hydrofoils are coming along

[Jeff Walkowiak]

I'm getting to old to be crouched under this darn boat all day for several days in a row but it's coming along pretty nicely.

 

[Jeff Walkowiak]

Re: hydrofoils are coming along

keeps saying the files are too big http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f127/jeffwalkowiak/pontoon boat/Feb02513.jpg
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f127/jeffwalkowiak/pontoon boat/Feb02508.jpg
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f127/jeffwalkowiak/pontoon boat/Feb02512.jpg

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: hydrofoils are coming along

Jeff, just what are you doing?

 

[5150abf]

Re: hydrofoils are coming along

Interesting, I would worry that you will lift the boat too much and pull the motor out of the water or you don't have enough motor and will just create a huge amount of drag and those things are gonna throw some serious water.

You are for sure going to want a full under deck shield.

I have been with Bennington for 11 years and have seen all kinds of different ways to get the boat up out of the water.

I would get it to where you can run it without it self destructing and try it out to see what it does, hydrodynamics are a strange thing and seldom do things work out like you think they will.

I personnally think you will end up with too much lift in the front and will need to move the whole thing back and make them shorter.

Very interesting idea.

Let us know how the first sea trial goes.

 

[Jeff Walkowiak]

Re: hydrofoils are coming along

I have them even with the bottom of the engine tray, they have 8 inches between the 1.5 inch sides at a 70 degree angle, the mounts are 1.5 in by 1/8 in thick stainless box with numerous gussets etc the foils are heavy Gage aluminum. Each mount weighs just under 5 lbs,, the foils weigh 35 lbs each side,, I believe this will rock,, and if the engine needs to be lowered I have plenty of room to do that,, won't know until I finish it and see what it does.
It's all reversible if I don't like how it works,, and I only have about 300 invested in it so, no big deal,, I have a 70 hp on the boat and it's only a 16 footer so I have plenty of power to get her on top of the water,,making mods is just what I do,, I make a good living from my ideas,and so does the I R S,,lol,,

All the mods I did to the boat so far have worked great.
As for closing in the bottom I have already started collecting truck bed liners for that ,, people give those away for free and the material is light weight and really durable, plus with a little heat it can be formed with little effort.
I already have the trailer modded so I can drive on and off in a few seconds,without any help .
Everything is coming along just fine,I probably would have had the foils done today if it hadn't rained all day. But there's always tomorrow. I get bored easily..

 

[jcare]

Re: hydrofoils are coming along

Jeff, can you tell me what you modified on your trailer that such a drastic improvement? Thanks

 

[coolguy147]

Re: hydrofoils are coming along

Jeff, can you tell me what you modified on your trailer that such a drastic improvement? Thanks

not sure he has

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: hydrofoils are coming along

coolguy, you have to know Jeff, he can't leave anything alone, he has to improve them. most of the time. LOL. that's how he got those patents.

 

[Jeff Walkowiak]

Re: hydrofoils are coming along

Trailer was the first thing I hated,, so I made special heavy duty rollers between the skids, this made getting the boat off in shallow water pretty easy as I didn't need to back up in the water nearly as far as I did without them.
Then I placed special guides in 4 locations on the trailer taking advantage of the round shape of the pontoons to center the boat as it is pulled from the water,, that works really nice,, also I have the exact depth figured out for the trailer so I can just drive up on the trailer and give it a little throttle burst to set the bow against the front stop I also have two tall guide posts that show me exactly where the trailer is when it's in the water and I just idle between those, once the pontoons are in line the other guides keep them there for the final push to the bow stop.

 

[Jeff Walkowiak]

Re: hydrofoils are coming along

All I have to do is back the trailer far enough to have the top of the front guide sticking out of the water,, previously I had to back in so far to get the boat off the trailer that my tail pipe would be in the water and I still had to fight to get the boat to float off, now with rollers under the pontoons it rolls off easily. Now My tow vehicle isn't close to being in the water. As the trailer comes out of the water the rear guides put the boat exactly where it needs to be.

 

[coolguy147]

Re: hydrofoils are coming along

coolguy, you have to know Jeff, he can't leave anything alone, he has to improve them. most of the time. LOL. that's how he got those patents.

patents like he invented something?

 

[Jeff Walkowiak]

Re: hydrofoils are coming along

Yea I have been known to do that LOL. I guess people don't read the signatures here.

 

[coolguy147]

Re: hydrofoils are coming along

Yea I have been known to do that LOL. I guess people don't read the signatures here.

does it cost money to patent something? and i really would like to know what ur patents do? can u explain what they r? please

 

[Jeff Walkowiak]

Re: hydrofoils are coming along

Yes patents cost money and you have to pay maintenance fees periodically but the big money is the patent lawyer.. keeping in mind that the majority of patents never make it to the market..
I was just the key note speaker at a rotary club in tarpon springs fl and had to explain all the time and effort I put in to developing all my claims and obtaining the patents plus building a business based on the patents, etc.
I also learned that some inventions are not really worth patenting,, my last invention the cobra ez lock was one of those that a patent would be a waste of money based on the market being limited . That doesn't mean it isn't a good idea nor does it mean it isn't selling like crazy, but a patent was not really necessary.
As for my patent cobra jet steering,, I have issues with patent infringement on a regular basis and I stay right on top of that . I do quite well with that invention.
Just punch any of those in the INTERNET and you will see what they do,, actually I am now listed in wikipedia under how jet steering works.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_water_craft

 

[Jeff Walkowiak]

Re: hydrofoils are coming along

Finally finished these today,, will probably be days before I can stand upright again,, hope to get it on the water and see what happens,, but the weather is a bit cold maybe this weekend it's supposed to get back in the 70's

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: hydrofoils are coming along

yes the whole state was cold this morning. wish the Canadian, would close the freezer door. i now can see what the idea is behind the foils.

 

[Jeff Walkowiak]

Re: hydrofoils are coming along

sooooo cold this morning, brrrrrr. I hate cold.
I hope they do the job since I have about 40 hours of labor invested in this,,I didn't want to make them too wide and in the water you would probably not even see them with the exception of the front where they curve up under the deck,, I built aluminum deflectors for the front as I know water will ride up like a boat hull pushes water up the front,, the deflectors are not on yet but they will capture any water going up the front of the foils and redirect it away from the decking.
The plaining surface is approx 2500 sq inches, and since it is even with the bottom of the engine tray,, I don't think it will cause issues with the engine depth since it is now set with the cavitation plate approx 3 inches below the plaining surface,, but I have 2 more adjustment holes to allow it to go lower if needed,, and I can always build a jack plate to get it a few more inches back if necessary. I still need to enclose the bottom deck under the boat .
The mounts are super strong and the foils seem to be very solid, I plan on adding a few more supports just for overkill, but I will probably wait till tomorrow to do that as I don't feel like welding on my back in this freezing weather. Probably a good day to stay indoors and build some steering units.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: hydrofoils are coming along

it is an indoor day.

 

[QC]

Re: hydrofoils are coming along

Jeff,

I am confused about something, but that's not unusual . . . Aren't most hydrofoils generally perpindicular to the direction of travel? Or is surface size the only real factor?

 

[Jeff Walkowiak]

Re: hydrofoils are coming along

My understanding is a hydrofoil creates lift at speed and raises a hull up higher than normal to reduce hydraulic drag.. but we can call them what ever you want,, lol I know what you are accustom to so mine are just inside the pontoons where other types would be outside the hull for obvious reasons.