Megatech Wicked Angel

[CCC880]

Hi I am seriously considering getting the Megatech Wicked Angel. It can be seen here: http://www.megatech.com/product.php?ID=6801 . Is this a good boat? Should I get it. I dont want to spend much $$ on a boat and I want nitro (under $400 US) and this seems to be the boat to get. Where can I get it for a good price? Thanks!!

[Ron Olson]

I find the 35 MPH a little hard to buy for the boat, most in this size range realistically in the 20-25 MPH range.

[laxmasta2039]

megatech is not known for quality.......this looks like they're caribbean cruiser ["25mph out of the box", problems w/ drive system, cooling system, and radio for everyone i've heard from about it exept a freind of mine who drastically modded it w/ out running the stock radio and setup]
you should definetely look @ the Horizon Miss Bud,
Traxxas Nitro Vee, Hobbico Nitro Hammer, and CEN Aqua Jet if you want a nitro RTR.
the Miss Bud is an excellent hydroplane, fiberglass hull and high-quality equipment. Nitro Vee is very beginner-freindly, check out the RTS system. THe nitro hammer is very new, not much feedback yet, but a fiberglass hull and nice engine sound promising. I dont personally think the Aqua Jet is a nice boat, but there's a couple guys on here who REALLY like CEN's stuff.
tell me what you think,
joe

[CEN Racing]

Our boat isnt built for racing. Its build for begineer. 30 mph for a little over $200.

[Ron Olson]

I remember when Novak was a garage operation and Traxxas was begging people to try out their buggies. Yeah, I'm that old! The market is now getting flooded with too many boats that are great for a non-racing beginner but forget it when you want to try to race it at most local events, note the word MOST. These boats are still filling a niche for the beginner to an extent by giving you something to learn how to set up a future racer.

[CEN Racing]

I agree. However, the market must have some RTR boats for straight out begineers who want nothing but have fun on weekends w/ their kids w/o spending hundreds of dollars. Thats when our boats are excellent choices. Not everyoe will take it to race events. Even if they do, we already put that into account when we design our boats. Thats how we develop our boat series include waveshark, Aqua Jet, and Grey Thunder. We built / tune our boats targetting at begineers. However, its still very responsive to mods. So basically its not tune to race out of box but you can make it one if you wish and still cost less than buying a race kit and put it together. I am guessing the reason our boats isnt that well know yet ( even though it have excellent reviews from magazines and great feedbacks from consumers) is because we arent in the business long enough.

[CCC880]

Thanks so much for the feedback. Whats CENs site so I can look at their boats. Thanks!

[Ron Olson]

http://cenracing.com/

[laxmasta2039]

cenracing,
im glad to hear that you've got modding in mind when you design your boats.....the main reason i spent the extra $$ and time on my first boat to build it myself is because i can make a competetive hull that can handle quality hardware if i want to upgrade, too many manufacturers make chubby, tub-like hulls that would be incredibly stubborn if modded.
i know that the main reason CEN boats are dismissed as floating bathtubs around here [i've heard this from over a dozen people]
is that they are made of plastic. the Miss Bud is a huge hit becuase Horizon went ahead and spent the extra time and money tho make the hull both competetively designed AND fiberglass. that is a big issue with alot of people my age [early teens] who want a solid, reliable boat that can be upgraded after Xmas, birthdays, and other cash-influx times. one of my friends bought a Aqua Jet after driving my Yellow Jacket [fast elec. racer built from plans] and another guy's Dumas Hot SHot OB tunnel....he loved the boat and was suprised @ the speed, but then told everyone else not to buy CEN when the hull cracked as he pull-started it on a wooden dock......the guy w/ a hotshot was pull-starting his at the same time and didnt have a problem.
i guess what im trying to say is please take into consideration that a large part of the RTR market [kids like me] would much rather have a fiberglass, streamlined hull with a wimpy engine or bad radio that a plastic hull with high-quality stuff inside.


joe

[CEN Racing]

Thanks for all the feedbacks. We will put all your opinions into consideration. However, I must clear up soemthing first. First of all, fiberglass is still plastic, and CEN Boat use plastic hull for 2 reasons.

1. Absusive behavior was not a big factor in our consideration becaue we cant predict how everyone will run it. Best we can do is minimum the chances of breaking. However, Pull start on a wooden deck is not recommended and it will mess up any hull made of any material regardless. Unless its a metal hull. Its like slaming the hull on to the wooden deck everytime u pull the pull start. And it takes a few pull to start the boat. Harder you pull, higher chance of breaking. Also, everyone have different strength/ habits so that might be other factors you should put into consideration when u said Aqua Jet break and hotshot didnt when pull start at the same time. Stronger people tend to break stuff easier. And not evreyone will baby their boats so its not a fair conparsion unless all factors are equal.

2. Higher quality hull will equal higher cost which might be a problem for some families. Aqua Jet wasnt built for racing. It was built for begineers who just want to have fun and also want to mod it later on. However, it wasnt built to take massive absuse( low level is ok) because we would like to keep it as affordable as possible. Thats why we kept everything as simply, as user friendly as possible. Of course we can built a bullet-proofed boat but it will raise the cost and not evreyone will be able to afford it and enjoy the fun.

[laxmasta2039]

i understand competely what you're saying, and it makes sense.
i guess the pullstart story wasnt a good example, i was just trying to get the point across that most kids that have other boaters around get the idea that RTR= cheap and not worth it, and CEN should do something to change that. both Horizon and Traxxas have set high standards for thier products by producing a RTR at a low profit-margin that is both economical and high-quality, the general opinion [at least around VA] is that they are the brands to look at when it comes to RTR. really what i mean is young teens like myself look for a solid, streamlined hull that can handle [and perform well with] the upgrades we want to put in later rather than a gimmicky or extremely cheap boat that will either not handle upgrades or break easily.
thanks for taking our opinion into consideration,
joe

[CEN Racing]

I understand what u are saying and we are already working on it. However, RTR = cheap is a concept only apply to people that already familiar with RC. Most truely begineer i.e. never touch RC before, will still look for RTR because they dont have skills to put together one. Also Please keep in mind that Aqua Jet is a boat we create appromiately 3-4 years ago.

Also Horizon and Traxxas' boat wasnt that high quality if you ask me. Name me one thing that their boat have higher quality than ours. Sure they have a fiberglass hull but thats it and is it worth of the extra $100 you paid? It has Higher price doesnt mean its higher quality. Major brand dosnt mean its good. These are concepts most peopel still cant get over. Armani shirt are 10 times more expensive compare to Nike but its made of same material just one says Armani and one says Nike. Is it worth it? Besides, If Horizon and Traxxas's stuff are so high quality, why dont they offer warrenty like we do?

If our boat is cheap and doesnt responsive well to mods. Please explain to me why our Aqua Jet can outrun Traxxas Nitro Vee by more than 10mph Top Speed( AJ 30+ and Nitro Vee 20) out of box? Modified Aqua Jet will out run Nitro Vee by at least 20 mph w/ ease.

Also we have not have any bad feedbacks on that boats other than people absue it. We sometimes still give out warrenties to consumer that absuing our products even though we know its their fault because we would like to good relationship with consumers.

[Ron Olson]

The trick also is to make one out of a fuel-proof vacuum formable plastic so that it doesn't melt when nitro is spilled onto it. Most people (myself included) are so anxious to get them into the water that they (or me) don't take the time to do it.
Joe, I'd like to see someone pull start an outboard motor, besides the Dynamite .12 but I get your drift.
CEN Racing, nice to see a manufacturer in here to help answer some of the questions that people have. Most other boat sites that I go to have them but I think that you are the first in here. Nice points that you've brought up on your last posting.

[CEN Racing]

Thanks for all the replies. We would like to make our consumer happy, thats why we offer warrenty, and technique support by phone, & website( ours website have every piece of info a newbie will need). I am also willing to answer any question regarding CEN or other Brand as long as its not a classified info.

Also, Fiberglass hull or something stronger than that, and fuel proof interior will be in consideration in our next boat. Very high chances we will use them. Most likely next boat will not be design for RC newbies but for RC experts( well, not experts but for people already have experience). Our quality is a lot higher than others in the same class already. And we will push the bar even higher when we introduce the next project.

[laxmasta2039]

sounds great.....
im looking forward to it, and if you dont mind i'll pass the word along about CEN's next one.

joe

[CEN Racing]

Oh i have no problem with that but please keep in mind that we already have a couple projects in progress. So a new Boat model wont be introduced any time soon. Please make sure off this when you spread the words because we do not want people calling us and ask for it. I will talk to the designer about all your concerns. I am sure he had no problem with those. However, before a new boat model, We will be releasing a onroad race car with racing .15 ( i am not sure how many ports because it havent be decided yet) + 2 speed. Estimate of over 60mph. It will come in kit form and maybe RTR version for lazy people and beginners. A electric off road buggies, new version of electric on road for kids ( kind of similar to dash), an in door helicopter are also on the way so it will be quite some time before we will realse another boat model.

[laxmasta2039]

ok, sounds fine by me, take your time- better a carefully planned boat that takes a while than a fast ans sloppy one!


joe

[vikingdave21]

cen racing :p :confused:

[CEN Racing]

Yes, CEN Racing. However, i am just here to answer questions regarding our products, thats all. Since not every shops familiar with our products and not every shops carry our products, i am just here to answer any questions ( as long as its not classified info) regarding CEN and help people finding our products.

[mlsmith]

Mr. CEN Racing. You've stated in several of your threads that, and I quote

"Our boat isnt built for racing. Its build for begineer."


Last edited by CEN Racing on 11-17-2002 at 08:27 PM

I'd like you to read the description of the Aqua Jet rcmodels.com (http://www.rcmodels.com/rc-cen-2054.html ) has for your boat. They make it out to be very suitable for racing, in contradiction to your statement above. So either 1. they are lieing about the product or 2. you are under estimating YOUR product. Personally, I like the Aqua Jet and am considering getting one when my insurance money comes in. I just thought I would point out a contradiction in opinions about it.

:D

[CEN Racing]

Please Read my previous post again. 6th from the top. I am sorry if i confuse you.

The main factor in our mind when we build the boats is that we try to keep the cost as low as possible( w/o scarfice performance and overall quality of the boat) in order for everyone to enjoy it and we try to keep everything as simply as possible w/o confusing consumer. Also, we also pre-tune the boat for begineers so they dont have to worry about the A/R ratio, needles...etc. You will gain more power by simplily lean it out. But we set it perfect for begineers so no way they can cook the engine by accident.

As for racing. You can certainly race it. what I meant is that its not tune for racing out of box. So you can definitely make it a race boat if you wish. It just wasnt set for race out of box ( not lean out..etc) because we like to protect the newbies from running too lean w/o knowing it. Well, you can still race it w/o changing any setting and win the race, its just that it wasnt running at full potential. Its very responsive to modifications and several owners on this board can back me up with their own experiences.

We does put race in mind when we develop the boat. Its just that we target at begineer so the boat is tune more toward newbies. Make it a monster and fast as hell if you wish. I guarteen you the boat will handle large amount of power.