Not a plane, but... Airboat!

Arcfyre

Elite member
So I've been tooling around wanting an airboat. Why? Not sure. But I wanted one. So I reused the powerpod from my worn out explorer and built up an airboat hull based on some images from Google.

Simple construction, one sheet of DTFB for the hull. Painted with Rust-Oleum to keep the water from softening the foam too much. I'd call it water resistant, not so much water proof. Added some skewers on the bottom of the hull to help with tracking.

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The rudder is made from a plastic sign from tractor supply. I think it said beware of dog at some point. I bent a long piece of signal flag wire to use as the rudder mount and hot glued it to the surface. Attached a standard FT control horn and a single servo for steering.

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It works amazingly well! I couldn't be happier! Need to move the battery just a little further forward, at full speed the bow seems to catch enough air to almost flip the thing. Manuverability is excellent and it is quite fast! Enjoy the images and video.

 

Ihichi Bolls

Well-known member
That looks like fun. It scoots around pretty good. I should probably make one here as winter is on its way and we are due to get spanked with snow.

You gonna set it up with fpv too?
 

The Hangar

Fly harder!
Mentor
I attempted an airboat at ff 2019 but it didn’t really work. The rudder was too small and the thrust angle was off I think. You did a great job on yours!
 

Arcfyre

Elite member
More pictures please and any thoughts about the build as well

I'll take some more detailed pictures after work today. As for thoughts on the build, it doesn't get much easier. Simple tapered box for the hull, and some supports on the rear end for the rudder assembly. Took Saturday afternoon to build start to finish and most of that time was waiting for paint to dry.
 

SlingShot

Maneuvering With Purpose
I attempted an airboat at ff 2019 but it didn’t really work. The rudder was too small and the thrust angle was off I think. You did a great job on yours!

I missed those at Flite Fest as I left durring the rain. Saw some video and thought it pretty clever 😎
 

Arcfyre

Elite member
Ok guys, Ill add some more pictures too, but I made a quick and dirty set of plans for this boat in case anyone wants to build one. The sheet is formatted as a PDF at 24x36 and all the pieces fit on one page. The only part that is not specifically drawn is the lower part of the rudder mount and the explorer power pod. The rudder mount is made of a few pieces of stacked foam, and the explorer power pod can be found on the explorer plans. Enjoy, and feel free to ask questions.
 

Attachments

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The Hangar

Fly harder!
Mentor
I missed those at Flite Fest as I left durring the rain. Saw some video and thought it pretty clever 😎
Yup - despite the rain it was pretty cool. Me and a buddy actually tried to fly in the rain, but his arrow worked a lot better than my cub😂
 

Arcfyre

Elite member
Detail shot of the lower rudder mount with servo for steering.
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Motor mount stand with power pod holder. The power pod slides in and is secured with skewers.

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Speed controller and RX are attached under the power pod holder to keep them dry in case the boat takes on some water.
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Rudder detail. It's a bent piece of pushrod hot glued to a piece of plastic. The horizontal stabilizer holds the top of the rudder while the bottom support holds the servo.

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Wildthing

Legendary member
So I've been tooling around wanting an airboat. Why? Not sure. But I wanted one. So I reused the powerpod from my worn out explorer and built up an airboat hull based on some images from Google.

Simple construction, one sheet of DTFB for the hull. Painted with Rust-Oleum to keep the water from softening the foam too much. I'd call it water resistant, not so much water proof. Added some skewers on the bottom of the hull to help with tracking.

View attachment 143803

The rudder is made from a plastic sign from tractor supply. I think it said beware of dog at some point. I bent a long piece of signal flag wire to use as the rudder mount and hot glued it to the surface. Attached a standard FT control horn and a single servo for steering.

View attachment 143804 View attachment 143805
It works amazingly well! I couldn't be happier! Need to move the battery just a little further forward, at full speed the bow seems to catch enough air to almost flip the thing. Manuverability is excellent and it is quite fast! Enjoy the images and video.


I don't know if you get snow but thy are fun there also. :)

On mine I added a large spoiler up front , pitch was controlled by a servo and it was mixed into the throttle, the more throttle the more pitch. But still when going fast especially against the wind it can flip them over.

To help seal mine I used Mod Podge Hard Coat