(WOF) F1 tunnel hull building report

Oh thanks a lot Jan!! It is indeed complex and hard to sand too !

I hope it will sail fast and smooth. Sometimes simplicity gives better results!

 

I laminated the inner of the radio box with 160 gr/m2 carbon fiber (2 layers at the bottom an 3 layers at the transom.




And a first glance at the electronics set up.

 

Looking great! And it fits a 6S pack . I think your original plan was to run it on 4 or 5S right?

 

Thank you Jan!! Exactly, but in the meanwhile I decided to go big and I bought a MSQ 4074 1500 KV !
I like your strategy - low KV big battery and play with props - which seems to work great and I decided to follow it!

 

More power, sounds good! Does it fit your DIY outboard nicely?
1500kV on 6S is a great setup I think. Not too much stress on the drive and electronics, but still very good speed possible.

 

Oh yes it fits so well... Actually my father wanted to convert his old nitro fsr to a FE and he bought a MSQ 4074... So I grabbed the opportunity and I tried to my outboard...

 

Good work ! The carbon is very nicely applied!

 

Goodmorning!

The battery tray, the servo mount and the Esc plate are ready. The latter two are 3mm ply laminated with 200gr carbon fiber.

The lower leg of the outboard has a carbon plate and a double water pick up for the motor and the Esc.









I am waiting for a 50grams fiberglass to laminate some parts of the hull and the is almost ready for primer and putty.

 

Great job! That lipo fits in there like a glove .

I like the looks of the plain weave carbon on these parts

 

Thanks Jan!!

I was a bit lucky with the 6s battery. Only a few mm narrower and I couldn t use the battery straps! Nonetheless, I have to increase the the height of the radio box at least at the front part.

 

Finally the center section is closed.

It consists of two compartments, the one at the bow is 7mm taller for the battery. Water inlet and outlet for the esc are also ready. I ve also made a plate for the GPS.

 

looks good

 

Thank you @cadcam !! I am curious about its performance!

 

It looks great Dim! Any plan on when the maiden run is going to happen?
One advice; I would install the GPS inside the hull. It might rip off the boat during a crash (including the cowl ).

 

Thank you Jan!!

I think it will take at least a month for the maiden if everything goes well. I also have the DIY outboard that I work in parallel which is also quite time consuming. I will have an update for this build soon.

You are right about the GPS and I am really concerned about that too.
But, there is a designing mistake here, because the glass fiber part of the cowl is exactly where I place the GPS in the photo.
Thus, I cannot fit the GPS inside the radio box.
How much trouble is the carbon fiber for the GPS? You don't take speed measures at all or it is just unreliable?

 

I see. What you can do, is put a foam frame around the gps, which holds the GPS firmly. You can keep the gps on top of the radio box and in case of a crash, the gps will stay afloat. I will do that for my gps

I have never tried to use the gps through carbon fiber. You don't want to miss the signal during a good speed run, so I wouldn't try

 

Thank you Jan. Nice idea to keep the GPS safe!

 

Carbon fibre is conductive, so it creates a so called "Faraday's cage", which blocks any radio electric/magnetic signal.
Jan did the right thing by adding a glass fibre "window" in his carbon canopy for the gps. Only solution I am afraid!

The same for RC airplanes with carbon fibre fuselages. The radio antenna needs to be physically outside or the flight will be short and sad

 

Thank you Michael! Indeed, I ve also leave a window with glass fiber on the cowl so I ll place the GPS below this area!

 

Goodmorning rc friends,

I finally made a new fiberglass cowl using the old one as a mould and employing the following quick and dirty technique:

I wrap the cowl with a transparent wrapping tape, I apply a layer of wax and the mold is ready. The final result is not perfect and it needs a lot of sanding and smoothing but I can live with that.

I will use a fiber glass tape to enhance the top of the cowl ensuring also a clear GPS signal and the rest of it will carbon fiber.