got my boat rigged up and took it out. 13x8 ultralite, side by side seating with lycoming 260 and 72" PS Signature. on this ride i was carrying one passenger (220 lbs) with me (160 lbs), 30 gallons of fuel, and about 200 lbs of gear.
i'll start with the good. this boat handles like a 20" Triton bass boat. steady and straight when i wanted it. but when i turned this thing would corner like it was on rails. i did a few "batmo 360's" at about 20 mph and that thing spun around like a top. i took on a little splash of water but didn't even need to turn on the bilge. it never bit or jawed on me at all. never once had to counter-steer. i would not hesitate to let a newbie drive this boat by themself. (of course thats not gonna happen, but if it was somebody elses boat i'd tell them to let the new guy at it!!!) neways, we had a 20 mph south wind. my cruising rpms into the wind was 2200 and with the wind was 1800. seems about normal. now i tested on various dry runs to see what it would handle. first i ran it on a 3 month old saltgrass burn.....no problem. next was tall saltgrass that was breaking over my rake....no problem. finally i ran through a cane break for about 60 yards. the can was literally taller than my cage, probably 15 ft tall. no problem at all. this is what impressed me the most. we hung a boat up in this exact same break a few months ago with a 454 on it, but it was a much larger boat. never got over 2700 rpms on any of the dry runs. quite impressed with the handling of this boat.
now for the bad. get ready Faron.....right out of the box, the boat porpoises, but with a little motor trimming, that will not be a problem. secondly, the paint on my rake got scratched to hell from running the cane and also rubbed off a little just a the midship point where the water breaks. thats it.........
overall, i am thoroughly impressed with this boat. it looks great and handles like a dream. i will have some pics posted next week and am working on the video now. good job American Airboats!!!!
i'll start with the good. this boat handles like a 20" Triton bass boat. steady and straight when i wanted it. but when i turned this thing would corner like it was on rails. i did a few "batmo 360's" at about 20 mph and that thing spun around like a top. i took on a little splash of water but didn't even need to turn on the bilge. it never bit or jawed on me at all. never once had to counter-steer. i would not hesitate to let a newbie drive this boat by themself. (of course thats not gonna happen, but if it was somebody elses boat i'd tell them to let the new guy at it!!!) neways, we had a 20 mph south wind. my cruising rpms into the wind was 2200 and with the wind was 1800. seems about normal. now i tested on various dry runs to see what it would handle. first i ran it on a 3 month old saltgrass burn.....no problem. next was tall saltgrass that was breaking over my rake....no problem. finally i ran through a cane break for about 60 yards. the can was literally taller than my cage, probably 15 ft tall. no problem at all. this is what impressed me the most. we hung a boat up in this exact same break a few months ago with a 454 on it, but it was a much larger boat. never got over 2700 rpms on any of the dry runs. quite impressed with the handling of this boat.
now for the bad. get ready Faron.....right out of the box, the boat porpoises, but with a little motor trimming, that will not be a problem. secondly, the paint on my rake got scratched to hell from running the cane and also rubbed off a little just a the midship point where the water breaks. thats it.........
overall, i am thoroughly impressed with this boat. it looks great and handles like a dream. i will have some pics posted next week and am working on the video now. good job American Airboats!!!!
