. I've removed the tank and fitted the induction tube backplate (from the Sure-Start range I expect) and an r/c carby. I have 7 different props to play with, including 2 and 3 blade pushers, and 2 and 3 blade tractor props.

Oz is a dry continent (2nd driest, after Antarctica), so scooting around on wet lawns would be impractical for most here, including me. Mine will be strictly lake/dam boats. I live in a rural area, so there are copious farm dams to use.

Many thanx
Dins

Kim wrote:I'll give my best shot here shortly. If need be, I could shoot a tubed or folded hardcopy your way. Not sure what the postage would be, but willing to check!

Later! Airboat Kim

More than happy to pay whatever postage is required

Ivanhoe wrote:
Hey Dins, I thought these might be of interest to you.....

That looks really neato, doesn't it. Certainly a '50s design. Many thanx for that. I've saved the jpg's already. I can see me with more projects lining up than I'll have years left to complete.
Cheers

dinsdale wrote:

Kim wrote:I'll give my best shot here shortly. If need be, I could shoot a tubed or folded hardcopy your way. Not sure what the postage would be, but willing to check!

Later! Airboat Kim

More than happy to pay whatever postage is required

Hey Dins,

I found the "plan" for the Lil Swamp Buggy. The boat comes with a large instruction sheet, without full-sized templates, but I had intended to build several, and so had traced the outline of the parts on the backside. They should let you cut out your components. I'll make a copy of both sides and post them to you. Don't think it should be too expensive, but I'll check with you before I send them.

Later! Kim

Kim wrote:
I found the "plan" for the Lil Swamp Buggy. The boat comes with a large instruction sheet, without full-sized templates, but I had intended to build several, and so had traced the outline of the parts on the backside. They should let you cut out your components. I'll make a copy of both sides and post them to you. Don't think it should be too expensive, but I'll check with you before I send them.

Will pm you with an address.

My Dad and I built a couple of Lil' Swamp Buggy kits a couple of years ago. Used old AM car radios, Surestarts, and Sullivan 1oz tanks. They were built pretty close to the original plan. My yellow one was finished with epoxy finishing resin, then painted with Lustrekote fuel proof paint. Dad's has a clear resin finish. The videos show both of them in action together on a friend's pond last March. My son and father did the driving while I performed pit duties and operated the camera. Fun stuff. Seems noone installs Cox engines in these boats any more. Most of those found on youtube are electric so I did my part to try to change that. The video links are down below the pics.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hGxmc_yJTI&feature=plcp&context=C332a05dUDOEgsToPDskIo-JFY4_Wic4dsUnynJdD1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-lxYyCqy_E&feature=plcp&context=C3442893UDOEgsToPDskIAqSBHRn7fd__KOX0Lp1s2

[quote="Tee Bee"]My Dad and I built a couple of Lil' Swamp Buggy kits a couple of years ago. Used old AM car radios, Surestarts, and Sullivan 1oz tanks. They were built pretty close to the original plan. My yellow one was finished with epoxy finishing resin, then painted with Lustrekote fuel proof paint. Dad's has a clear resin finish. The videos show both of them in action together on a friend's pond last March. My son and father did the driving while I performed pit duties and operated the camera. Fun stuff. Seems noone installs Cox engines in these boats any more. Most of those found on youtube are electric so I did my part to try to change that.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hGxmc_yJTI&feature=plcp&context=C332a05dUDOEgsToPDskIo-JFY4_Wic4dsUnynJdD1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-lxYyCqy_E&feature=plcp&context=C3442893UDOEgsToPDskIAqSBHRn7fd__KOX0Lp1s2[/quote
I thought a .010 fan like yourself would try a .010 powered one

I had a lot more spare Surestarts lying around than .010s. Longer runtime and more abundant part supply. I tend to treat my .010s with TLC and limit their use somewhat so I can enjoy them for years to come. With that said, a .010 powered airboat would be VERY neat!

Tee Bee wrote:I had a lot more spare Surestarts lying around than .010s. Longer runtime and more abundant part supply. I tend to treat my .010s with TLC and limit their use somewhat so I can enjoy them for years to come. With that said, a .010 powered airboat would be VERY neat!

Yeah I just checked and I don't have a spare .010 but I do have a 2ch radio, coreflute and a pee wee .020 lying around not doing much

The SB on the left very closely resembles mine. My throttled SureStart .049 moves it very nicely but a TD .01o would need to go on a much smaller airboat IMO.

Remember an airboat needs to be capable of operating in waves so often found in ponds/lakes.

SuperDave wrote:The SB on the left very closely resembles mine. My throttled SureStart .049 moves it very nicely but a TD .01o would need to go on a much smaller airboat IMO.

Remember an airboat needs to be capable of operating in waves so often found in ponds/lakes.

Exactly it would be a scaled down one, one the same as .049 just wouldn't have the miniature factor that .010 things have.

Anyone who has ever sailed a "footie" knows the effect of waves on small watercraft.

(A "footie" is 12" LOA)

Nice airboats there Tee Bee. Crazy with the hatch screws. I think I have 12 total. You guys keep commenting on this thread and I will have to build another one,,but maybe the Big Swamper by Dumas,,with 3 Tee Dees' all cranked up.

What is the real difference between the Surestarts, Babe Bees, product engines etc? It strikes me that most of the parts are interchangeable except for the cast crankcase series.

Dins:

Principally the backplate of the CC.

SuperDave wrote:Dins:
Principally the backplate of the CC.

But the back plates are interchangeable, aren't they - at least on all the extruded crankcases?