Offset Drivelines in 1/8 Hydroplanes

[Charles Perdue]

PERDUE!!!!!!

 

[Grimracer]

Charles,

I have to ask about your signature.

 

Tell us more about your first's (just some of.. meaning you have many more?) and what motivated you to think outside the box on these ideas.

 

Thanks

Grim

 

[Charles Perdue]

First, I do not accept as fact a lot of the ideas that are stated as fact just because a lot of boaters have been told something works a certain way or should be done a certain way because someone said so.

I am a natural tinkerer and I try to keep an open mind as to what works and does not work. I will take an idea and work on it until I am convinced one way or the other, if it is a good idea.

The Zoom carbs came to be because I was not satisfied with what was on the market, OEM or otherwise. I have been a carb guy for many years as in automotive, outboard engines, motorcycles, go karts, ect. I had already built a small flow bench for use on go kart cart carbs when I was racing them. I built the first prototype Zoom carbs just for myself, then a few more for friends, built another more accurate flow bench for the smaller RC carbs, built more carbs for friends and they took off from there. The rest is history.

The BOSS boats began the same way. At that time, none of the hydros would turn very good. The BOSS design was an accumulation of different ideas built into one boat. It took over a year to get the bugs worked out, then we ran for the District 19 championship. District 19 at that time was one of the toughest districts to win in. In the 20 Hydro class, we won every race on the schedule in 1981 including the NAMBA Nationals in Amarilla, except one and finished second in that one. Myself, Jack O'Donnell, and Steve O'Donnell scaled up the Boss 20 to a 60 size rigger took a vacation week and built it in that one week. A few weeks later, Jack and Steve took it back to Indy and broke the 60 Hydro two lap record by quiet a few seconds with the first lap below 10 seconds. The intake rotor went away on the second lap and the boat slowed down considerability. They still demolished the old record.

The anachoic chamber was a gift to RC boating to establish an simple, accurate and repeatable way of measuring the sound level of our toy boats. With a trip to Lowes and some dumpster diving for materials, the first one assembled was at a District 5 race in Jackson, TN. It was built on the tailgate of my pickup truck and tested at that same race. It worked very good. It was given to Bill Zuber for more testing. It is now in the IMPBA rule book.

As for some of the more recent ideas and contributions, they are still classified.

Charles

 

[Don Ferrette]

As for some of the more recent ideas and contributions, they are still classified.

And if he told you he'd have to shoot you! :lol:

In all seriousness thanks for being a part of this Charles, if it weren't for thinking outside the box I'd hate to think where the hobby would be today.

 

[Dasboatman]

Hey Charles,

Thanks for posting tha info. I knew you were in District 19, but had not met you while I lived and raced in District 19 - June 1987 - March 1996. I raced 1/8th Scale mostly. and enjoyed the company of Chuck McGaughy, Ira Cotton and Bob Cornell to mention a few.

I too don't belive much unless I prove it to myself. Assume - - make an ass out of you and me addage. CHEERS !!! Bob

 

[Charles Perdue]

Hello Bob,

I moved from Tennessee to LA in 1974 and from LA back to Tennessee in 1984. Talking about culture shock, when they transplanted this country boy to LA, THAT WAS CULTURE SHOCK.

Charles

 

[julianconde]

This has been a good discussion without "Untimely" interruptions. It really feels good not to have to put up with that crap.

Charles

My my now whatever could you mean sir Charles? Are you missing your bestest buddy already?

we can bring him back breifly ha ha. Charles would enjoy that

 

[Charles Perdue]

Julian, I understand that he was your buddy too......

Charles

 

[julianconde]

Julian, I understand that he was your buddy too......

Charles

ha ha not really he hated me

 

[Jeff Lutz]

PERDUE!!!!!!

Charles, What year was it when you first put water cooling in or on your rudder? What exact method did you use?

 

[Charles Perdue]

Jeff, the best that I remember, it was the middle nineteen seventies. The very first one was a knife blade rudder with a grove cut down the back and a channel was formed using solder. It was for another boater for use on his SAW boat.

Shortly after that I made a batch of aluminum rudder blades with a hole drilled the length of the blade. I still have and am still using some of those.

Charles

 

[Jeff Lutz]

Jeff, the best that I remember, it was the middle nineteen seventies. The very first one was a knife blade rudder with a grove cut down the back and a channel was formed using solder. It was for another boater for use on his SAW boat.

Shortly after that I made a batch of aluminum rudder blades with a hole drilled the length of the blade. I still have and am still using some of those.

Charles

In 1969 Don Pinckert had water cooling in his rudder blade. He drilled through the blade and j b welded a piece of brass tubing on the back of the rudder. In 1976 my dad also used this method on his gator 60 boat. Regards,Jeff Lutz

 

[Charles Perdue]

Jeff, no one person or group of people can lay claim to having created all of the original ideas. I just posted what I believe to be the first use of the water pickup in the rudder blade. All that I can say is at the time when the idea was conceived was that I had never seen or heard of anyone else doing the same. Different people have different opinions.

Just listening to the grape vine, you have quiet a few accomplishments yourself.

Regards,

Charles

 

[Rick Doane]

Jeff, the best that I remember, it was the middle nineteen seventies. The very first one was a knife blade rudder with a grove cut down the back and a channel was formed using solder. It was for another boater for use on his SAW boat.

Shortly after that I made a batch of aluminum rudder blades with a hole drilled the length of the blade. I still have and am still using some of those.

Charles

In 1969 Don Pinckert had water cooling in his rudder blade. He drilled through the blade and j b welded a piece of brass tubing on the back of the rudder. In 1976 my dad also used this method on his gator 60 boat. Regards,Jeff Lutz

Jeff, no one person or group of people can lay claim to having created all of the original ideas. I just posted what I believe to be the first use of the water pickup in the rudder blade. All that I can say is at the time when the idea was conceived was that I had never seen or heard of anyone else doing the same. Different people have different opinions.

Just listening to the grape vine, you have quiet a few accomplishments yourself.

Regards,

Charles

Charles........you hit the nail on the head. In those days, we boaters had to make all of the inovative changes for model boats. We (most) did not have access to camera phones, the internet, and buddies with machine shops. There is also this thing called parallel thought that happens at the same time. I have seen that in other subjects through life. The attached photo is one that I made in the early to mid 70's for my 40 Crapshooter. You should see the first one. I'll post that if everyone wants a good laugh but it proved the principal.

Rick

 

[John Finch]

I have a rudder like jeff described with the tubing and JB weld that is in my scap metal parts box back from the late 60's. It could be one of Don's creations. I don't remember where I got it. It has been amazing over the years when meeting boaters from other parts of the country finding out that you both had been doing the same thing thinking you were the only one doing that particular thing. I think Steve Muck also had the first water pickup in the rudder. We were all so separated from each other back then. How about the first one to use the cupped turn fin? Where did that one come from?

I remember Kentley Porter and myself in my shop using pipes one larger than the other with the fin between the two pipes. The

outside one just a section of pipe and a bit larger, Mash them in the vice and there you go. Before Ron's Rounder was available.

Dick Tyndall probably gave us the pipe idea. Don't remember. I do remember he ended up building the right turn fin to break the 60 and F oval records for us after we tried about every imaginable fin shape.

 

[Jeff Lutz]

Jeff, no one person or group of people can lay claim to having created all of the original ideas. I just posted what I believe to be the first use of the water pickup in the rudder blade. All that I can say is at the time when the idea was conceived was that I had never seen or heard of anyone else doing the same. Different people have different opinions.

Just listening to the grape vine, you have quiet a few accomplishments yourself.

Regards,

Charles

Charles, I was sure it was something like that. With no internet back then it was alot different and hard to know exactly who was first I agree. Jeff

 

[John Finch]

Found it!

 

[Jeff Lutz]

Found it!

John, You just showed us you (or someone) was rounding the bottom of the rudders in the late 1960's!

 

[John Finch]

Jeff,

It is hard to tell in the photo but the bottom is also cut upward towards the rear so there could be absolutely no lift caused by the bottom. It was a couple of decades later I found out that the rudder causes lift no matter what you do to it. Somewhere about 1975 I was sitting at a table with Gus Johnson having dinner and of course we talked boats. He told me to round off the leading edge at the bottom of the rudder. I do that in a lot of my SAW stuff. He said like an airplane wing you don't want the tips of the wing to have sharp corners. I have a really good selection of rudder shapes from over the years. Bottom line is they all work.

 

[Mark Stein]

Has anyone setup a Mutt with the driveline in its normal offset location(to the left) and have the rudder mounted on the right? what offset would be used from centerline or from driveline. This is going to be my new heatrace boat and like the idea of being to correct left in traffic with less worry about a blowoff.

My other boat setup for 2 lap even thinking of left correction is an instant blowoff. Not even considering a change to that boat just get better at driving since traffic and unitentional course markers dont exist