Straight out of the box it’s packed in, even by race standards, the new Aquacraft Supervee27 boat is fast. As a reviewer, we just took it out to the pond and did some runs and you should have seen the attention we got. The insane handling and speed just took our breath away and we also found some ideas that we put into practice that should help those who already have one.
So what did we find out?
Read on!
ASSEMBLY
The Aquacraft Supervee27 arrived by courtesy of www.hobbygear.com.au and was well factory packed, so nothing was damaged, all the bits were there and so we were ready to go.
First whinge – if they are going to send the hull and then one range of the dress up stickers, why don’t the manufacturers put them on? Not of big concern and I guess there are people out there who don’t want them all on or maybe want them placed differently. There was a slight blemish in the paintwork of ours which luckily the transfers did cover up. Am I being a bit pedantic? You would understand if you saw this boat’s paintwork “in the flesh” as it’s like a concourse car’s quality with a beautiful lustre finish and I just thought I would squawk a little because it detracted a from an otherwise fabulous moulding and paint job.
There was no grease supplied, although all of the boats we’ve received have made mention somewhere that you should ensure that you use marine grease on the main drive shaft. I believe the manufacturers should supply a small tube of grease to get you adopting regimented maintenance regimes.
There was little to assemble really, apart from pushing in the aerial. The manual was well documented and easy to follow for performance tuning.
Build Quality and Aesthetics
We did check the main shaft to see if it had grease on it and we found that in our opinion it was not adequately greased, so we suggest that they also put a little grease on it before packing for export.
We tried to blow through the water intake system and found we could not and upon inspection found that there was a glue blockage where they had sealed a thread. We suggest that all persons buying anything that is water cooled and where excess heat would be detrimental, to do checks like we did to ensure all appears well before the first use.
These were minor items and in essence we found the Aquacraft Supervee 27 to be of exceptional quality i.e. items were adequately screwed or locked etc with stainless fixings. Other parts were coated with high quality anodising where necessary and there appeared to be a general focus on well engineered fixings and parts.
We have already commented on how exceptional the hull’s finish was and so we were not surprised to find that the thread of good workmanship and use of materials applied to other such items as the ESC, motor and drive train.
Specifications
Hull Length: 27in (686mm)
Width: 8.13in (205mm)
Height: 5.5in (140mm)
RTR Weight: 3.5 lb (1.59 kg)
Includes: AquaCraft 6-pole 1800kV brushless motor, 45A brushless ESC with Dean’s® Ultra® connector, Tactic™ TTX240 2.4GHz radio, Tactic SX100 servo
Requires: (4) “AA” batteries, (2) 6-cell NiMH batteries with Dean’s® Ultra Plug® connector, compatible battery charger
Transmitter
We were supplied with an AM 29.865 MHz TX and whilst we did not experience too many interference issues on the first run, we still only really like 2.4 GHz DSM2. We saw some advantages in changing to this type of TX and receiver and are pleased to see that the new boats for latter of 2010 will have the 2.4 GHz as listed in the later specifications shown above. But the people with multiple boats are still better off buying something like a Spektrum DX6i and DSM2 receivers to suit that way they will never have conflicts of control with anyone, and can then also use them for planes if they wish as it will hold upto 10 loaded profiles These are also available from www.hobbygear.com.au.
First Test Run
We went for 2 LI Po batteries made HEI (Hobby Express International 7.4 volt 50C 5600mAh batteries) Product no. INTL 5600-2s-W5 (side outlet wires) as they can also be used in electric buggies and are available at most hobby stores, they are very dependable and long lasting (approximately 28 minutes). We found that during the first run that the Supervee27 made, it frightened us somewhat as we had not expected it to be so fast. Fearing a roll over and subsequent filling of water, we resolved to make some inexpensive improvements.
Perceived Alteration Improvements
We obtained a DSM2 2.4 GHz aircraft long range receiver from www.Hobbygear.com.au and replaced the old receiver in the sealed black box. We drilled a 1/16 inch hole in the right hand front of the black box for the shorter aerial and sealed around the 5mm protrusion with hot glue. We then disposed of the old long aerial and blocked all the old holes in the top of the removable deck cover and in the top of the inside sealed black box. This now meant that the black electronic box was now far better sealed than before the alteration.
We also put a window/door seal around and underneath the main lid.
We cut out the forward battery retaining wooden ridge and glued a good run of Velcro. We also put self sticking Velcro to the underside of the two batteries. We could now shift the batteries to any point we liked to suit conditions.
Subsequent Test Runs
Now that we can be reckless, we revisited the pond with a Hollux GPS tracker logger. As you can see, the boat achieved a speed of 59.8km/hr in a run of 32 metres, unintentionally flipping the boat three times in high speed wake turn/cross overs (a later run 62.8km/hr). All our work paid off as the lower centre of gravity made the boat land upright each time as well as keeping it dry inside. We hope that the manufacturers will make these changes to any new models.
Pros
• Overall high build quality
• Ideal size to handle most wave conditions, when it is pleasant to be out there yourself
• As a standard “out of box” boat, extremely fast with a good enough build quality to upgrade as desired, knowing that other component parts (includes hull) can take the pressure
• Precise cornering at speed once set as required
Cons
• Only those mentioned for inexpensive improvement.
Conclusion
A race designed and well constructed mono hull boat using high quality materials likely to give years of entertainment with racing capabilities, or just plain run around a lake or large pond for fun.
We were so impressed with this craft that we would at some stage like to get our hands on the one Aquacraft say is quicker. Rumour has it that their UL1 Superior is one of the fastest electric hydroplanes in the world, but don’t think you can simply go out there and buy either of these crafts at a moment’s notice because as they are so hot they are often sold out. At a suggested retail value of $550 AUD, we think that the Aquacraft Supervee27 is definitely worth the money and a credit to the Aquacraft (Hobbico/Great Planes product line.
News Flash! Add a Seaking 120A- V2 ESC with reverse, Ammo 36-50-2300KV motor (Grim Racer approved) and a Grim Racer brass prop, all fit easy and this boat is now 20 kph faster.
