Picture credit: Mike Brodey @Crash
That was a fun afternoon.
This boat got stuck on rocks as water level was lower than expected.

Beautiful day. In attendance were Paul Gray and his wife Lorraine, Guy, Mike Brodey, Graham McNicol and Andy H. showed up towards the end.

The sub went well:
- visibility- Guy said "paint it yellow".  It is the most visible colour. The original colour was black above the waterline.  Impossible to see in the dark brackish water.  So I sprayed 3 coats of Cub Yellow on the removable top.
- it went well.  It dove fine (about a foot down) until the drive motor came loose and spun it and the two wires around.  Will have to secure it better. 

Frank

Photo report:
66- the yellow submarine.  I can hear Michael singing in the background.
77- Guy's (possibly Graham's?) shot of my better (back) side while attempting to get a fingerprint in the picture.  Guy or Graham, you are so going to hear from Andy about "composition".
79- Paul's African Queen with my sub in the background.
80- prepping for the first sub- voyage.
81- action shot of Guy.
82- Lorraine in front of two sailboats.

Frank had an amazing submarine today at TooGood Pond!

I appreciated the help that Frank gave me on my first time out.  He did a great job with both planes especially with the strong gusts and wind.  Mark also took the time to introduce me to the rules, layout and the guys at the field.  Nice way to start!

I'll bee there around 2

Houston, we had some problems:  Today's float test showed some problems.

1) It sat nose down because of the heavier battery (1800 vs the old 1200).  I took out a 3/8" drill bit and drilled 4 holes in the shot ballast epoxied in the bow.  Photo 51 shows the 4 holes.  The two silver dots on the left are the rare earth magnets holding on the deck.  Photo 52 shows the shavings.
2) The prop shaft connector disintegrated (fuel tubing).  Put in new tubing and slipped 3 larger pieces of tubing over top to compress it. photo 53

The best news- not a drop of water inside.

Frank

Here are photos of the 28" sub.  Installed a new battery (1800 mah-2S), installed the old 72 meg radio* (channel 18), lubricated the moving parts (prop shaft, dive plane shaft, etc.).

Note in the photos:
- plexiglass top so I can see the parts.  The blue is the battery, it is a speed 400 motor, direct drive.  The esc is a waterproof one with forward and reverse.
- there are 2 pieces of blue paper shop towel beside the motor.  If it turns dark, I will know there has been a leak.  It also draws the water droplets away from the RC equipment.
- the plexiglass top is screwed down on the boat frame with 24 brass screws (they don't rust).  The brown underneath the plexiglass below the screws is silicone.  When the plexiglass is screwed down, the perimeter was coated in vaseline as a water proofer.  You can see the vaseline squeezed out into the RC compartment.
- the red connector coming out of the conning tower is the arming connector.  Once plugged in the system is live. The connector is attached with dental floss so it will not be lost.
- the sub dives when the forward dive planes are activated.  The rear dive planes are fixed at a negative angle.

How a successful RC dynamic diving sub works:
- it uses the smallest possible RC box volume to the total internal sub volume.
- the internal  area outside of the RC box is totally flooded.

This sub has been down 6 feet in a pool under full control.
Will test it tomorrow (Mother's Day) in the pool.
I cannot make it to Rogo tomorrow for reasons of self-preservation.

Frank

* 72 meg FM  has the deepest under water radio control over the old AM or new 2.4 gig.  Go FM or go home!

What a beautiful day. A bit chilly as shown by the coats.
Love the photo of Peter giving me the evil eye.

Frank

Photos taken by Andy Hoffer on Wednesday...its second flight.
He asked me to do a knife edge on one pass.  Sure Andy, it is not set up for that!  He did get the photo for the split second it was vertical (photo 74).

I will be there.

Want to try out my submarine.  Have been busy resurrecting it (new battery, radio and ESC).  The funny part will be showing up with a 72 meg radio.  It is well known in sub circles the only way to go is 72 meg.  It will allow control for much deeper dives.  This model has been down 6' in our pool without a problem and without behaving like a scale model of the Kursk.  Yes it came back up when asked to.

It is about 28" in length, a speed 400 brushed motor and is a dynamic diver (moving front vanes drive and hold it down).  While at rest the deck floats about 1/2" above the water.  It was published in the British RC model boat magazine about 15 years ago.  It is made out of wood (door skin) and glassed.

Other changes- spray paint the top a bright colour.  The current sub is flat black and will not be visible under water.  It will not go far or deep in TooGood Pond.