WOW, gotta love participants on this here For-Emm.
So the "TROUBLEMAKER" ECOTEC airboat sold today.
The buyer, a 'good old boy', has deep roots in this sport.
He saw the potential, and was happy to acquire my hot rod.

You guys be safe. I'm out.

White bear, I'm still flying my whirlybird, just not as much as I would like. I'm the lead mechanic on the local trauma helicopter here in Melbourne, and it requires a lot of my attention. Thanks for asking! Shane, I shake my head when I hear the stupid response to modern engines used in an airboat....

Hey fart, my ECOTEC runs perfect, same as always, started in two blades after sitting three months.
I'm going offshore fishing now. MUCH nicer people in that hobbie.
This is a perfect illustration of one reason I'm finished with airboats.

CHANGING HOBBIES, SELLING THE LEGENDARY COMBEE "TROUBLEMAKER".
50 CENTS ON THE DOLLAR, NEED IT GONE, CHECK THE CLASSIFIEDS.

My old Combee top rail has been torn up more than once. I drilled out the rivets in the damaged area, straightened the rail, and drilled new holes in good fiberglass. Then I through bolted with AN hardware. My rail is an aluminum extrusion, and bent back into shape easily without any signs of "crack...

Wondering if there is any chance of getting my Checkmate speed boat over the dam today? Thanks!

Wondering if there is any chance of getting over the dam with my Checkmate speed boat today?

Drain the float bowl first. Only takes a minute, maybe it's got water covering the main jet.

Break tradition, build your engine stand so you can adjust the angle with the push of a button.
That way you can "trim" the boat as needed.
It's not that hard, use a trim pump from an inboard/outboard boat, along with the trim cylinders.

Makes my neck hurt watching it

My Mom made something similar, always in a particular baking bowl, which I now have. It was layers of sliced ripe banana's, vanilla wafers, and banana pudding ( made on the stove). An egg and sugar ( I think) 'merang' was whipped up and formed a thick cap on top. Then it was cooked slowly in the ove...

Glad you figured it out, all part of the learning curve! I'm a local too, more years than I care to accept! Another excellent guy in this area, is Jim Doucette, or JD as he prefers. He is located across from the Cinema theaters on 192 west, and is good people. He treated me like a friend at my first...

I have had a puller torqued up to ridiculous ft. Lbs. with a bad ass impact, and the part wouldn't budge,
I sprayed the part with Aero Kroil and 'BAM', it came apart on its own within seconds of spraying it.
Daytona Nut and Bolt in Cocoa stocks it, or you can order on line. $25 bones a can....

No doubt, I foamed my rudders and it helped a ton. Plus I bought Lightspeed Zulu NC headsets...

So, put a number on it Mr. Wine.
The design is an abvious success.

SQD, thank you Sir. Testimony from someone who actually has prepared, experimented, and operated an ECOtec. I love mine, and it's normally aspirated. Goes anywhere I want to go.

I have had the same thing happen flying my whirlybird. About 10 feet off the deck of the south bank of the C-54 canal I was flanked by two does running along the edge of the woods, pretty cool.

Hey JB! I'm going to come see you one day, I promise. I'm so deep in this aircraft stuff I can't move. I'm out the door here in a few minutes to go fix a few more, trying to stay ahead of the list. Olfart, 'Motorhead' defines my timeline. I never played sports, thought it was a waste of time, instea...

After a 10 hour day changing a tail rotor gearbox on an EC135P2, I was sitting by the pool deck listening to the Allman Brothers with the old lady, after the sun dipped below our tree line. The toy line up in the back yard had my attention, so I strolled out to the ECOTEC airboat. I hadn't visited i...

No,no. NOT a lot of guys, ONE guy. Steve McGowen. I have 5 hours in that bird.
He is running a Ross re-drive. No longer available. Tracy Crook may still offer a re-drive.
Heavy, high EGT, high coolant temp, high fuel consumption/ Smooth, powerful, available.

Blah, blah, blah. Russ, was it 7 or 8 men standing on the deck of your heavy ass deck over barge, when you took them for a ride from a dead stop on light brown dry grass? Not to mention it will do it for hours on end without an increase in engine temperature, on WalMart gas, with parts available on ...

David, adjustable pitch would be fantastic on an airboat, I would like to see how your propeller is designed.

Fook, next time you are doing a run-up in a complex, try this for an answer to your question; bring the RPM's to say 1700, then bring the prop lever back until you see a 100 drop. Now advance the throttle. The rpm will stay at 1600 all the way to wide open. The 'governor ' is doing its job, but woul...

Forget what joe blows cousin is running.
Formulate what's best for your rig.

Of course you should add more pitch.
Start a log, listing your current data.
Add a precise small increase in pitch. Test, and add to the log.
Add a small increase in pitch, test, log your results.
Etc, etc. then make your pitch decision.