Adjustable Thrust Angle Airboat

thingiverse

Balance and thrust angle are critical for airboats. Nothing I found out there had a solution for changing the thrust angle so I created my own setup. The motor mount can tilted forward to correct plowing or back to correct porpoising. The back deck is set low in the hull to bring the thrust line closer to center. Play with battery positioning to get the best handling. For me this meant parallel to the long axis in the center of the hull. You can build this model with 1 or 2 motors. I made a blank to install in the front motor post for looks/aerodynamics. You should make the motors spin in opposite directions so they cancel out each others torque. I printed the motor mounts in ABS, and they are scaled for this. Everything else was PLA. PETG would probably work for the motor mounts if you can't print ABS. Make sure the back deck is entirely waterproof because water WILL come onto this deck at times. I used hot glue around the motor wires and epoxy around the ESC sinks. I may make another update with no notch in the transom, who knows? I printed the hull with 5% infill and 1 shell. This makes it lightweight. I then paint it which seals up any small holes. I place the empty hull in a tub of water and put some weight inside it and water test overnight. If there are no leaks I assemble. I use hot glue to seal/secure the top plates because it holds them well and allows me to easily dissemble it later if I want to. Use epoxy to join the two halves of the hull and sand it flush before you paint. Sand slowly so you don't warp the hull with heat, this can happen quickly! Use epoxy to glue the top/bottom portions of the rudder assembly together, make sure the rudders are inside before you do this! Use some epoxy or silicone in the holes in the back of the hull before you drive the screws in to make sure they are water tight. Make sure the bottom of the boat is flat, especially at the rear edge, this is the most important part of the hull. I used high build primer and block sanded the assembled model twice before the final coat of paint. This makes the bottom completely flat and you will be amazed what a difference it makes to how the boat performs. I included 2 extra back plates, one with only one esc heat sink hole, one with none so it can be customized.