Got in the new Aquacraft SV27

[Bob Kensill]

We just got in the new Aquacraft SV27 rtr boats. I was wondering what you FE guys think of this boat for racing.

 

[Pagemaster]

The the tops speeds being advertised in the forums, they should be able to run in p offshore with no problems. Maybe even a bit slower p mono with a prop change. But I don't think people will fully know until they are tested on the course. We will be testing ours this weekend.

 

[Dennis Whitt]

i AM ABSOLUTLY EXCITED !!!That a company has taken the time to provide an entree level boat that doesnt embarass me as an FE enthuseist.There is just total junk out there and these guys put this thing together with the right stuff right out of the box.I would consider that boat competition if it were placed in the water next to me at an event.NUFF SAID.

 

[Grimracer]

Bob,

Take a look at the hardware and tell me what you think.. take a good look at the hull and let me know your thoughts.. if you get the chance take the boat to the pond and run it... easy now its got alot of power..

Now take the time to think of yourself as a new boater.. run another set of packs through it...

Now put on your best 20 tunnel prop and a turn fin on the port side and run the boat again.. think of yourself as a new FE racer.. because you at this point are.. that just how a good P off shore boat runs..

Dennis,

Thanks man.. this boat is all about the racer.. its also all about the new guy...

ROCK ON

Grimracer

 

[BoatDoc]

i want mine soon! after seeing it go at Mazo i was super impressed with the quality. if i had the cash for it now i'd get one for CAFE to run in P-offshore. it's going to be an awesome boat for newcomers to cut their teeth on.

 

[Paul Pachmayer]

Hey Guys,

As far as RTR boats go this one is at the top. My only concern would be the speed control. It's worthy of what it's designed to do but I'm bettin' that once the new guys start playing with big unbalanced props trouble will soon follow.

Paul.

 

[Grimracer]

Paul, trouble is not what its called..its called learing and lets face it after that point it might mean sales to you..

guys are going to be puting on too large a prop.. its the nature of the beast.. but after they get there boats wet it just might open a whole new door for them..

The future of FE racing is very bright indeed.

ROCK ON PAULMON...

Grimracer

 

[Darin Jordan]

I couldn't find the specs listed, so I'm only assuming that the "Futaba Built" radio that comes with this is an AM setup?? If so, that would be a weak point in my opinion...

Based on experience with my AquaCraft Pro Fisherman and the ProBoat Bud... AM radios, generally speaking, don't work that well for racing... Too prone to glitches and definately NOT enough range... My Pro Fisherman wouldn't even make it to the back straight of our typically FE coarse... I'd get about 1/2 way through the first corner and the ESC would start cutting in and out (shutting down w/ loss of radio signal...)

Once I gutted all the AM stuff and replaced it with a quality FM Hitec RX, I could fly around the course without an issue...

I think Aquacraft has had a couple of terrific opportunies missed due to good ideas that were too cheaply implemented (Pro Fisherman is my prime example... $220... dropped to $189... dropped to $169... now you can get them for $129.00 new...)... the Pro Fisherman hull is really cool, but made of cheap plastic that doesn't hold up... You are left, however, with a cool outboard!

I'm hopeful that this new race boat has better success and helps to get more people on the water... I may buy one myself just because it's pretty cool... I just hope there is enough margin of error built into the ESC and the Radio gear, because nothing will lose a customer, or turn off a potential life-long RC racer, than to have a big investment go up in smoke at the slightest judgement error in prop selection, etc...

HOWEVER... for someone like me... If the hull is quality, and the hardware is quality, then swapping out the radio gear and putting in a good ESC isn't that big a deal... Finding good quality, pre-built RTR hulls IS, so this would be a good find...

Glad to see the market moving this direction!

 

[jevmax]

I think this is the best thing ever done to encourage newcomers to FE boating. Now when people ask me "What does it cost to get started in this" I'll be able to tell them it's less than $300. That will do it! My only concern with someone new to the hobby, is that they will part-throttle this brushless equipped boat around the pond until the batteries dump, and thereby burn it up. Hopefully the ESC has a reliable thermal shutdown feature, so that won't happen too often.

 

[Darin Jordan]

Question... Does the ESC in this boat have the BEC built in, or is the BEC in the RX???

I know when I tried to use the Aquacraft ESC that came in my Pro Fisherman when I put in an FM RX, the settings on the ESC didn't seem to function correctly.

I guess another way to word this question (less confusing...) is to ask: Will everything else work as it should if one replaces the RX with an FM unit like a Hitec DCX 3-channel, etc.???

I'm probably going to order one of these today, but I will be changing the RX to FM, so I really need to know if this is going to work...

Thanks,

 

[PropNut]

I think this is the best thing ever done to encourage newcomers to FE boating. Now when people ask me "What does it cost to get started in this" I'll be able to tell them it's less than $300. That will do it! My only concern with someone new to the hobby, is that they will part-throttle this brushless equipped boat around the pond until the batteries dump, and thereby burn it up. Hopefully the ESC has a reliable thermal shutdown feature, so that won't happen too often.

Very good analysis.

All the best,

Ray

 

[Darin Jordan]

I think this is the best thing ever done to encourage newcomers to FE boating.

I'm not a newcomer, but I ordered mine this afternoon! I plan on taking it to our next club race (Sept. 30) with nothing changed but an FM RX and demo it for the club... We've been thinking of a "Spec Mono" class, and have been considering something like "LSH Mono" w/ 12-cells and a 700... but this seems like a MUCH better idea.

One of the guys on the RRR message board confirmed tonight that doing an RX swap will work (using a JR radio)... Just had to set the trim ALL the way back on the throttle to get the ESC to arm...

If that's all it takes to make it a race, then this is going to be FANTASTIC! Hardware is sound... Hull is reported to be of excellent quality, and the combo seems right for a simple, FAST, and FUN combo that could get someone on the water in short order...

I now have about a week to figure out what to tell my wife when it "unexpectedly" arrives at my doorstep... :blink: Something tells me "oh, by the way, I found a sponsor!" isn't going to work! :huh:

 

[drobie]

I got mine. Will let you know in the next couple of days, although I did see one run earlier in the season when Grim visited.

I hope that we promote them to run out-of-the-box. If we all start playing with props and ESC's, it becomes just another P Mono, P Offshore or LSO hull. Newcomers would come to the pond with them and get their fannies spanked.

We're going to run them as is in Mazo. maybe even going as far as shuffling battery packs among us between heats.

That said, the hull can work both ways. If one wants tweak to run in P Offshore or P Mono, not much has to be done. The boat weighs 2 lbs. 14 oz less batts. (That's the same as a record capable LSH.) The glasswork is over the top.

The hardware is top notch. Any improvement simply wouldn't be worth the effort, and another 4 or 5 mph will do nothing to enhance the fun factor. What will be fun is deck to deck racing with exactly the same equipment as everyone else.

It's a boat that everyone will have fun with.

I posted on another board that it would be fun to introduce it as an out-of-the-box class at the '07 Nats. Big problem is that it would probably take over half a day to get all the heats in. How novel is that?

A class so popular it can't be run at the Nats. This is a boat that could take us there.

Maybe the answer is to take the competition up a notch. Local qualifying with x number of racers from each club or District earning a spot in a true championship run off at the Nats with a few slots reserve for a lottery of those who don't have an affilitation.

Just thinkin' about it.

Great work Grim. You can be proud of the production, you earned it.

One suggestion: Jim has a good point about the stop and go and generating heat. You might want to add something about that to the owner's manual.

 

[Darin Jordan]

I hope that we promote them to run out-of-the-box. If we all start playing with props and ESC's, it becomes just another P Mono, P Offshore or LSO hull. Newcomers would come to the pond with them and get their fannies spanked.

I totally agree... I looked at Tower Hobbies last night, and all the spare parts, hardware, etc., are readily available there at the moment, and replacement stock props are $16.99 for TWO... Can't beat that for a bolt-on item, and at 40mm/3, that's not exactly a "mild" prop setup and should be plenty fast, etc...

The quality hardware, including a .150 flex cable, make this plenty upgradable to full-on P-Mono config, so this appears to be an EXCELLENT stepping stone for someone just getting started...

Swap out the RX to an FM unit, Trim, and hit the water!

I'd allow painting/decals/graphics, but otherwise, allow an RX change, determine the battery allowances (might not be Lipo friendly, so this shouldn't be that hard at all...) and run-em! Should be the simplest set of RC boat rules ever written!

Looking forward to hearing the performance reports...

 

[drobie]

Oh...BTW Grim....

When is the companion, 12 cell, 2lb. 14 oz, 27" electric hydro going to be released?

 

[drobie]

I did find something I don't like about the setup. The brass stuffing tube extends all the way to the very tip of the flex connector. Butts right up against it.

Not only is not cable not showing at all, but it might even be binding on the tube. It's so close you can't tell.

Remains to be seen if that's an issue.

 

[Darin Jordan]

Oh...BTW Grim....

When is the companion, 12 cell, 2lb. 14 oz, 27" electric hydro going to be released?

Doug... According the the spec sheet... the SV27 is 4.5lbs (2.04 kg) w/o batteries... Am I reading something wrong???

 

[Bob Kensill]

Thanks for the hint on setting the trim lower to get the esc to arm. That's not in the instructions and the tech guys at Hobbico didn't know it either. I replaced one radio with a JR fm unit. It gives two beeps initially and two at full throttle when armed,but works great. Any ideas on why two beeps instead of one? On 3000mah packs we are getting about 15min run time at mostly full throttle. Speed is impressive too!

 

[drobie]

Doug... According the the spec sheet... the SV27 is 4.5lbs (2.04 kg) w/o batteries... Am I reading something wrong???

Yeah, either my Pelouze postal scale (digital w/max of 20 lbs.) or the manual is wrong.

2 lbs, 13.8 oz. with the hatch on is what I'm looking at as I type this.

That 4.5 lbs. must be with batts.

 

[Darin Jordan]

2 lbs, 13.8 oz. with the hatch on is what I'm looking at as I type this.

That 4.5 lbs. must be with batts.

PHEW!!! :wacko: That's good news!!

On 3000mah packs we are getting about 15min run time at mostly full throttle. Speed is impressive too!

15-Minutes??? :blink: Are you SURE??? That just doesn't sound right, especially combined with the "speed is impressive too" part...