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Dockside

Radio Control Boat Modeler, Apr 1999

Crackerbox Wood I read your mag all the time and am avid boater. I just bought the plans for Jerry Dunlap's 1/4-scale gas Crackerbox and plan to build it this winter. After looking them over and checking with my local hobby shop, I can't find wood in the lengths that are called for on the plans. The longest pieces are shown as one 50-inch-long piece. Where can I get plywood and other types of wood in this length without special ordering? This is my first scratch-built boat, and I need all the help I can get. Edward F. Drock Jr. Canandaigua, NY Ed, Jerry Dunlap lives in Tacoma, WA, and uses a local marine-grade plyood supplier. A couple of companies might be belpful: try Harbor Sales Co. (aka America's Aircraft Plywood Center), 1000 Harbor Ct., Sudlrvillc, MD 21668-1818; (800) 345-1712.

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I get my big sheets of plywood from Aircraft Spruce and Specialty Co., (800) 824-1930 (Corona, CA) and (800) 831-2949 (Griffin, GA); frw.aircraft-spmc.com. Hope this helps. GY Titanic Plans Do you know of a source for an R/C model of the HMS Titanic? Any scale would be OK, as I can enlarge the plans to the size I want. [email] John T. Murphy John, since the movie came out the Titanic has become a bot modeling topic. I know of a few scale projects of the ill-fated liner that are under way. The only set of plans that I know of is a French set that builds into a 36-inch-long model and is available from Abe Taubman Plans Service. Abe has an illustrated plans catalog and can be reached at 11 College Dr., #4G, Jersey City, NJ 07305. Good luck on your building voyage! GY Boat Wants to Fly I just ran my boat for the first time. It's a 20-inch flat-bottom Skee Daddle from Dumas. The engine is a 3.5cc OPS with a straight, solid-shaft drive. The boat ran great with one exception; the bow just would not stay down at full speed. At first, I thought it was just because the water had small ripples that caused the boat to bounce, but later, when I ran it on glasssmooth water, it did the same thing. If I gave it full throttle, the boat looked as if it wanted to jump completely out of the water after only a few feet. Is this caused by the bow's being too light? Would adding weight up front help? I also have trim tabs that stick out about 3/4 of an inch off the stem. The tabs are flush with the bottom of the hull. If I bent them down into the water a little, would that help? I would appreciate any setup tips that you can give me. Rich Garbarino San Francisco, CA Rich, yes your boat trim problem does sound like a nose-light condition. But instead of adding weight to your model, try to reposition the weight that is already in the bull (radio gear, batteries, etc.) and see what happens. This will not change the weight so it will not affect overall speed The trim tabs can also be used to help keep the nose down, but keep the trim changes small as too much down-trim plate angle will slow the boat as well Your last resort should be to add dead weight. Don't give up; a well-trimmed boat is a pleasure to drive and is always faster than the outof-trim type. GY More Outboards Please! I just read your O.S. Max .21MX review in the February 1998 issue and liked the information given very much. I am wondering, however, whether you plan to publish more articles specific to outboard powered boats. I am an OPC tunnelhull nut and would really like to see more information on the subject. Keep up the good work Jim Downing Pawling, NY Jim, I have just finished speaking with "Mr. Outboard" himself, Jerry Dunlap, and be has agreed to write a column about outboards. "Outboard Corner" will start in the June 1999 issue and will appear in alternate issues. Jery has been involved in outboards and tunnelbull modeling for manyyears and has much experience and information to share. Stay tuned! GY JI

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Dockside

Radio Control Boat Modeler, Apr 1999

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