Fire Fighter 45

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XtremeRcBoats

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 31, 2002
Messages
1,214
For next years Dutch Championship i recently bought the plans for the fire fighter 45. I'm using the building instructions for the FF21 as a guide. I just started building the turnfin spar and have some questions about the setup/hardware for the rigger. Just put the first picture in my gallery

What:

- tank to use, size?

- steering servo to use, i was thinking about a Hitec 645Mg?

- rudder to use, i was thinking about the speedmaster 40 rudder, how for must the leading edge be from the transom?

- turnfin, does C&D as for the FF21 make a turnfin?

- what type of strut, round or flat? distance prop from transom?

- motormount where to get?

- is a good prop, 1457?

I'm also looking for an engine, if someone has a good Mac45/Cmb 45Hr he wants to get rid of sent me a Pm.

Thanks for your input.
 
Here is some pics and step by step of Mike P's firefighter 45 build, hope it helps. When we built ours we used speed master mini rudder, hydro strut (round bottom), and a Ninja S-1 turn fin. For the servo I think the 645MG will work fine and also try to place your radio battery as far back as possible to help plant the rear end a little better.

Cliff

https://www.intlwaters.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=224
 
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tank... as big as you can get. mine is a custom fuel cell i had made. servo sounds fine. id use the speedmaster mini rudder and hydro round strut bottom. C&D does make a rolled .45 fin that works well on mine. I made my own mount.... and the 1457 would be a good starting prop
 
on mine I have a tank from Walt Barney, rudder from CMDI, srut from speedmaster, and turn fin from C&D. Gave everyone a chance! Now I just have to wait for some soft water

Bob
 
Thanks for all the info. I sent Walt and David an email about the tank and turnfin. For the cowl i'm thinking about one from Mike C (PHM Racing).

for the rudder how far must the leading edge be from the transom, speedmaster has 3 lengths for th 40 rudder (1 1/8 inch, 1 5/8 inch or 2 1/4 inch from transom) or should i go for a 21 Hydro rudder?
 
Thanks for all the info. I sent Walt and David an email about the tank and turnfin. For the cowl i'm thinking about one from Mike C (PHM Racing).

for the rudder how far must the leading edge be from the transom, speedmaster has 3 lengths for th 40 rudder (1 1/8 inch, 1 5/8 inch or 2 1/4 inch from transom) or should i go for a 21 Hydro rudder?
id use the mini rudder. i think it has only 1 size
 
Thanks for all the info. I sent Walt and David an email about the tank and turnfin. For the cowl i'm thinking about one from Mike C (PHM Racing).

for the rudder how far must the leading edge be from the transom, speedmaster has 3 lengths for th 40 rudder (1 1/8 inch, 1 5/8 inch or 2 1/4 inch from transom) or should i go for a 21 Hydro rudder?
id use the mini rudder. i think it has only 1 size
ok i'll go for the 21mini rudder.

Question about the booms, since Lone star balsa is not producing any currently. What are the thickness of the booms, I presume the numbers on the buildingplan (.414 and .505) is the outer diameter.
 
You can call CMDi and get a set from them for their 45 SGX. They are the same for both boats if you want to go with carbon fiber.

Cliff
 
Thanks, i'll have a look at it.

Tom, another question about the front sponsons. Is the sponson center 1/8 ply or 1/4" (balsa?). The overal drawing (sheet 1) shows a 1/4" center but sheet 2 says 1/8 ply.
 
well..... do you plan on hitting any boueys? 1/8 ply will make it stronger, 1/4 balsa will make it lighter. your choice.
 
paul, aerospace composite products they have your boom tubes that you need and just about anybooms size you need they have the .414 and the .505 they will fix you up................................................................Bob...........

..... JAGUAR HYDROS
 
paul, aerospace composite products they have your boom tubes that you need and just about anybooms size you need they have the .414 and the .505 they will fix you up................................................................Bob................ JAGUAR HYDROS
Tom, yes i did the cutting by hand with a small saw (don't know the english word for the type of saw). and now started on the tub, havn't glued it yet, see last picture in the gallery: tub.

Also want to try a carbon turn fin. Made a mold from the CD turnfin. If it is not strong enough i'll use the original fin. Planning to use 13 layers of carbon.

Bob, thanks for the help already got booms. I used metric sizes, is easier to get overhere. I'll be using 8x10 and 12x10 mm carbon tubes.
 
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Small update. Glued the tub and some sheeting on the sponsons.

tub

sponsons

Also laminated the turnfin. I used 13 layers of carbon and pressed it between the 2 molds i built from the original turn fin. For extra strength i cut the carbon cloth in different angles, about 0, 45 and 90 degrees. It turned out very strong. Now have to cut out the right shape of the turn fin and sharpen it.

Turnfin

For the mold of the turn fin i used a few layers of fibre glass and and some left over carbon. To get the right shape i put in on baking paper (the epoxy won't stick to that) and pressed in on the turnfin. I did this for both sides. For extra stiffness of the mould i put some expanding foam on it. After that i cut the shape of the furn fin.
 
for the rudder how far must the leading edge be from the transom, speedmaster has 3 lengths for th 40 rudder (1 1/8 inch, 1 5/8 inch or 2 1/4 inch from transom) or should i go for a 21 Hydro rudder?
On mine I used the Speedmaster 40 rudder on a custom made transom bracket. (see attached pic)

The CAD drawing for the bracket is in my gallery if you would like to use it. The strut assembly is a custom made item by "Nitrocrazed" and the prop is a 1657 (I'll be using Picco power) I'm going to lighten the bracket some more once I'm happy with the strut position and the final balance of the boat.
 
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