Cobra gas boat

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  • greenman407
    Admiral
    • Feb 2009
    • 7530

    Cobra gas boat

    Back in 1994 I purchased this boat from a Florida company called International RC. The owner John Mellis has since died and so did the company. It was truly ready to run with the hardware manfg. on site.
    Click image for larger version

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    The hull is a Aeromarine 50" Apache deep vee. He installed in it a 30cc Homelite 2 cycle gas engine that he marinized.
    Click image for larger version

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    I still have the boat but have recently re-engined.
    Click image for larger version

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ID:	99988 Here is the old Homelite that he hopped up for me.
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    Here is a view without the tuned pipe that normally sticks out the hole. You can see the fully adjustable outdrive and Octura rudder. More pictures and videos later.
    Last edited by greenman407; 11-18-2011, 10:29 AM.
    IT TAKES GREAT INTELLIGENCE TO FAKE SUCH STUPIDITY!
  • greenman407
    Admiral
    • Feb 2009
    • 7530

    #2
    The new engine is a Zenoah, surprisingly light and small but built much better.Click image for larger version

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ID:	58574 In this shot you can make out the clutch thats mounted on the output shaft end. The prop is so large on these things that you dont have to worry about cavitation so much that you have to launch it. You can just set it down in the water and slowly apply the gas and the clutch engages smoothly and you can either hammer it or just putt putt away as you choose.
    Last edited by greenman407; 11-18-2011, 10:30 AM.
    IT TAKES GREAT INTELLIGENCE TO FAKE SUCH STUPIDITY!

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    • greenman407
      Admiral
      • Feb 2009
      • 7530

      #3
      This engine comes with a kill switch circuit that I wired up to a servo and a micro switch and I use a third channel to kill it when I am ready. That can come in handy if you have a breakdown and the boat is way out there and its just sitting there running and overheating , or it has flipped with the water cooling pickup tube out of the water. Just reach over to your radio and kill it.
      IT TAKES GREAT INTELLIGENCE TO FAKE SUCH STUPIDITY!

      Comment

      • greenman407
        Admiral
        • Feb 2009
        • 7530

        #4
        Click image for larger version

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ID:	58631 Here are some better pictures of the boat.Click image for larger version

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ID:	58630 You can clearly see in the one picture the trim tabs that I installed to keep the boat from chine walking at speed. You fine tune these tabs to get the kind of ride that you want. Aeromarine also makes a 55" Apache , a little bit longer and wider so that you can install twins if you like. Notice the ventilation holes that I cut in the upper deck. Out of view is the turn fin that helps give the boat some leverage in a turn.
        Last edited by greenman407; 12-30-2010, 05:27 PM.
        IT TAKES GREAT INTELLIGENCE TO FAKE SUCH STUPIDITY!

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        • greenman407
          Admiral
          • Feb 2009
          • 7530

          #5
          When I recieved the engine it didnt come with a exhaust header and the one off of the Homelite wouldnt fit so it was off to Homedepot. There I purchased a copper 3/4" elbow. I took it to work and made a flat plate with the bolt pattern to fit the head and brazzed them together. In service it quickly melted the hose that joined the tuned pipe to it(in a cloud of smoke). So it was back to work where I brazzed in a nipple to run cooling water into it and turned the boat into a wet exhaust system. It works well. You just need to pick the boat up out of the water while its still running and let it expell the water in the system first , then shut it off. Otherwise the water will go into the cylinder.
          Last edited by greenman407; 12-30-2010, 05:27 PM.
          IT TAKES GREAT INTELLIGENCE TO FAKE SUCH STUPIDITY!

          Comment

          • greenman407
            Admiral
            • Feb 2009
            • 7530

            #6
            Im getting in the mood to run these boats again. Nathan I think is old enough to take some halfway decent video of the event. SOON!
            IT TAKES GREAT INTELLIGENCE TO FAKE SUCH STUPIDITY!

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            • greenman407
              Admiral
              • Feb 2009
              • 7530

              #7
              This video shows some operations back in 2008 before the addition of the Zenoah motor. Its much , much faster and more reliable now. Two pulls and she starts right up.
              Operating a International RC 55" Apache with watercooled Homelite 30CC engine. This video was taken in Clearwater Florida in 2008
              IT TAKES GREAT INTELLIGENCE TO FAKE SUCH STUPIDITY!

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              • greenman407
                Admiral
                • Feb 2009
                • 7530

                #8
                This video shows a Balky motor that was soon to be replaced. I didnt know that I was being filmed by my video voyeur wife.
                I wasnt aware that this video was being taken by my wife. Its kind of long but well illustrates that when something goes wrong , grim determination sometimes...
                IT TAKES GREAT INTELLIGENCE TO FAKE SUCH STUPIDITY!

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                • greenman407
                  Admiral
                  • Feb 2009
                  • 7530

                  #9
                  I pulled it out last weekend, and dumped out the old gas and put in new. I then re-familiarized myself with the radio that operates it and started it up. At that point I noticed that the water pump would not work despite all my efforts to prime it. So I ordered a new one from Warehouse hobbies. This weekend I will install the pump and will endeavore to get it in the water.http://www.whhonline.com/Default.asp
                  IT TAKES GREAT INTELLIGENCE TO FAKE SUCH STUPIDITY!

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                  • greenman407
                    Admiral
                    • Feb 2009
                    • 7530

                    #10
                    Ofcourse we could always double up and put a twin in it.
                    Click image for larger version

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                    IT TAKES GREAT INTELLIGENCE TO FAKE SUCH STUPIDITY!

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                    • greenman407
                      Admiral
                      • Feb 2009
                      • 7530

                      #11
                      Today my son Nathan shot this video of me running my Apache. What do you think?
                      IT TAKES GREAT INTELLIGENCE TO FAKE SUCH STUPIDITY!

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                      • greenman407
                        Admiral
                        • Feb 2009
                        • 7530

                        #12
                        At the end of the video, you probably saw that I shut off the boat using the kill switch by remote control. The down side to that is that the water circulating thru the head sprays into the exhaust to cool it. When you stop it abruptly like that the water then dumps into the cylinder. NOT GOOD. What im supposed to do is go down to the water and while the engine is still running, pick the boat up out of the water and let it continue running until all the water in the cooling circuit has been pushed thru. I got the boat home and found that my efforts at pull starting it was met with a hydraulic lock. So I pulled out the spark plug and dryed it and pulled the rope until all the water that I could expell had been so expelled. I then reinstalled the plug and it took about 15 pulls before it would start. Even then, after it started the engine was balky. It took about a minute of running to clear it all out.
                        IT TAKES GREAT INTELLIGENCE TO FAKE SUCH STUPIDITY!

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                        • greenman407
                          Admiral
                          • Feb 2009
                          • 7530

                          #13
                          If your going to be running model boats youll need to get you one of these for sure.
                          Click image for larger version

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                          IT TAKES GREAT INTELLIGENCE TO FAKE SUCH STUPIDITY!

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                          • greenman407
                            Admiral
                            • Feb 2009
                            • 7530

                            #14
                            And it also helps to have a willing, smiling, dead boat retreaval person such as my son Nathan. He also is my Video taker.
                            Click image for larger version

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                            IT TAKES GREAT INTELLIGENCE TO FAKE SUCH STUPIDITY!

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                            • greenman407
                              Admiral
                              • Feb 2009
                              • 7530

                              #15
                              A little further on the water cooling. In the video you can see me pick up the boat and sit it in the water and watch it. Im waiting for the water to be picked up by the waterpump and discharge it out the exhaust. I made the mistake of not doing that one time and it cost me an engine.
                              IT TAKES GREAT INTELLIGENCE TO FAKE SUCH STUPIDITY!

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