1:72 Thor Alfa

[sam reichart]

Just finished printing the dual battery holder for the Alfa. It is made to sit in the bow section and hold two 6v hard case modified-for-in-the-wet batteries to run the OTW control cylinder. The tan shapes are true-to-size representations of the batteries, which are still in shipping. The control arm comes across the top middle of the holder to run the bow planes, which will sit just below the centerline.



Erich

just a quick note, Erich. my Alfa ran perfectly without using the bow planes. I actually used them to hold down the hull.

[eckloss]

Noted, Sam. But in this case, since the servo rod is already in place, might as well use it. Based on what you said I will just use both the stern planes and the bow planes together as one, instead of using one solely for diving.

[Ralph --- SSBN 598]

Do a little planning now while the boat is still in the building stages.

Plan for the extra servo so the Rear planes and Front planes can be ran independently.
Running the rear and front planes off 1 servo will become an adjustment game.

1. Do you run them to operate both up or down at the same time.
Boat moves in water up and down more or less level.
This requires the adjustment of the rear and front planes to move the boat up and down at the same rate at all speeds.

2. Do you run them in opposite directions at the same time.
Boat bow dives or rises extremely fast with little input.
Also dependent on speed the boat, it will rotate in pitch rather fast and if you do not get the control stick back to center or even back past center to stop rotation,
the boat will pitch up or down mostly out of control.

Putting the rear planes on 1 servo and the front planes on a different servo gives you full control of both.

I find operating the front planes for rise and dive and the stern planes for pitch control gives me the best control.
Basically, I adjust the rear planes to level the boat then let the Auto pitch control do the rest.
Then I leisurely rise and dive the boat with the front planes usually using just the trim slider.
Using the stick for big moves.

I have 1 boat where the front planes are fixed in position and I do all the rise and dive with the rear planes.
The bow planes are fixed level with the boat longitudinal center line.

[salmon]

My $.02 worth of thought here, run the bow separate. You may not use the bow that much, but it is nice to have. If you trim your boat positive, you would put a slight down angle on the bow to overcome the positive buoyancy. If it is fixed bow plane then you would be relying on a certain speed in the forward motion to create that level depth. If it is adjustable, then you can change the down angle for the speed you want to go slightly down for faster speeds and greater angle for slower speeds. If your ballast is piston or negative buoyant then it is a different story. The bow can be straight and the piston can make adjustments for depth. For any of these the aft is the leveler.

[eckloss]

Ralph, the OTW cylinder uses two servos in the rear compartment, for planes and rudders, and a totally separate servo in the forward compartment for things like bow planes.

[Ralph --- SSBN 598]

3 servos for planes and rudders.
That works.
You have so many options at hand that you can try all the combinations and find what you like best.
Not a bad setup at all.

Next is to make sure you have the Tx and Rx channels for all the operations you want.
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Now a special note:
I have an Engel's Akula II.
The bow planes are fixed in place.
I have knocked off 1 side or the other almost every outing.
I have even considered removing them because all control is through the rear planes.

The hull is a dry hull so I can not put a through rod on the planes to strengthen them.
I am still running with the front planes on and I am being so much more careful when coming to shore for haul out.
But that does not help when I bump the boat on the work bench and remove the bow plane with ease.

I have
I have boats
with working bow planes.
Fixed bow planes.
Working sail planes.
Fixed sail planes.
With no bow planes (not finished)

They all work well after learning how to trim them during operation.

Now if I use the bow planes to control diving pitch I will use the same control knob or stick to control the rear planes on the fixed bow plane boat.
Basically, I use the same control knob/stick to do the same things with the boat even thought the control surface s are different.
Keeps me from crossing up when running any boat.
Just like the same control knob/stick works the ballast system on all boats.

[eckloss]

Ralph,

I appreciate the kind words. But this is not my first boat by far. Everything is well under control.

...and I, too, have the Akula II. I know exactly what you mean about watching your every move around the boat.

[sam reichart]

Sounds like you are all set then, Erich. I forgot you were using one of Bob's cylinders.
The bow planes on my Alfa had brass rod inserted into them when they were cast, so what I did was solder square brass tubing over them, and then I took the next size up square brass and epoxied them into the upper hull/lower hull through the lip Matt incorporated into that kit. It was a simple matter of aligning the hull, then sliding the two planes into the square tubing (they were set to level). I had one screw in the stern of the boat to hold that part of the upper hull in place.
Having a dry hull definitely is a challenge for that kind of attachment work. But they sure are beautiful models.