Questions

[crosseyeddreamer]

I just gotta ask some questions and I hope somebody can help me. I live in Montana and near as I can tell there are only maybe 6 airboats in the whole state. I have never seen one or ridden on one but in a moment of well , possible insanity , I had an involuntary finger muscle spasm on an ebay bid button and now I own one. Can you run up a river with a little whitewater in those things? Does water a couple feet deep mess you up?
And then the power thing, my boat has no motor but a cage rudders etc. Its a dinky little aircat airboat, maybe 6 feet wide and 8 feet long , how much (hp) is too much? Thanks for any suggestions

 

[Anonymous]

you know, I was just talking smack about Airboat World, but in the March issue, there is an article about a river rescue airboat. It is shown handling some pretty rough waters.

There is also a story about a couple who rode an airboat from North Carolina to Florida down the coast.

I think you just have to adjust your driving skills to the rough waters, and a great bilge pump don't hurt either!

 

[cntry141iq]

If taht is the aircat built by COMBEE airboats, it doesn't have a flat bottom in the front. It is like a catamaran style. it turns instead of sliding and you can actually screw the bow under water. If that should happen dont panic at first ... just give it rudder the otherway from what you just did and stand on the throttle and hang on it usually will recover your nerves may not however. That hull is not good for running dry ground but works good in the water. There is another type of boat called an aircat that is more like a conventional airboat hull. Good luck and welcome to airboating ... get your wallet ready cause the fun has just begun.

 

[crosseyeddreamer]

Thanks for the reply,, I actually do have about 50 zillion more questions though. Maybe somebody could advise me about horsepower?thrust/speed.
This particular airboat is a flat bottomed glass boat six feet wide and eight feet long. It was designed to take a v.w motor. The problem as I see it is v.w. motors are pretty crumby, at least that has been my experience with dune buggys. Instead I was thinking about mounting a 582 rotax with a three blade composite variable speed prop. According to a couple of pilots I talked to they say the static thrust produced would be about three times what the v.w motor would produce. They said I might have a tiger by the tail. Then I was reading about torque spinnings some boats on take off so I have some concerns. On the other hand on regular sized airboats they are running 850 hp nitrous assist with no apparent self induced suicides. So , the question remains, how much is enough power how much is too much? I don't really plan on "running dry" but I hate to think I would get stranded on a mud bar due to lack of power. any suggestions? thanks

 

[marshmaster pat]

There is a hunt camp near by that has a small airboat like that. Passenger and driver sit real low. They have a 5?? rotax with a 3 blade composite and it works real nice. It is surprising how well it runs, will run across lawns or cow pastures. However, it will not run through the marsh grasses we have here.

Take a look at weights for VW engines and that should give you an idea of what amount of weight you can place in the back of your rig. I would not think that a small rotax will produce that much torque, remember they are running them on ultralights and serious torque on those aluminum frames would cause metal fatigue real fast.

I would just park it on shallow water the first few times, unless you have a couple of hands to help it off mudflats. You will get a hang of where and where not to go. Remember, mud can form a suction on the bottom of the hull, so keep that in mind as you start running her. Good Luck

 

[Daddy Dave]

Country says: "get your wallet ready cause the fun"

Look at the tread histories here and the choices of rigs for sale on Airboattrader.com and you will see your questions are basic.

Good luck. Old Indian Airboater say,"much horsepower heap big headache for Young Brave"