Hi all,
Not exactly a
build, as such but here goes!
After another outing grimacing at
Southampton's poor turning circle and zero steering going astern? :(, I decided to act! Another club member at Eastbourne said 'double the rudder size', so I did.
Simple extensions were made from plastic card and simply slipped over the existing rudders and, for ease of fitment, taped in place with electrical insulating tape. Off to the lake again and, oh my, what a result.
The turning circle has nearly halved, even at low speed and, albeit using full rudder, I can steer very sharply port or starboard [at will!!] when going astern.
? I flattened two sets of batteries practising manouevers but got the hang of it in the end. The only thing I can't do is go astern in a straight line. [Any ideas on that, BTW, as the screws are counter-rotating.] A couple of members said that it now looks like I have a 'secret weapon' for the steering contests, which was very kind, but I still have a lot of practising to do!
Anyway, now I have to make a permanent job of things, and have drawn up a basic diagram. The idea is to make the extensions slip over the existing rudders again [taking the hull apart to install completely new rudders would be a pain, as this is an RTR model and wasn't meant to come apart that easiliy], but obviously they'll be glued on this time.
Any comments or suggestions on the design, dimensions etc of the extensions, or what best to make them from, would be very welcome.
Thanks.
Andy G
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