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BLUE LIGHTNING
- Thread starter plumcrazy
- Start date
I would love to see that article ..... but unfortunately 
.
David Wine (Water Walker aka. Power Shift) designed the Blue Lightning drive and I'd love to have one, but they won't sell em.
Maybe with Swampjet out there as a field rep. for them now the development on that drive can continue. I hope so.
Bob, if your listening, I'll take one !!
olf
.David Wine (Water Walker aka. Power Shift) designed the Blue Lightning drive and I'd love to have one, but they won't sell em.
Maybe with Swampjet out there as a field rep. for them now the development on that drive can continue. I hope so.
Bob, if your listening, I'll take one !!
olf
heard of several folks tryin em out and seems they had belt problems but I am not sure on that, maybe swampjet can make that one his missions for the inquiring minds who think they want one.
My interest in the belts is that they're quiet, they don't pass on harmonics like gears, and that changing ratios would be as simple as different pullys and a belt change.
I heard the same thing though .... that the belt on the original design was too small to handle the load on it.
A Blue Lightning would be a sweet way to gear down an A/C engine. They're light and compact.
olf
I heard the same thing though .... that the belt on the original design was too small to handle the load on it.
A Blue Lightning would be a sweet way to gear down an A/C engine. They're light and compact.
olf
Waterthunder
Well-known member
No offense but I don't think air craft guy's with boats under 12ft are going to like them reductions. If you put a gearbox on an aircraft motor your gonna have to start running bigger hulls. In my opinion the belt drive IS NOT the way to go on an aircraft. Think about it right now if you exert 500ft of torque to the prop with a 2to1 belt it will be close to a 1000ft pounds. Your boat will roll on it's side and will not be fun to drive. At least with a gearbox some of the torque is counter acted. Think about this take a 10ft hull with a 180 it runs ok. now put a 540 on it and it will roll till water comes over the edge. It's the same thing as bolting a reduction on a 180. You will love the thrust for running dry but it ain't going to work for racing or a small ride boat. Now on the hill an A/C motor with a reduction will be bad @$$ but that's it. See something else about a A/C reduction nobody has brought up, those tiny 68'' or so props are to small to run with a reduction so when you swing a 80'' prop you will have to run a bigger hull. Them big props realy torque roll. I have been quite about it but I'm surprised nobody has brought it up. The physics are not going your way. Now you will see why it takes a 600HP car motor to run with a strong hoped up O540. It's all physics more power requires more hull, more prop dia, and will torque roll more also your losing efficiency with a torque multiplier. A/C reducted boats are a killer way to go if you run a bigger hull but in my opinion for racing it will actualy slow you down. Why do you think Hoffman went with a DD supercharged boat.
Waterthunder
Well-known member
Them A/C motors are the king of torque. Add a gearbox and you need one heck of a prop and with a big prop you need more hull add more hull you add more weight. A/C motors run good because they are mechanically very simple and specifically designed for their exact application. I feel the A/C motors have two advantages that are not brought up and installing a gearbox on them will cause them to loose both. I guess time well tell but I'm willing to bet the guy with the neat little simple compact light 180 isn't going to be happy running a 80'' three blade wide blade on his hull. Oh ya the more power you make the more the boat run's on it's nose that's another problem them guy's are going to have if they try to race them. Plus the fact when you run a reduction you got to slide the motor forward about a foot. So more thrust and moving the motor forward will make the standard A/C hull plow like there ain't no tomorrow!
Waterthunder
Well-known member
When something works good or efficiently it takes a hell of a lot more to only make a slight improvement. Also certain airboats have 35 years or more of the same exact combination being slightly tweaked every few years and 40 years later it's a great combo. For what Cowboy want's his set up is hard to beat that's why he loves it so much. I myself prefer to go a little faster and haul a bunch more weight this requires a ton of changes. I have been working on the car motor combo for over ten years and I'm finally happy with a car motor. I can't imagine what I will be running 20 years from now but I'm sure it will make what I own now look like a terd! Everthing goes this way when it comes out there is a ton of room for improvment but after decades it becomes so dialed in order to improve it a little takes a bunch of work.
cowboy
Moderator
I hear ya Thunder, and yeah I do dig the boats we have.
I think everyone knows I believe in the Geardrive concept for A/C engines.
When I rode on the first Geardrive boat That Abner had, He stabbed it in the canal, and it jumped strait up. No torque roll.
It would flat skin it back, and went right into that classic deep water palm beach bounce after she was up to some speed. It ran pretty dadgum free, and did not roll up on it's nose.
Of coure we are talking about running in a canal, but usually that's where the worst manners are observed I would think.
It was swinging a 3 balde 78" Falcon, so perhaps your talking about the torque roll that could be expected from the Barn Doors.
Perhaps with all that extra bite, there will be a more pronounced opposite reaction, and those ugly handling monsters will show up then.
Time will tell, as I hear they have two 0550 geardrives hitting the water, and they may be swinging 80" superwide three blades.
At least thats what I heard.
I hear ya on the hull size, and I think they were on to some of that early.
Abners boat was wider, and longer than your normal Palm Beach six cylinder hull.
I hear the ones he's working on now are even larger.
14', but I don't know if they are any wider.
I see the A/C geardrive as the deal for a nasty ride / hunt boat. Not as a replacement for auto engines, on large displacement hulls.
I reckon if Red upgrades from direct drive to deep reducted superwide set-up, he'll have to watch out for the same side effects also.
Geardrive future?
For me?
One day. We got a big 13' Kline, and she's ready for a upgrade in power / thrust output.
wonna these day's.
Perhaps by the time I get around to it, the jury will be most of the way back in on all this geardrive for aircraft stuff.
I still think your rig is one of the baddest boats I can think of.
I think your nut's for selling it.
Later
I think everyone knows I believe in the Geardrive concept for A/C engines.
When I rode on the first Geardrive boat That Abner had, He stabbed it in the canal, and it jumped strait up. No torque roll.
It would flat skin it back, and went right into that classic deep water palm beach bounce after she was up to some speed. It ran pretty dadgum free, and did not roll up on it's nose.
Of coure we are talking about running in a canal, but usually that's where the worst manners are observed I would think.
It was swinging a 3 balde 78" Falcon, so perhaps your talking about the torque roll that could be expected from the Barn Doors.
Perhaps with all that extra bite, there will be a more pronounced opposite reaction, and those ugly handling monsters will show up then.
Time will tell, as I hear they have two 0550 geardrives hitting the water, and they may be swinging 80" superwide three blades.
At least thats what I heard.
I hear ya on the hull size, and I think they were on to some of that early.
Abners boat was wider, and longer than your normal Palm Beach six cylinder hull.
I hear the ones he's working on now are even larger.
14', but I don't know if they are any wider.
I see the A/C geardrive as the deal for a nasty ride / hunt boat. Not as a replacement for auto engines, on large displacement hulls.
I reckon if Red upgrades from direct drive to deep reducted superwide set-up, he'll have to watch out for the same side effects also.
Geardrive future?
For me?
One day. We got a big 13' Kline, and she's ready for a upgrade in power / thrust output.
wonna these day's.
Perhaps by the time I get around to it, the jury will be most of the way back in on all this geardrive for aircraft stuff.
I still think your rig is one of the baddest boats I can think of.
I think your nut's for selling it.
Later
plumcrazy
Well-known member
thunder is right after building my small boat i appreciate the simplicity of the thing it was sort of an experiment , not in looks but function the combo i have has torqe to spare but without prop reduction how can they be made to run at acceptable sound levels so here we go again car motor vs aircraft i have both so lately im a traitor both ways im struggling to find a happy meduim
swing wide swing slow sweet chariot comin for to carry me home ....
Waterthunder
Well-known member
Cowboy it sounds like your gearbox guy's took the added power and thrust into consideration and ran a bigger hull. I will admit in general the A/C guy's do know more about setting up their boats then the car motor guy's and it sounds like they did their homework. I bet if they put that rig in a 12ft boat you wouldn't be as happy. I think the A/C gearbox is cool that means at least one A/C guy is willing to try something different and I look forward to maybe racing them just to see how it works out. HECK who knows maybe it's time to play with a A/C motor. I'm building a DD right now believe it or not. That's funny I'm going backwards to a DD and the A/C guy's are going forward to a gearbox. COOL I just like tinkering and trying something different. I'm just bored with status quos.
Waterthunder
Well-known member
Hey if you guy's are tired of waiting for the Blue Lightning there is a belt drive being used in airplanes that is very light! Much lighter then the Franklin for around 3K http://www.northwest-aero.com I tracked thru the Rover motor post.
Waterthunder
Well-known member
They also have a raised belt and are available in 1.7 to 2.38