Finally! My Sport 40 is done!

[Ron Olson]

It took a lot longer than expected but here it is. Trying to get it as right as I could took a lot of trial and error work.
R/C Marine Designs SuperSport 45, MAC .45 with CMD pipe, Octura props done by Andy's crew (I got 3 of them to try), fuel cell and servo mounts from Grimracer, lots of parts from Aeromarine, Art's Hobby, Speedmaster hardware, Hi-Tec radio system and a lot of other things from a bunch of other manufacturers. Thanks to Gary Preusse for sending me a lot of the right parts for it and to Phil Thomas who answered my questions, a lot of late night sesssions on AIM. Paint is PPG Ford Zinc Yellow done by a local body shop. Graphics by my sister.
Hopefully it'll be hitting the pond this weekend weather permitting.

[Doubledog]

Ronny Boy has been busy. Just remember to take the camera with you & get some pics running.

[Ron Olson]

I was hoping to have had it done a lot sooner. Making the little changes that I wanted, picking up some things at the Toledo show then waiting in line for the paint job as the guy took off for the NASCAR race in Bristol and was swamped when he returned and me being just plain slow all added up time-wise. Now I'm geeked about getting her wet!

[suck my wake]

preety sweet boat

[rico3]

yeah ronny i always thinks yellow is a good colour ... nice choice and looks like your sister done a good job on the graphics... like DD says dont forget the camera or even better some video footage would be nice,dont you think guys!!! ;) ;) ;)

[BMAD01]

Nice work Ron! Ya wo'nt have any troble seein that yellow blurr! Brian :)

[Ron Olson]

We have the Fun Run coming up next weekend, the 28th, and just about everybody is bringing along digital cameras and camcorders so we should have some footage, good or bad.

[Ron Olson]

I got to run the boat briefly on Saturday, the wind and high waves preventing me from running it much. You don't really realize how fast these puppies are until you are at the wheel of one!

[mjmsprt40]

The changes you made are most interesting. I'm still building mine, and considering just such changes. Having the radio box forward and fuel cells aft may help the balance, but it's been a nightmare for the setup and one of my fellow club members suggests that it's wrong because of fuel flow issues. It seems that moving the radio to midships and placing the fuel in front, as you have done, is the better way to do it.

[Ron Olson]

It's a lot of fun setting it up the way that I did, much less having the radio box in front! I could see the difficulty in running the rudder linkage all the way back, it must be a real hassle. I used some carbon fiber linkage rod from Art's Hobby, Midwest Products now carries it too.
You can get the rear radio box from Phil Thomas if you decide to go that route. When he said rear mounted, I thought that in would be way back near the transom instead of mid-ship mounted.
If you need any help with yours, I can post more close-up shots and let you know what I learned with mine.

[mjmsprt40]

For the most part, judging from what I saw on my friend's boat and now yours, the construction looks straightforward enough. The hard part comes from trying to keep the Stealth canopy and cutting it to allow for the pipe, and somehow making it look halfway right. If you knew the kind of fiberglas butchery I'm capable of, then you know that for me this isn't as easy as it looks. I'm inclined to see if I can get a different canopy for that reason.

[Ron Olson]

No kidding. I obviously have the Stealth cowling and I learned a lot by my mistakes, one that aren't really visible in the pix. I used Phil's outlines for the pipe and found out that my pipe, an Andy Brown (CMDi), was smaller than the cut-out so it didn't have to be that large. Your best bet is to mount the pipe then lay the unpainted canopy over it to find out how much really does have to be removed. I did have to cut a little more over where the pipe exits, no big deal there. The slots for air intake are a joy to cut, NOT!, so take your time there and undercut them first and file until you get to the lines. All of the slots don't need to be cut out, I did the 3 on each side and only one on top. Some do just the top three but I like the "gill" looks on the sides.
Trying to keep the pipe under the cowling would be a trick and the only way that can be done is with the forward radio box.

[CFRACR]

Looks good Ron,
Can't wait to see some action pics and to hear your revue on how it perfomed for you.

[Ron Olson]

I've only had the boat on the water twice so far. The first run didn't last long as it dove into some rough waves. The second time out it screamed on the first run until the pipe slid off. The second pass that day it was flat-out haulin' untill she went a little airborne and landed with a nasty flip. I have since added some weight in the nose and am waiting for some more props to show up. I had to do a little bit of strut adjustment also. I'll take it easier the next time out, these things are a lot faster when you're driving them!

[CFRACR]

A lifting prop should help! :D
A little weight may be needed. "its better to build light and add a little, rather be to heavy and have to shed some"

[Ron Olson]

I built her light. I used an Octura motor mount and removed the center "U" channel under the motor to save some weight so that it was more like a Speedmaster. I lowered the strut doan as far as I could to help lift the rear more also. A 1455/3 is one of the props on order, I was breaking it in using an X646/3.