RC water-skier......

There is Twiggy the squirrel. Not mine but somewhat interesting video if you turn the volume down. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdmuVQAQSrY

balogh wrote:Hey Roddie,

your post reminds me of the mid-1970s when the large Hungarian lake Balaton was home to motorsports including water skiing. My father - a relatively well-to-do doctor in a socialist country - had 50HP Mercury then 50HP Johnson outboard engine powered mahogany motorboats, and towed my sister on mono ski, and myself and my friends on pairs of skis...one of my early encounters with American engine technology behind the iron curtain, around the same time when I got my first COX engine from a lucky friend...those were the best summers in my life..

IC engine powered boats have been banned since those days because of environmental reasons..the surface of the lake is about 600 sq.km-s and deepest point is maybe 4m or so, a vulnerable water...

Hi Andras! I'm happy to have struck a "favorite note" in your memory! I have never tried water-skiing.. and it's a bit late now.. That said; it would be fun to try to design a scale-model water skier that could be controlled remotely. I've given it a bit of thought.. which shouldn't surprise you..

You could take it one step further, have a skiing hang glider. This may be easier if simplified to a regalo wing on aircraft pontoons. Just watching a flying tow-line glider would be fun whilst zipping around a pond.

Just watched a movie last night with John Candy and Dan Aykroyd called "The Great Outdoors".
One part of the movie Aykroyd has a speed boat powered by a 455 cu.in. 8-cylinder engine with over 600hp.

Click on the link below to watch it and see the boat used:
Accidental Waterskiing

I had a friend that used his "jet" boat for pulling water skiers.
I had the misfortune to be skiing at the time when he was at full speed and the wooden handle in my hand broke in two and I sucked up some river water at about 50mph.
Boy, the next day I was sore and aching all over!

By the way, I have a boat for you?
It is a Koysho Jet Stream GP-10.
It has an OS .10 engine and I painted it in the same colors and design to match the Caterpillar's offshore racing boat.
But used the Koysho decals on the boat that were included in the box.

It is great shape and the engine was overhauled last summer, so it is as good as new!
Lucky to have a rebuild kit I purchased years ago for the engine, as it had all new gaskets, screws, and everything needed to rebuild the engine.
Replaced the rubber boots on the pushrods for the outboard steering (dry rot) and new fuel tubing
And made it seaworthy again.

This boat will defiantly pull a squirrel around the lake, maybe even if he had one of those parafoils he could be pulled around in the air?










I later on purchased the electric version of the same boat.
Reason being is at least when the batteries start dying (slowing down) you'll have enough power to get it to shore.
When the engine quits, most of the time, it's in the middle of the lake.
Of course, I had a fishing pole with a small rubber ball on the end of the line and try to cast over the boat to snag it for retrieval.

If you look at the bow in the photos, you'll see a hook at the bow to snag the small rubber ball.
This boat is for sale --- local pick-up only (Joliet, Illinois)

Roddie,
Your post jogged a memory from my time in the Massachusetts ARNG. I was drilling in Framingham at that time. One of my battle buddies owned a small motorboat and a knee-board. "Oh, it's easy" he said.
One fine Saturday after drill we took the boat and board to the lake by the Natick Test Labs. I watched dude #1 jump in, strap on, and grab the handle. The wee, little boat shuddered and overcame his drag, and he popped up on a plane. Three passes later, "Jim, you got the idea?"
Ummm...not really. They tossed me in after strapping me to the board. I grabbed the handle and operator floored the throttle. I'm twitching and turning trying to get the leading edge pointed up as they just about bottom-dragfed the lake with me. Noting my distress, the previous skier had the operator slow down so I could surface and breathe. "You OK? You know you CAN let go of the handle when you want!" Yeah, but I was all in for trying. Attempt #2 was a much better launch as I ensured to have a high angle of attack. I did note we were going much slower with me basically plowing water out of my way, so I tipped the LE down a bit just the operator started the turn at the end of the run. Then I promptly caught the tail of the outside wake, and went face first to the water. I decided to let go as the sub-aquatic ambient light was getting dark fast.
Rising back to the surface took "forever," so I declined a third try.

GallopingGhostler wrote:You could take it one step further, have a skiing hang glider. This may be easier if simplified to a regalo wing on aircraft pontoons. Just watching a flying tow-line glider would be fun whilst zipping around a pond.

That has possibilities George.. I think it would be a lot easier to accomplish.

sosam117 wrote:
(partial quote)

By the way, I have a boat for you?
It is a Koysho Jet Stream GP-10.
It has an OS .10 engine and I painted it in the same colors and design to match the Caterpillar's offshore racing boat.
But used the Koysho decals on the boat that were included in the box.

It is great shape and the engine was overhauled last summer, so it is as good as new!
Lucky to have a rebuild kit I purchased years ago for the engine, as it had all new gaskets, screws, and everything needed to rebuild the engine.
Replaced the rubber boots on the pushrods for the outboard steering (dry rot) and new fuel tubing
And made it seaworthy again.

This boat will defiantly pull a squirrel around the lake, maybe even if he had one of those parafoils he could be pulled around in the air?

That's a sharp looking boat! The OS Max FP .10 RC-M is a great little engine too. Smart to have bought the rebuild kit for that engine when you did.

roddie wrote:

sosam117 wrote:
(partial quote)

By the way, I have a boat for you?
It is a Koysho Jet Stream GP-10.
It has an OS .10 engine and I painted it in the same colors and design to match the Caterpillar's offshore racing boat.
But used the Koysho decals on the boat that were included in the box.

It is great shape and the engine was overhauled last summer, so it is as good as new!
Lucky to have a rebuild kit I purchased years ago for the engine, as it had all new gaskets, screws, and everything needed to rebuild the engine.
Replaced the rubber boots on the pushrods for the outboard steering (dry rot) and new fuel tubing
And made it seaworthy again.

This boat will defiantly pull a squirrel around the lake, maybe even if he had one of those parafoils he could be pulled around in the air?

That's a sharp looking boat! The OS Max FP .10 RC-M is a great little engine too. Smart to have bought the rebuild kit for that engine when you did.

I made templates from the original gaskets and used gasket material from Bob Brooks (shtterman@aol.com).
Bob sells gasket material in sheets (thick and thin) for Enya engines but they did a good job on the OS engine from the ones I made. I used the .2mm thick gasket material sheet. The other gasket material is .5mm thick
Still have the rebuild kit intact for next time?