Hyrofoil/Fin Test

[JimCt]

In the old days, when float planes were pretty much under-powered, it was a real problem getting off the water in a glass calm.  Because the water was so flat, it "stuck" the floats to the water.  One manoever in a situation like this was to taxi around in circles and back & forth to kick up some wake.  Pilot would then straighten out, firewall the throttle and takeoff through the wake. The wake increased his speed and helped break the suction on the floats.

A boat is simply a float which doesn't fly.

[GoneFission]

And a floatplane that can't fly is simply a boat...  

[John Jones]

Not necessarily good for the grass flats but flats boat guys   will put the trim tabs way down and turn the wheel hard to one side and gun the motor to take off in shallow water.  Taking off on the hump it makes in the water gets one on top almost instantly.  Yes I have a flats boat but I don't do that.  I push pole or use the trolling motor to move to deeper water.  I hate seeing "wheel ditches" through the grass flats.

[GoneFission]

Land N Sea Torque Shift Propeller on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Land-Sea ... enameZWDVW

Don't forget to see the video - watch that boat stand on its transom!  
http://www.land-and-sea.com/download/ma ... _video.exe

See you on the water!

[Tailgunner]

Took my Hydrofoil off the 125 Merc a couple of weeks ago. Here's what I noticed.

Increased top end speed of apprx 6mph.
FishFinder now works at speed. It was giving me hinky readings before like 245ft when it was really 50ft.
Takes longer to get on plane.
Fuel consumption is better. Can't say precisely what it is but I'm getting one more trip per tank.

I gave the foil to a buddy with a deep V hull. He loves it and says his fuel consumption is better now.

[Ben87]

Hey Tailgunner,

I wonder, what kind of prop were/are you running?  3 or 4 blade?, what size and pitch?

I ask because I went from a 3-blade aluminum 15X17" to a 15X16" 4-blader.  I notice that I come right out of the hole and jump right up on plane, the difference is very, very noticable.  The 3-Blade got 2-4 mph better on top though.  I'm still not sure if the 15X16" 4-blade is the perfect prop though, I might consider going to a smaller diameter like a 14 1/2 and possibly higher pitch to see what the difference might be.  


Thanks for the evaluation though, I always wondered about the foils and to hear a first hand account from a hull that is, if not similar, is exactly like mine, helps a lot.

[Tailgunner]

Ben,
Glad to help.

I have a Merc prop 3 blade not sure about pitch. It's what the Merc people suggested. I have always suspected that a different prop would give better results. All about $$ these days though.