Hey fellow flitetest residents, if you've seen my previous article, then you'll know what this is. Again this is not a how-to guide. When the airboat project came about, the main problem I had wasn't flotation, it was steering. All the rudders that I tried didn't seem to work, they were either too short and light or too long and heavy.
The one on top was the first rudder I made, used 3mm perspex sheet controlled by a 9gm servo from towerpro. Didn't have a rotary tool then. Both rudders were hand crafted. But every time it hits the water, no joy. I thought "let's try changing the wind direction", but zip.
So eureka moment "If I can't steer the boat with rudders, than I'll just turn the motor instead". Thus began the journey to thrust vectoring ( thrust me it was a long time before success, no pun intended).
So I cut a piece of 5mm perspex sheet as a motor mount and drilled and tapped a M5 center hole. Then took a 1/2" angle iron piece to mount the motor mount to the old rudder piece ( had a little accident with it, let's just say it was a Humpty Dumpty case). Then I swapped the 9gm servo for a futaba s3003 servo.
Cut and filed a piece of 5mm perspex sheet to fit this PVC pipe( also modified to reduce C of G). After a couple of dry test then taken to the lake for her maiden voyage.
So this article isn't just about the boat or the thrust vectoring unit I made, it what can you do with the junk you can find around your house. Hope you guys enjoyed that and feel free to leave a comment or advice.
P.s. sorry for the video quality, tx in one hand and my tablet in another, WORST kind of multitasking.
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