area of expertise

[dun]

When I was a yonker they used to run what we called flatties on the samamish slew from lake samamish to lake washington. Little hydro looking things that you knelt in with huge outboards hanging off the back.
In some ways it was more exciting then watching the unlimiteds.

 

[bbirder]

Diesel mechanic in the military. Since then, construction work, offshore oilfield, charter pilot, flight instructor, small engine shop, operation mgr industrial supply store for 20 yrs, own and operate income tax business last 20.
Enjoy repairing mechanical things and cows in my spare time.

What did/do you fly?

Held Licenses for Single engine land and sea, Multi-engine land, instrument, Instructor.Various small Cessna trainers,c-206,c-210,c-310,QueenAir & KingAir. C-185 floatplane. Most enjoyable job in my career, except the floatplane!

 

[Ol' 243]

Nice looking Hydro, by the way. At what class do you have to use the capsule? I'll PM you with some war stories if that's OK. Maybe I can find an old picture of the "Coastal Express".

Pro Eliminator is as fast as they'll let you go in an open boat, the next class is Pro Mod which requires a capsule. They have a 7.70 rule for open boats, no quicker. My boat will run way quicker than 7.70, they just won't let us for safety reasons. They give you one warning, if you do it again the you are out for the rest of the year. At the last race of the year we always turn it up real good during qualifying and get our one warning. Last year we ran a 7.17 @ 178.

I would love to hear war stories and see pics of your old boat.

Here is a youtube video to give a little idea of what it's like to drive one of these.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoW-vW-HvY0

 

[True Grit Farms]

Nice looking Hydro, by the way. At what class do you have to use the capsule? I'll PM you with some war stories if that's OK. Maybe I can find an old picture of the "Coastal Express".

Pro Eliminator is as fast as they'll let you go in an open boat, the next class is Pro Mod which requires a capsule. They have a 7.70 rule for open boats, no quicker. My boat will run way quicker than 7.70, they just won't let us for safety reasons. They give you one warning, if you do it again the you are out for the rest of the year. At the last race of the year we always turn it up real good during qualifying and get our one warning. Last year we ran a 7.17 @ 178.

I would love to hear war stories and see pics of your old boat.

Here is a youtube video to give a little idea of what it's like to drive one of these.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoW-vW-HvY0

Looks like you run a right handed wheel?

 

[Ol' 243]

Looks like you run a right handed wheel?

Common sense would make you think so, after watching me pull the wheel to the left on launch, but it is a LH turning prop. As the prop turns left it is trying to drag the a$$ end of the boat left, putting left hand rudder into it keeps the nose in line with the tail. The boat actually jumps 8-10 feet to the left on launch, I intentionally point the nose a little to the right initially and then let it drift a little. If you applied no left rudder on launch it would drag the tail around and eventually you'd be running the wrong way down the track.

 

[lavacarancher]

Looks like you run a right handed wheel?

Common sense would make you think so, after watching me pull the wheel to the left on launch, but it is a LH turning prop. As the prop turns left it is trying to drag the a$$ end of the boat left, putting left hand rudder into it keeps the nose in line with the tail. The boat actually jumps 8-10 feet to the left on launch, I intentionally point the nose a little to the right initially and then let it drift a little. If you applied no left rudder on launch it would drag the tail around and eventually you'd be running the wrong way down the track.

Yea, it's called prop steer. It can get so bad that when you whack it you make a sharp left turn. Some of the "elephant ear" props are especially bad about prop steer.

 

[Ol' 243]

Looks like you run a right handed wheel?

Common sense would make you think so, after watching me pull the wheel to the left on launch, but it is a LH turning prop. As the prop turns left it is trying to drag the a$$ end of the boat left, putting left hand rudder into it keeps the nose in line with the tail. The boat actually jumps 8-10 feet to the left on launch, I intentionally point the nose a little to the right initially and then let it drift a little. If you applied no left rudder on launch it would drag the tail around and eventually you'd be running the wrong way down the track.

Yea, it's called prop steer. It can get so bad that when you whack it you make a sharp left turn. Some of the "elephant ear" props are especially bad about prop steer.

^^^^^^ this man knows what he's talkin' about.

 

[True Grit Farms]

That makes sense to me. My boat list to the starboard side because of the torque of a 26" right hand wheel. Your making way more push than torque I would assume? If I was 30 years younger I'd like to water ski behind your boat. I've skied at 87mph and the thrill unbelievable, but I couldn't survive the fall anymore. I'm sure the adrenaline rush is unbelievable when you hit the throttle.

 

[Ol' 243]

I'm sure the adrenaline rush is unbelievable when you hit the throttle.

Not so much anymore, it used to be. I've made so many passes in the last 20 years, it's kinda old hat. I don't do it for the speed anymore, I do it for the competition. It's a game, and the comraderie of competing, and beating guys you've raced with, and against for years. I've made a lot of good friends doing it, it's what we call our "summertime family", my two girls grew up in the pits with my buddies kids and we've all watched em grow up together.

Here is another angle of the other clip I posted earlier, same pass, just taken from a helmet cam.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KXZJzbsXw0