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Unlimiteds Northwest RC Hydroplane Race in Monroe, WA

Had a great day yesterday watching the Unlimiteds Northwest RC Hydroplane group race their 1/7th scale hydro's up in Monroe, WA at Tye Lake. Great weather and water.

I took the opportunity to take loads of notes and to ask anyone who would talk to me about FE (Fast Electric) hydroplanes. It was extremely helpful to chat to people instead of constantly trying to email people. Quicker too.

So now I believe I have a very good idea of all of the electronic and mechanical parts that I have to order. It's going to be expensive though! I'm not done with my orders, but I'm already approaching $1,000.

I'm also just starting the process of roughing out a new RC Hydroplane Construction Manual that I will write while making this manual. Hopefully it will be helpful to any new to the sport. It has been VERY confusing and frustrating to get any sort of start in this, and I'm actively trying to learn. If someone just wanted to know about the sport, there really doesn't seem to be any one place to go. And there is LOADS of jargon, and strange and magical words used, when talking about RC hydroplanes.

I hope to make the process easier for new people wanting to make their own RC hydroplane.

Some pics from yesterday's races:


Mostly I took close-ups of whatever I wanted to learn about... batteries, rudders, ESC's, etc...


Turnigy SK3 Fandrive 3994-850kv motor with a water cooling jacket.


1/7th scale hydro's run the same direction that the big boat run... counter-clockwise. So their rudders are on the right side (starboard) of the transom.








This is a picture of a gas powered hydroplane. Gas boats run the course clockwise, and so have their rudders on the left (port) side of the transom. So do 1/8th scale electrics. Only 1/7th scale electrics run counter-clockwise.



More to come as I start on my own build and on writing the construction manual.



Aloha!




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