Hi folks

This topic is aimed primarily at those of you that have got into the gas boat scene by purchasing a ready to run Gas boat like I did. Or indeed anyone that has purchased an RTR gas boat.

It will be interesting to hear of your experiences and comments and it may be beneficial to folks perhaps new to thinking of getting a Gas power boat.

For my part here is my story:

I’ve been into IC nitro boats for over 3 decades and wanted to experience the Gasoline option being initially clueless as to what this was all about. So I purchased a Flybridge ready to run boat for about (UK)£500.

When the large box arrived I was incredibly excited at the contents and the beast of the gas engine pre-mounted and ready to run. The hull finish, gel coat paint job and decals were top notch.



Prior to running it the only thing I changed was the cheap (unknown make) of radio gear that was installed with reliable 2.4G Spektrum kit.

The initial runs were full of excitement but also full of problems that needed to be ironed out:

The supplied “Zenoah” engine has always started so easily despite in fact it being a copy of a Zenoah.

The manifold header failed (thin silicone O ring seals) within about 15 minutes of its first run. The O rings blew out.

The manifold itself (fabricated thin stainless wrap to centre) had a support with a silicone sleeve that came apart after subsequent attempts to reattach it to the supplied thin manifold. The silicone kept melting. In fact with a decent manifold this support is totally not required.



The supplied radio box had a thin lid that with only 4 holding screws seating the lid on very thin foam left a visible gap allowing water to enter the radio box.

The radio box itself had four stainless mounting bolts screwed into the plywood rails (with neat metal receptacles’), but not waterproof.

The rear pipe mount support consisted of a bit of bent stainless steel which looked ok but was woefully inadequate.

Okay, if you have read this far you may well think that I bought a pile of dog pooh!

However what I did do was fix the above issues spending some extra cash for quality components and I did end up with a reliable boat.




Interestingly although the engine was a copy of the Zenoah, its carburettor (a copy of the Walboro) is in my opinion better made than the pucker carb that came with my subsequent genuine Zenoah that I now run with my current mono boat.

The question I put to you is this:

Would you buy a ready to run Gas Boat?

My answer is this:

I took the plunge. I did buy one as my first introduction to Gasoline power boats.
I am glad that I did.

I learnt so much from doing that. In future I will always build from scratch.

Your comments and shared experiences will be much appreciated.

Cheers
Craig