Who makes this tunnel?

[Tuscan67]

Hello all,

Who makes this full carbon fiber .21 tunnel? Looks like very well built (almost autoclave quality) carbon fiber with detachable sponsoons. Any experts on this setup?

-Eric

View attachment 22

 

[Hammerhead]

send me the url where you found this pic. I will research it.

Hammer

 

[Tuscan67]

Thanks Hammer,

I can send you the pic, it's in actually my house. I inherited theses boats from an uncle who raced a lot in the 80s, 90s, but has retired - in Australia. Passed me these boats before he moved.

That's one of the first Rossi outboards you see in the back. circa 1994. I've seen Hoppers, Maus, Leecraft, even Aeromarine Predators and Prather Lap Cats, but have not ever seen this hull before, surely someone recognises this?

 

[Jerry Dunlap]

Well, I've seen a few model tunnels and I sure don't recognize this one :-. I would suspect it is an original design. Actually, according to the tunnel boat rules in the NAMBA rule book - this isn't a tunnel boat.

Jerry Dunlap

 

[Ron Olson]

I think that I've got it! It looks like a Protheus hull (sp.) that was in an old RCBM Buyers Guide back at least 4-5 years ago. I'll have to dig up an old issue to see if I can find out some more info. If my fading memory serves, it had adjustable sponsons. I'll have to do some digging to see what else I can find out about it.

 

[Ron Olson]

Hey, it didn't take long after you piqued my curiosity. It was in the January 1996 issue Buyer's Guide. On page 34, the ad says "Proteus 3.5 tunnel--Constructed of aerospace-grade vacuum-bagged carbon-fiber/epoxy, this boat is sure to turn heads at the pond. The Proteus was computer designed for today's high-power 3.5cc engines. Additional features include: adjustable sponson angle, sponson dihedral, offset and tunnel width. This 31-inch tunnelhull weighs only 2 pounds dry! This racing hull's finish is pinhole free and ready to paint or run "as-is" with the beautiful carbon-fiber finish". The hull was made by AE Composites and retailed for $399.00. The picture also shows the motor with the AE carbon-fiber pipe mounted on it.

 

[Ron Olson]

Okay, one more thing then I'll shut up (yeah,right). Here's the address of the maker, I don't know if he is in business yet or not:

AE Composites

1326 S. Worth Ave.

Indianapolis, IN 46241

phone/fax (317) 486-8460

 

[Tuscan67]

Thank you very much Ron. I've seen this boat run way ahead of the other boats when it was in action a few years ago. I know it probably isn't legal in conventional rulebook classes, but it's mostly 'run what you brought' here. Should be fun to resurrect this!

 

[TomMoorehouse]

now i remember... marty davis sold that boat on rcboat.com

 

[FastFreddy]

I found this while searching for carbon fiber stuff. I knew I saw this in a post here

http://rcboat.com/antaec.htm