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Gene Berger taught me how to drive an r/c model submarine.
Gene Berger was the guy, working as Editor, who morphed the SubCommittee Report from a rather amateurish looking newsletter into the slick, professionally arranged magazine it is today.
Gene Berger's my friend (God help him!).
Gene Berger has convinced me that the best way to access the interior of the Revell 1/72 GATO is through the superstructure -- as so many others have done with limited success. Gene's twist -- that makes that access arrangement so easy to fabricate and use -- is use of two transverse bulkheads up forward that make up, either side of the kits bow radial break line. Two capture-indexing pins-holes between the two bow bulkheads capture the superstructure onto the hull forward. A single screw back aft holds the stern of the superstructure down onto the deck. This eliminates the much dreaded task of sawing longitudinal breaks at the waterline, either side of the hull -- good news for those wishing to r/c this excellent plastic model kit.
A big innovation, which eliminates much of the clutter atop the SD with my version, is the mounting of the long-running bow plane pushrod and retract mechanism torque tube into the top of the superstructure, up and out of the way -- the interface between those linkage elements, and the SD below in the hull, made through magnets that make up to the SD pushrods. Only tool involved in assemble/disassembly is a screw driver. Things go together as if by magic ... the magic of magnetism (thank you, Brian Stark!).
Oh, and turning the system on and off is done with the hull elements assembled, through a reach-rod on deck that works a magnet in proximity to a reed switch -- a reed-switch controlling a latching type high-current relay that forms a series switch between the battery and power cables that feed the ESC and other devices. Next to the relay is a 10 A fuse. All this stuff on an aluminum tray that fits above the battery in the forward dry space. Neat!
Gene and I took his beast out for its first in-water run this afternoon. It was a beautiful day and we operated at a local industrial park that has a nice body of water with good access. The model ran great! Owing to his installing too much of the foam above waterline, the boat would only go decks awash when flooded down, so it took a bit of speed to get the shears below the surface. Tonight he's repositioning the foam, and that should fix that.
No damage, and the boat worked fine.
And now, as to the GATO fittings kits I produce for Caswell: I'm seriously thinking of adding the parts needed by our customers to access their GATO hulls, much as what Gene has done. I'm sold!
Gene Berger was the guy, working as Editor, who morphed the SubCommittee Report from a rather amateurish looking newsletter into the slick, professionally arranged magazine it is today.
Gene Berger's my friend (God help him!).
Gene Berger has convinced me that the best way to access the interior of the Revell 1/72 GATO is through the superstructure -- as so many others have done with limited success. Gene's twist -- that makes that access arrangement so easy to fabricate and use -- is use of two transverse bulkheads up forward that make up, either side of the kits bow radial break line. Two capture-indexing pins-holes between the two bow bulkheads capture the superstructure onto the hull forward. A single screw back aft holds the stern of the superstructure down onto the deck. This eliminates the much dreaded task of sawing longitudinal breaks at the waterline, either side of the hull -- good news for those wishing to r/c this excellent plastic model kit.
A big innovation, which eliminates much of the clutter atop the SD with my version, is the mounting of the long-running bow plane pushrod and retract mechanism torque tube into the top of the superstructure, up and out of the way -- the interface between those linkage elements, and the SD below in the hull, made through magnets that make up to the SD pushrods. Only tool involved in assemble/disassembly is a screw driver. Things go together as if by magic ... the magic of magnetism (thank you, Brian Stark!).
Oh, and turning the system on and off is done with the hull elements assembled, through a reach-rod on deck that works a magnet in proximity to a reed switch -- a reed-switch controlling a latching type high-current relay that forms a series switch between the battery and power cables that feed the ESC and other devices. Next to the relay is a 10 A fuse. All this stuff on an aluminum tray that fits above the battery in the forward dry space. Neat!
Gene and I took his beast out for its first in-water run this afternoon. It was a beautiful day and we operated at a local industrial park that has a nice body of water with good access. The model ran great! Owing to his installing too much of the foam above waterline, the boat would only go decks awash when flooded down, so it took a bit of speed to get the shears below the surface. Tonight he's repositioning the foam, and that should fix that.
No damage, and the boat worked fine.
And now, as to the GATO fittings kits I produce for Caswell: I'm seriously thinking of adding the parts needed by our customers to access their GATO hulls, much as what Gene has done. I'm sold!
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