I have noticed that some MGB's are equipped with a "wing" ("spoiler"?) usually close to the rear.
Is this just for the looks? Or does it in fact have a useful effect to the boats way of running in different conditions?
For my part I am building a 56 inches cigarette type mono hull in plywood. It's close to what some may call a "fun boat" or a "classic mono".
Would some kind of wing be useful to maximize speed and stability on a boat like this, and if so, should'nt it be adjustable according to waves and speed? I have some idea, that the aerodynamics are equal to the need of trim tabs.
Good advices (and also some links about How-To-Do) is most welcome.

Cheers!

Woodie.

Hi Woodie,
Been there done that. I tried it on an old mono (deep vee) and it did not make any difference to speed or stablity. Not with speeds we do anyway (ie. fun boats). If anything it just made a surface piecing prop into a slightly sub surface type. I have a pic if it somewhere and when I find it I will post it for you. Others may have had a different experience with wings on their boats. I thought I had better clear that up.
Hope this helps.
Moofy

Years ago, before I started building. I had a nitro Miller American hydro that had the wing on it. It does effect the boat at speed. I bumped it one day not knowing I did, and when I got up to speed, the rear would try to lift out of the water. After looking it over, I noticed the wing and made an adjustment I thought I needed. The boat screamed.... even faster than it was previously. The real UNLIMITED HYDROS... like the Miss Bud and Atlas Van... the wing is actually trimmed as they run to tweak the trim on the boat. So... to answer your question, YES... they can and do make boats run faster. Full size and RC both. The way to it is, you'd have to have a radio that had a dial knob on one of the channels. Hinge the wing at the front, mount a servo directly below the rear of the wing, run a rod straight up to back edge of it... and WALAH!!! I say a dial knob, because it would have to be adjustable by VERY SMALL INPUTS. Not a switch that is all or nothing, but something that could be fine tuned in very very small increments. Hope this helps Buddy....

Moofy & Isuzu.

You don't agree about this. That's ok, as you have different experiences.
I wrote that my boat could be called a "fun boat". That's nothing but a term to me. I will set it up to racing performance by shaping the bottom strakes the right way. It will also have a Blata engine with almost 14 hp at almost 27.000 rpm on a double set of MHZ sterndrives.
With that in mind I guess I'll have to do something to prevent the boat from flipping over (or diving) when running (very) fast in rough waters.
So I'm still looking for instructions/drawings/advices about how to design that wing and making it adjustable, as Isuzu adviced me to.

Cheers!

Woodie.

Hi Woodie,
I was talking about an old mono that had an early angled plug McCullock (can't remember how to spell it) which I water cooled, it was bog standard plastic prop and ran at I am guessing here an earth (maybe water bubbling) shattering 15 maybe 20 mph. This was about 20 years ago so you can see why the effect was from not much to virtually nothing. The more powerful nitro and boat designs as Issy mentioned must have made the difference. As you have guessed mine was really crap it was the first boat I ever built and used an engine that was in the corner of the shed.
I will still keep looking for the pics so you can see for yourself.
Moofy

On a drag boat like my reaper it helps to keep the rear of the boat down on the water which helps to keep the props in the water obviously.
On a hydro the wing can be set to help lift the rear keeping it running on just the prop at speed.
They are 2 different airfoils of course!
The first is usually built upside down to provide downward push.
The second is usually an even airfoil top and bottom and set at an angle so it sits horisontal when the hull comes up to ride attitude only providing lift when the rear is sitting down.
An adjustable trim should be able to be made to run off a third channel just the cam arms will have to be figured out so you can override the wind force!
It will be extremely touchy though, I would just use adjustable rods and make very small adjustments before each run!

Just to make things clear, if you plan on racing the boat, wings are illegal on mono's. Manufacturers like Seaducer get around this by putting channels on the deck to keep it sticking to the water.
Even a radar arch could be construed as a wing if we wanted to get technical.

I've used them on large twin Cats - they do help but depends on how much 'lift' is in props - works better with some props then others

Cheers

Hey Woodie... even though it is "illegal" in the eyes of some boating orgs.... I'm not one of those organizations ... so if you want to use a wing in your losing battle with me.... please feel free to do so!!!!

Thanks to all above for some good advice and opinions.

Right now I am considering getting an adjustable wing controlled by remote, or (maybe better) make the MHZ sterndrives adjustable by remote (which is possible).
How about both solutions? This would take a 4 channel radio, and might be an "overkill"?

Isuzu: Now not too cocky old pal. I hate to see a grown man cry when defeated!

Cheers!

Woodie.