And now for something completely different.....The "Wing" has taken Flight ......
 

The Wing finally got wet yesterday...........

Special thanks to John Sherlock, Joey Imprescia, Mercury Marine, Craig Colabella, Bobby Vikingstadt, George Linder, George Yurick, Ken Kitson, Dirk "Marine Man" Pitt, DeWald props, Ryan Beckley, and the Switzer brothers (for a GREAT timeless design...that's still ahead of its time)...... for all the help on Darren's boat.

That is absolutely great! But we MUST have more details. Did John put the hammer down,or just do a shakedown run?Please tell us more. Looks to float at rest fairly level,I was concerned about that,obviously I shouldn't have been. Congrats on the Maiden voyage. Now when are you going to fly it?:drink:

Sorry,didn't look close, I guess that is you.:cool:

Looks great!

That's me............. No hammer down.....break in time on the engines and we had a major snafu with the aeleron, which should be fixed in time for the Wheeling Antique race boat regatta on Labor Day weekend.

I did get enough time in it to confirm that the hull is solid after the rebuild....and the acceleration and power is amazing.

T2x

Wow......:eek:

What will something like that run? Looks sinister as hell. :cool:

How fast?.......

Original power 2 x 135 Hp OB's and 1960's era 2 blade props...speed approx 110-120.

Current power 2 x 375 hp OB's and current era 4 blade cleavers.

Do the math.

How fast you wanna go?

It's sinister alright...

T2x

If pic #2 is a leisurely shakedown cruise,I cannot wait the see it with the hammer down.Are you controlling the aealeron manually like the old days,or hydraulic?

Kool!!!!! Haven't seen one run in years! Great job!

Very cool T2. Plans for any poker runs once it's ready?

It is a cross between the old and the new....manual/ hydraulic so I can "feel" any impact with the water. We have a bit of homework to do on it........

T2x

No Poker Runs....just Antique race boat regattas and some exhibition runs at Tunnel boat events.

T2x

Congrats!!! How long have you been working on this "project"?


Craig

Aww, come on! The Jacksonville run comes to mind. Smooth open water.

"Doing the math", that thing would be tough to keep up with.

"Original power 2 x 135 Hp OB's and 1960's era 2 blade props...speed approx 110-120."......that's :cool:

Long time coming! Congrats!!!!!!
Best of luck to you and Darren.
H

About 5 years..........

WOW, great to see her alive Rich and Darren. So, who's got a set big enought to slap the sticks to the dash and trim her out?

I just found the website for the Wheeling vintage raceboat event. That's less than 2 hrs away. See you there. :)

T2X,

Where did you find the boat? Reason why I ask, there was one in Pearland Texas at a marine repair shop in the air on a sign a few years back. Just wondering. Great job bringing the boat back to life. I would like to see some more pics when you get a chance.

Thanks
Shawn

That boat (the Pearland wing) went to John Sherlock and has since been resold..... for a LOT more than he paid for it...and is still unrestored. It was in very bad shape but because they are so rare, the values are increasing year by year.

T2x

No sticks..... foot throttle..

You don't trim a wing out...ever!!!

Remember it's a 4 point hydro....not a cat.

T2x

:cool:

Congrats Rich
Very cool, I was looking forward to the finished project since the first time I saw it.
Please keep the pics comming...its awsome.

congrats rich... i remember when you guys found that boat... it looks awesome! can't wait to hear what it runs...

my math aint so good, but somthing tell me it gonna be faster than before :)

Mazel Tov! That is one awesome looking boat. I can tell by the way you talk about it that the restoration wasn't really work, but a labor of love. Best of luck with it.

Robert

Thank you

In the picture below Linder looks on while I did some business on the phone in the cockpit.....

whats the bottom look like ?

That is a wonderful piece of history. We have many stories of the Switzer brothers testing here on the Fox River. My buddy even got a ride in the passenger seat as a kid. You have brass balls to drive that boat with those engines. It was insanely fast with the old school twin tower of power. I love it!!!!!

You don't trim a wing out...ever!!!

Remember it's a 4 point hydro....not a cat.

T2x[/QUOTE]


I thought it was a airplane wing with sponson landing gear?

I'm no good at posting links,but google "the day I flew a Switzer boat" and click the first link.The maiden voyage of the Wing from 1962 should be required reading for all high performance boat folks. Someone please put the link up,I'm computer stupid.

this one ?
http://members.cox.net/jbowman3/switzerhstry.html

It's much more complex than that........ It has a full air skirt on the outside of the hull. a 4 point bottom (2 primary contact points on each sponson), an aeleron to force air outward and under the engines ( the lower units become the aft contact points when airborne).

The first boat i owned was a switzer, kinda cool to see this!
Here's the link.

http://members.cox.net/jbowman3/switzerhstry.html

Rich, that's why I say I have 100% respect for you...your unreal and you never stop. CONGRATS!

I don't know about the math part but I'll take a guess; 150+

Very cool Rich. Wish I was still up in Jersey to get a chance to see her run. Good luck with it......Ever going to treat us to a post with all your resto pics? I remember the ones from when you got it a few years back, had tiger stripes, didn't it?

Looks good, must have been an incredible feeling to get it up on plane for the first time after the work you've put into it. Do you have to run ballast in the other cockpit and is it actually set up to have a passenger in there? just curious really.


Love the period correct Kiekhaefer sticker

We have a seat in the other cockpit...and I gleefully look forward to giving rides to eager vict.......errr.....passengers who will have the time of their lives.......:D:D...so far no volunteers.....

Right now there is an 80# ballast bag forward in that sponson but we will probably try running without it shortly, since the boat is really stable laterally (it is very wide for its length.). I also think that we can move the trim out slightly..... a little bit at a time, because you don't get a second chance if you go too far....

The engines have power trim ....and ....power lift so I can vary the prop height about 2.25 inches up or down while underway. Everything is set very conservatively for these early runs.

By the way these are 10,000 RPM engines.

Thanks Augie, I appreciate it.

You can never give up....even when you're "obsolete"......

A few of the "experts" around here (Long Island) were betting it would disintegrate on its maiden voyage.....or sink from too much weight aft. We've spent our lives proving a lot of "experts" wrong.

T2x

Where do I need to be, and when. That looks like a blast.