Should I buy this F41 Stryker cat?

[Ron Olson]

It's an offset rudder but the strut and rudder bracket is in one piece so less holes should have to be drilled with Lenny Blake's (Rum Racing's) setup.
I'd rather avoid having to do another conversion, especially when it comes to swapping a FE boat to gas. I've done some to small-block nitro and it's a lot of work.
Plum Krazy went from splashing hulls to selling the originals. I don't know what happened to him.

 

[Ron Olson]

Dragging this one up from the depths.
OK, great news! I just picked up a new F-41 Stryker Cat this afternoon myself! It's Sublime green with a carbon fiber deck. Man, it's purty! Got the hardware plus a modded Suicidal engine to go with it. This baby is going to be wicked!
Yeah, I'll post pix later on.

 

[override]

Sweet! I've been meaning to update this thread, I've got new hardware and paint ready to be put on. Next time I'm home I'll see about getting it finished up. Let's see some pics of the green beast

 

[Ron Olson]

Last night I spent some time tinkering around with the engine. I picked up one that right now is on the rare side, A Rev-Unlimited as they've been pulled off the market for now but may be the only one modded by Mike Ross. I've also got an RCMK that was done by him and I don't think that he's modded very many of those either. Like most engine modders, he does almost nothing but Zenoah's.

 

[Ron Olson]

OK, a shot from Day One. Most of the day was blown tinkering around with the engine and finding everything that's been stored away in a pile of boxes.

 

[Rolex]

Dang, but she's a purty thang.

 

[Ron Olson]

Override, how's your's coming along, you haven't updated this thread in a while.
I finally got mine wet this past afternoon, it ran OK but I feel there's more left in it yet. I don't expect a lot for its first time out as I think that the engine still needs some more time on it as only so far it's seen only Dyno time. Tuned pipe adjusting and trying out props are next.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eeVAAP6Myw"]Stryker F-41 First Run. - YouTube[/ame]

 

[override]

Well I started finishing up the body work last time I posted, got the old hardware holes filled , sanded, fiberglassed over and the new holes drilled out. I still need to true the right rear sponson and lay fiberglass inside to re-strengthen. Once that is done it will be prep and paint time but I had to put all my R/C up for awhile now since I have been packing and slowly getting ready to move. Amongst other things I have decided to pay off my debt after I get settled in so I got some $k's to save up, I really needed to get my jetski rebuild finished for this summer (finally got it tuned up then discovered a crack in the hull so its in the shop right now). I also am wanting to do a full restore on my racing quad, so that's gonna be more time and money, It just seems R/C is having trouble being squeezed into my schedule.

The boat looks good! I don't know what all you have in it motor, prop, pipe etc but it seems to get it pretty good! Great job

 

[Ron Olson]

The engine is from Gizmo motors, a Rev-Unlimited 26cc modded by Suicidal Engines, tuned pipe by Zippkits, hardware from Speedmaster. Radio system is a Futaba TX with Hi-tec servo's. The prop is a VooDoo 2914/3 modded by G-Force Hydro's for now but should be the right one.
It ran OK for its first outing but my buddie's stock RCMK powered Aeromarine Sprint Cat was keeping up with me. When I got home the header got more whacked off it so that I've got some room to adjust it. I've now got a radar gun and an onboard tach now so that I can see what helps.

 

[override]

The engine is from Gizmo motors, a Rev-Unlimited 26cc modded by Suicidal Engines, tuned pipe by Zippkits, hardware from Speedmaster. Radio system is a Futaba TX with Hi-tec servo's. The prop is a VooDoo 2914/3 modded by G-Force Hydro's for now but should be the right one.
It ran OK for its first outing but my buddie's stock RCMK powered Aeromarine Sprint Cat was keeping up with me. When I got home the header got more whacked off it so that I've got some room to adjust it. I've now got a radar gun and an onboard tach now so that I can see what helps.

I was gonna say that keep in mind these Strykers can be slow compared to a drag setup or something like a rigger or hydro but a stock Sprintcat keeping up? Sounds like something still needs some tuning, it does seem like you have quite a bit of wetted surface. Are you in the negative or positive adjustment on your strut? These boats CG seem to push the nose down so you have to run more towards the negative side to get it back up.

Racin Mason has a Cat (don't remember the hull design) with one of his own modded motors in it and that sucker was fast enough to keep up with riggers. It had so much power behind that prop he could 360 the boat and then his holeshot would put him in a straight up and down wheelie until he let off the gas. It was pretty freaking crazy!

 

[Ron Olson]

Yeah, I knew in two ways that I still had osme work to do, the first one of course when my bud was keeping up with me and two, the tuned pipe came loose and really didn't lose any speed which told me it needed to be shorter. When the pipe isn't doing its job it's just extra weight. When the speed comes up the hull will run dryer.
The picture was taken by my daughter-in-law so I don't know if she got it at full speed or not. With maiden voyages I don't know what to expect as you try for the best and that's the time that you find out how well or badly it runs off the bench. I've been trying to set them up lately to run a little wetter as you don't know what conditions you're up against at races.

 

[override]

Ron I am happy to say I'm finally getting time to mess with my boat again...We are moved into the new house and for the most part situated. My hobby room still has along way to go before it's usable but the garage, for the most part, is suitable for my needs for the time being.

So far I have cut my new cowl and taped it up, it's sun bathing right now so I can get it to form to the hull. I painted the fuel bag holder and radio box last night and just finished applying fuel proof epoxy resin. They should be cured by tomorrow sometime and I will determine if a second coat is needed.

I'm about to do some modifications to my motor mounts so I don't have to completely remove the bolts from the rails. That will probably finish me up for the day as I can't drill any more holes in the hull until the cowl is fitting properly.

I will keep you updated and post up some pictures soon

 

[Ron Olson]

Not knowing whose motor mount you're using you shouldn't have to remove the bolts to take the engine out. The studs should attach to the mount and run the bolts through the rails. This way you can just loosen the nuts to pull the motor out. The isolators should stay with the hull if you have to pull the motor out.

BTW, I've had the boat out since I posted last. Shortening the pipe made a huge difference in speed! Now it appears that the prop may have too much lift in it as it's also handling wetter than it did before so now the next time I'll have to try some other props.
Oh yeah, got a new pipe on it now which is supposed to put the one I had on it to shame!

 

[override]

I think the mounts are oldschool or something because they are inclosed and where they connect to the rubber grommets are bolt and nut and impossible to get to while the motor is mounted. I just cut the metal tabs out forward and down so you slide the back in and then push the front down then retighten the bolts.

So your prop is giving to much lift but your running wetter? That's strange

I should have the boat finished up the next time I am home and back on the water the first weekend.

 

[Ron Olson]

I can just barely make out the motor mount in one of the shots. Yeah, that is old-school! I've been using the Zippkits mounts in all of my boats just because in case I have to I can make a swap from one boat to another with the least amount of hassle.

 

[override]

Ron how do you go about getting your cowls to fit properly? I've tried taping it to fit and then putting in the sun for a few hours and letting it naturally cool off. I have also tried a bungee cord with it on the boat keeping it compressed and then using a heat gun to get it warm and letting it come down to room temp. Neither have kept the cowl "squeezed" together on the back side.

This step is keeping me from progressing forward on the hull...

 

[Ron Olson]

OK, I think that I see what you're typing about from the pix on page 1. I looks like it's curling up in the corners. It could have come from the rear bending downward at the top around the "turbine" cowl or maybe the fit around the hatch locks but these are just guesses. Mine has the "Drag" cowl so it's basically a back-halfed version of yours, cut off just ahead of the "turbine tube" area. I like mine that way as it helps to get cool air to the carb and the heat of the tuned pipe out.
http://s53.photobucket.com/user/flo...t=3&o=21&_suid=137433279476504725957484791364

 

[override]

I actually have that cowl but its damaged and needs to be repaired. I bought a Paris cowl and cut it myself for the drag cowl look. I'll snap some pics when I get a chance.

 

[override]

Well the cowl that I cut didn't work, so I have to fix the one that's damaged before I can run the boat.

The last few days I have been painting and sanding and painting and sanding. Today I got the Decals put on and clear coated the hull. Started getting hardware put back on aswell as built a new PVC stand.

Here is the interesting stuff, pictures:

Primer Done, moving on the paint! The pictures start from the second coat of color to the last coat of clear.

 

[Ron Olson]

That's it, show us the good pix, not the boring stuff!:
She's coming right along.