"Vintage" boats...what do you remember about........

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garrett randall

garrett randall

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2002
Messages
475
Two that are very near and dear to my heart is the Steve Muck Lil' Streaker (my first mono) and Don Pinkert's Gator Hydros (dad ran all 4 sizes)

Members around me will remember the "Platypus"...any stories about Lew Pitzen?

Who remembers a "Sundance"...anyone? I remember having one in our shop, but don't remember a thing about it...

Viper Hydro? Bill Wistert design...former world record holder with Bob Shoneau??? Right???

I don't remember too many specifics on these, so feel free to chime in on these, or any others...

Lets revisit our history!

What boats do you remember?

Dad's 20 Hughey Hydro and 40 Gator...circa 1979 (ish)

20hu_40ga.jpg

Thanks,

Garrett
 
garrett randall said:
Two that are very near and dear to my heart is the Steve Muck Lil' Streaker (my first mono) and Don Pinkert's Gator Hydros (dad ran all 4 sizes)
Members around me will remember the "Platypus"...any stories about Lew Pitzen?

Who remembers a "Sundance"...anyone? I remember having one in our shop, but don't remember a thing about it...

Viper Hydro? Bill Wistert design...former world record holder with Bob Shoneau??? Right???

I don't remember too many specifics on these, so feel free to chime in on these, or any others...

Lets revisit our history!

What boats do you remember?

Dad's 20 Hughey Hydro and 40 Gator...circa 1979 (ish)

View attachment 10593

Thanks,

Garrett
Click to expand...
Hey here are some oldies maybe a "Platypus" too. hey is this it?

Platypus

OLD BOATS

I had the Gators and coyotyes 3D monos Dragonflys, You remember the pumpkinseed monos, that what thy looked like running on the water :lol:
 
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IMG_0341.jpg


My first boat . Was cleaning out a closet and pulled this out and the kids just had to try it out . We'll that just got the ball rolling .

Ed
 
I had a Hughey .21 'rigger but never completed it. My ex-brother-in-laws brother (got that?) still has one along with a lot of other vintage boats stashed away in a barn including a White Heat.

When I first got into boats back in the very late `70's I remember some of the very first OB tunnels like the Midwest Klampon-Kai and Ed Hughey's OB tunnel.

I think that Dave Homer still has a 3-D mono with a K&B .21 in it. His boats would barrel-roll all the time but keep on going.

I'm old enough to remember when things like ESC's and pistol-grip radios were the newest things. You weren't anybody unless you had a Kraft radio or you could build your own from a Heathkit kit.
 
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Got bored with C/L and my Falcon 56 and built a Dumas DV10 about '75, that lead to a glass DV20 with a Supertiger 21, discovered hydros and built a Hughey 40 with a K&B 6.5 and about '78 a Gator '40 after seeing John Ackermans' acticle in Flying Models.

A buddy and I went to the '79 Indy Unlimited to try and race it, but at 19 I didn't have a clue what I was doing, remember Don Bilski helping a lot. Almost couldn't afford the gas to get his '70 GTO back to Ottawa! :lol:

Here's some "retro" boats from Jack Lawbaugh:

https://www.intlwaters.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=166
 
Nice pictures Terry and Phil.

I like the pictures that you have of John Bridge's geared twin. For those that never had a chance to see it run, you sure missed something awesome. I remember that when that boat would start, everyone would stop and move to the shoreline to watch. The sound that it made with the geared motors to single drive shaft was the coolest thing I have ever heard in model boating. We will probably never see or here anything like that again.

I'll have to tell my dad to dig up his old pictures from the late 60's (before outriggers) and get them converted to digital so he can post them one day.
 
Really cool pictures guys, thanks for sharing- Neat thread !!!

Anybody got any more of this with maybe the cowl off ??

Marty ?? - share any stories about it ?

I would really like to see the lay down engine design....

https://www.intlwaters.com/gallery/displayimage...=166&pos=15

Phil those JVS Hydro's look pretty cool too- how did they run ??

https://www.intlwaters.com/gallery/displayimage...=116&pos=19

That can of Missile Mist in the background shore brings back some memories of dad at the flying field...

Andy
 
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Mike Betke said:
Nice pictures Terry and Phil. I like the pictures that you have of John Bridge's geared twin. For those that never had a chance to see it run, you sure missed something awesome. I remember that when that boat would start, everyone would stop and move to the shoreline to watch. The sound that it made with the geared motors to single drive shaft was the coolest thing I have ever heard in model boating. We will probably never see or here anything like that again.

I'll have to tell my dad to dig up his old pictures from the late 60's (before outriggers) and get them converted to digital so he can post them one day.
Click to expand...

That'd be great Mike, I'd really like to see what was going on in the 60's. Ron Walker came to Flint maybe 15 years ago with a geared twin (Black Rushin' IIRC), you're right, what a sound! :D
 
Mike Betke said:
Nice pictures Terry and Phil. I like the pictures that you have of John Bridge's geared twin. For those that never had a chance to see it run, you sure missed something awesome. I remember that when that boat would start, everyone would stop and move to the shoreline to watch. The sound that it made with the geared motors to single drive shaft was the coolest thing I have ever heard in model boating. We will probably never see or here anything like that again.

I'll have to tell my dad to dig up his old pictures from the late 60's (before outriggers) and get them converted to digital so he can post them one day.
Click to expand...
Yes the "Special Brew Racing Crew" John Bridge, Tim Reiss, (I think). and Ron Walker (standing on a big step ladder) driving "The Black Rushin". Those guys certainly got everyone's attention. Imagine a twin geared together through "stacks" LOUD!!!! :) First race I ever went to was in Flint. Here is this guy starting a boat with a car starter and a 90 deg. drive on the end.. LOL.. running an eight channel Kraft radio and using every channel to control something on the boat :) Mixture, crankcase pressure, the wing on the back etc etc. Gearing two engines together on a half inch drive shaft..The thing was something jus shy of 25 pounds. LOL

Notice the beverages on the table. :)
 
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I wish I had pictures. I remember my uncles Northwind mono and the 1.6 million pieces it took to build a Wingding.
 
I've only seen one 'rigger with a lay-down engine. A Gentleman named Jim Wilson who lived up here in Paw Paw during the summer and wintered in Vero Beach, FL had boats that were all works of art. Some of the older people from the Orlando Culvert Dodgers may have remembered him.

At the time he was trying to break that magic 100 MPH barrier as the record was only around 96 at the time. Jim felt that laying down the engine in the tub would further streamline the boat.
 
Ahh, for the old days... My first boat was a wood Dumas DV-20 with a now very rare K&B 15S. Gary Girvin set up the drive line on that, a Hughey flex cable w/a Hughey mono prop. Hey, it ran... My first race boat was a 36" 3D mono with a K&B Torp 40. What I didn't know at the time (remember the old Hobby Shack 3-chanels w/the EK-logictrol servos?) was that was way too much boat for the radio. Upgraded to the Futaba gold box wheel, and a used rear rotor Torp 40. Little did I know then the 4049 carb on that thing was going to be a long-term possession.. Then I bought an airplane version of the K&B 6.5. First time I ran the boat with that engine it scared the bleep outa me. Was more out of the water than in it.

OK I figured back then, I need a bigger boat. Had enough power, just had to make sure I could control it.. In came a 42" Ruff-Stuff. Overbuilt the bleep out of it... Thing came in at 15 pounds, but for the racing we done at the time (20-30 minute offshore heats) it worked out quite well. Bought a mod engine from a club member (K&B 6.5 case, OPS 40 lower end) and that ol' thing became quite competitive.. That boat took 2nd at the '78 Flint Internats.. (David Preusse ought to remember I was the one chasing him all day..lol) Still remember the day at Houghton Lake when that engine blew up.. Someone turned on another radio.. Full bore out of the lake 10 feet in the air and 40 feet onshore..

Got one of the first 42" Ruff-Stuff SS hulls out of the mold, and a new K&B 7.5. The SS hulls had a very nasty habit of torque rolling in the corners.. Still remember the Baltimore club coming to our race with the 60 sized SS hulls.. Ran like hell in the straights, but had to literally idle through the turns. I figured out how to fix it... That boat would give the 60's a good race. Had a pretty good 20 boat at the time, too.. A Gary Girvin design (of which I took the rocker out of the bottom.. he wondered why mine was faster than his...lol) with an OPS 21. Thing ran great with .040 head clearance..(who knew better?)

Got out of boats for awhile, then I came back w/ the boat Ron recalls.. That was a Boatech hull w/the K&B 3.5. That thing was amazing.. For awhile my $150 boat was routinely beating $250 engines.. Kept tweaking this and that and there was one day in GR I won a special award for "best wipe-out"...

Nowadays I still have a 20 mono and a couple tunnels, but I haven't been active in several years. I kinda long for the days when technology wasn't so important in whether or not you had a good day racing..
 
I was Jim Wilson's northern driver in those years.. We went to the Indy Unlimited a few years with his designs. His idea was to mount the engine between the front sponson booms, and have the fuel tank at the CG. One year at Indy was particularly memorable.. Very windy day, boats were just doing the minimum to stay alive. We had Jim's rigger w/an OPS 65 entered. Started the heat in third place.. Two laps in the second place boat dumped.. Jim kept telling me open it up, open it up, its designed for this water.. I was too scared to, however I cracked it open a little, and got within striking distance of the lead boat. About a lap later the lead boat gave up lane one and I got inside.. opened it just enough to get past and held on for the win... After it was done Jim said just for grins open it up.. I told him i'm getting this in alive... That was probably the most fun I ever had racing..

Ron it was Ed Hughey that had the lay-down 20 rigger... Remember Ric Carpenter? His "Bouy Magnet" was the same way...
 
My first rc boat was a Dumas Hot Shot tunnel full bow no pickle fork, K&B 3.5 O.B. w/ exhaust throttle, had no idea what i was doin (so whats changed?) Cal Lange invited me to his little shop and he installed the radio for me as i watched. Cal and a great guy named Charlie Lockett are responsible for getting me hooked on this great hobby. Then i built a little PAYNPAK. Put a K&B 3.5 I.B. in it. Then a Hughey tunnel, you know...the one with the wood center section and the hard coated foam sponsons...Then a 20 coyote stick kit..57.00$ brand new! Then a 45 coyote,man i shook a little everytime i ran that thing!!Lotsa guys ran K&B's cause they were cheap! Still have my first radio, a tan box, 2 stick Futaba on 27 band, still works as good as the day i got it! Still remember my first Internats (IMPBA back then) my first Winternats, my first trophy,gettin thrown in the water by Larry Beals! God, i remember when 20 boats in a class at the Winternats was a low turnout! Im thinkin about buildin a Dragon Fly 20 kit that i have and stickin a K&B 3.5 I.B.,the one that came with a "can" muffler, in it...wonder if i still have any Jimmy Gale props that would work...What a wonderful hobby!
 
I still have a box of JG props from the old days. Tom Daniels showed me the speed secret to those (taking out all the wedge). I bet if you still had an old subsurface 45 mono, set the strut depth 3/8" and slap on an I25X prepared right, it would still hit 50..
 
Ok, Garrett,

Got me thinkin, I'll have to dig through my mom's books for pix!

My first boat was a White Heat about 1974 B) Turned out a little heavy like a tank, but it did float!!! I think I ended up using it as a work bench.

I then graduated to a Hughey round nose hydro, anyone remember the old dial a prop?

Indy east side at "just add water" those were the days

gh
 
Does anyone remember the CLAIMJUMPER hydros? Those things looked fast just sittin on the stand! Also remember Sightler monos being a very good boat..had a 40, but just didnt know how to set it up.....how about the poorer guys (like me) takin a K&B 3.5 airplane engine, makin a 180 degree header(thank God for brass fittings and silver solder) screwin a water cooled head on it, and go racing! Oh yeah and puttin an Octura flywheel on it! Thats what i ran in my 20 coyote for years!Octura Tomcat wood tunnel..still got it and could run it right now.Remember mini pipes on hydros? 7 hydros in a heat with those pipes would get your attention! Ive still got issues of Flying Models Magazine that go back to 1969....Lots of good memories.The thing i remember about all the hydros back then was how loose they ran on the water compared to nowadays. Made for some mighty exciting moments!
 
My first boat, built in 1978. You think the new tunnel’s blow over easily in the wind, this one would blow over sitting dead in the water and it liked to a complete barrel rolls just off buoy 2.

DonB
 

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