Hydroflight
Active member
Time to grow,and deferring to the experts for advice on some of my challenges. In 1978 I built my first Air boat. I built it off the recommendation of Banks Maxwell (Propeller Manufacturer who sold to Askey). I built a aluminum hull 6061 T6 fully welded. The hull size was 16 foot long with a 54 inch bottom and 18 inch gunnel's. I live in Oregon and the terrain I ran it over included deep water, mud, tree stumps, steel fence posts, rocks, and submarined it once. After 28 years of this abuse the boat still runs like a champ. Never being able to leave it alone I have reconfigured the seating arrangement four times and rebuilt the motor twice including turbocharged. After all the changes over the years I found the stock corvair engine with the nitrided (turbo) crank, compression dropped to 8.5,, and stock 1965 carbs to work the best. I continue to run the Banks Maxwell prop 60 inch diameter at 28 degree pitch (noisy) but effective when turning above 3000 rpm's. This boat allowed me to collect more duck and geese bands that any of my hunting friends over the years. The problem is things are changing in Oregon, we have a lot of people canoeing, the noise is objectionable to our law enforcement community, and I am unable to run dry ground!!!
Time to grow: I clearly understand after reading numerous posts on Southern Airboat you guys are the experts. Based on the information in the majority of posts I believe the GPU 220 to best the best choice for a power plant (which I purchased last week). The best choice for a prop would be the 72 inch Sensenich two blade Q (which I have not purchased at this time). Down to my main concern which I hope you guys can help me with. I need to choose a hull which I can run deep water chop as well as dry ground. Due to the issues I mentioned above I must run a minimum of 200 feet from the bank when running on the major waterways here in Oregon. This places me in water over 200 feet deep with 3 foot swells to get to my hunting spots.
I purchased a special rapid runner hull which is designed to race upstream over rocks and small waterfalls. The hull is made of Kevlar and weighs about 800 pounds. I am concerned since the bottom width is only 60 inches with sides flaired out to 80 inches, the length is 16 feet, and gunnel's are 20 inches ( I am concerned the boat may be top heavy with the 220 and a 60 inch wide bottom). This is where I hope your continued expertise can help me. We have a very limited choice of hulls here in Oregon. What type of hull would best suit my needs with the aforementioned power plant? Any advice would be sincerely appreciated.
Time to grow: I clearly understand after reading numerous posts on Southern Airboat you guys are the experts. Based on the information in the majority of posts I believe the GPU 220 to best the best choice for a power plant (which I purchased last week). The best choice for a prop would be the 72 inch Sensenich two blade Q (which I have not purchased at this time). Down to my main concern which I hope you guys can help me with. I need to choose a hull which I can run deep water chop as well as dry ground. Due to the issues I mentioned above I must run a minimum of 200 feet from the bank when running on the major waterways here in Oregon. This places me in water over 200 feet deep with 3 foot swells to get to my hunting spots.
I purchased a special rapid runner hull which is designed to race upstream over rocks and small waterfalls. The hull is made of Kevlar and weighs about 800 pounds. I am concerned since the bottom width is only 60 inches with sides flaired out to 80 inches, the length is 16 feet, and gunnel's are 20 inches ( I am concerned the boat may be top heavy with the 220 and a 60 inch wide bottom). This is where I hope your continued expertise can help me. We have a very limited choice of hulls here in Oregon. What type of hull would best suit my needs with the aforementioned power plant? Any advice would be sincerely appreciated.