27 Squadrons
 

Anyone out there know the history of the Squadron 27?? How many made?? Years?? What does the name come from ?? Why are they considered Cigarettes if Squadron was a seperate company - Other than the Don Aronow connection???. Just bought one and would like to know everything........

Eddy

thunderboatalley.com

Hang Time 27,

You purchased my old Squadron. Congrats. I loved that boat. It was bare bones when I bought it in 1996. Previous owner put a 468 with that 177 Wieand blower in it. That motor broke a rod while idling on the trailer. That was when I built that real motor. The one you own is a 540 CID with a Crower 4340 non-twist crank, Carillo rods, Merlin II Tall Deck block, etc. It should never ever break a rod again. Has the big Huber Tranny too because when I dynoed it, it made over 700 ft-lbs of Torque with that small blower ----- so be easy with that throttle hand out of the hole to keep that drive living a long life. That boat comes on plane in a heartbeat anyhow with just a little throttle. You will love the blower if you never had one before. It requires almost zero maintenance too.

When I traded it in I gave the dealer a folder full of info. explaining the engine in detail, dyno numbers, recommended maintenance and a bunch of other stuff. Also in the folder was a copy of the "Cigarette" brochure for the Squadron XII's. The 27' and 24' models. I called Cigarette when I first purchased the boat and a Mr. Smith I believe it was, dug thru the archives and faxed me the brochure for the Sqaudrons. He said "it is a Cigarette". It displays the Cigarette factory address on the brochure too.

So have fun with it - You can wear your hat at 80mph with those wind deflectors up - those high back seats work great in rough water too -- seat bottoms are Velcro'd in so go ahead and lift them up to clean under them (Velcro sounds like you are ripping something apart- but not to worry) back seat lifts up too -- little bit of storage there -- oh yeah - that folder had sketches of all the wiring - I rewired everything up front -- new gauges are Gaffrigs but the black outlined ones are OMC (from my '96 purchase). -- The dash I made myself too, out of White Acrylic -- if it you ever want to make a new one or change it, just go buy a piece of that stuff, make a cardboard template, trace it onto the paper protection on the acrylic, cut to shape, drill the Gage holes, then lay two paint stir sticks about 1 inch apart where you want to bend it, and heat the acrylic with a heatgun and bend it -- simple. So take care of the ole girl.

Squadron
 

Ah, you must be Gary Chambers...... Yea, Britt down at Carolina's Performance still had all your paperwork. I loved dealing with him, great guy. I've had my eye on squadrons for the last couple years, and saw this one on the internet a year or two ago when you were selling it -- but I wasn't ready yet!! I was planning on doing something this spring, when I saw yours advertised again. I figured November was agood time to buy. Had a 70 degree day for a test drive, and it hasn't been that warm down there since!! The paperwork was a huge help!! It was nice to know all the good stuff that was in the motor.

I was going to contact you for more info. Britt winterized the boat while I was getting funds together, and my brother towed the boat up to me on DEC 12th. They broke the seam on the steering cooler when they removed the plug (I haven't told Britt yet), and it was leaking when I first fired it up four days later, (but a friend had a spare). It was 45 degree weather, but the boat had to be "Christened" in the Cheasapeake Bay before it would officially be mine. (Tradition, my fifth boat). It ran pretty rich down in Charlotte, so I figured it could survive a cold weather run. We got it up to 82 -84 mph at almost 5200 rpm, with a scratched up 28" hydromotive that came on the boat. They run a little more like a 29" Bravo 1 four blade would, with too much transom lift for me. I'm going to be prop shopping - I've got a 28 bravo on the way. I Put about an hour on it, with all the clothes on we could wear, and got into some nice 2-3 foot chop in the Bay.

Now just yesterday, 22nd, we went out again - it was 60 - had too. Ran about a half hour and blew the lower unit!! We were in 3 footers again at steady throttle. Believe me, I was more gentle on this boat than I've ever been. I was scared of 700 lbs to a TRS !!! Coast guard just happened by and towed us in. So now I need to know what kind of experience you had with it? How many honest hours on drive? On motor? Gimble setup has nice clean paint, unlike drive, which had paint peeled off, then coated again, and again, etc. Looked like maybe the whole transom assembly was new at one time, but drive looked more like original condition. Nose cone was on for a few layers of paint, not a recent addition. You "freshened" the drive - what was done?. Gotta know how long the trs is going to live before I invest more in it - there are better gears I can try, or might have to upgrade to #3 drive............ouch - I'm outta money. By the way, even with a blown drive, I'm still in heaven!!
Eddy Reynolds 410-956-2520

I have to say that boat is gorgeous! I'd love to drool on..I mean see more pictures.

Brian

very nice looking boat!

Eddy -

There was another 27 Squadron on the Chesapeake bay. I owned it in the late '80's then sold it to Kenny Boss who later resold it to another guy on the bay. There are nice boats, you'll have a great time with it!

Squadrons
 

Barry,

Great to hear from you. I think you are the reason I now own this boat.

When I saw a squadron for the first time, I believe it was at the offshore races on the Cheasapeake Bay sometime in the late 80's, I fell in love. It must have been yours!! I only ever saw it one more time, but knew I would get one eventually. It was nice and low like the 20' ers, but had all that bow....It had the length you need for the bay, but was not too big to trailer, or require two motors and drives, (I'm pretty hard on stuff, so twins just means twice as much stuff to fix!!)and nothing else looked like it....

It must have been your old boat that was for sale for two years until last spring. I don't know where it went now. 2 Friends looked at it last year near the Kent Narrows Bridge, but didn't buy. I wasn't ready till now, so I couldn't stand to even go look at it. When I did check on it this fall, it was gone.

This one has been painted. It was originally two color gelcoat, Blue and Red, and came from NY to NC to me. The wind fairing and full width rear hatch are foam cored. More pics.........

Thanks.............Eddy R.

squadrons
 

Since everyone seems to be thirsty for pics. Here's one that shows how long and low these things are......... Eddy.

Hang Time is your TRS Drive Right Hand or Left? If it is Right you may want to consider changing the rotation (different prop shaft) a Lefty is stronger because the lower gear is up in the front of the vertical shaft and it does not deflect the propshaft as much. P.S. that is a fine looking boat I have the JR Version of it 20' Cig

Rob

Rob,

Thanks, I hadn't heard that yet. Unfortunately I'm already a left hand. I have two friends with 20'ers, they're both blue sides - look like twins when they're out. Love 'em - I've always been amazed at the size of the water those things can run hard in!! The hulls are 100% bullet proof...................

Eddy -

If yours is the one I'm thinking of, it was stored at Everglades Marina for quite a few years. It had a star in the middle of the stripe on the dock. I think I have a picture in a book with Don Aronow driving it. I also have the original leather wrapped wheel from my 27.

Wheres the "Everglades Marina" ?? Excuse my ignorance

Everglades Marina was on 17th Street in Fort Lauderdale and was one of the top Apache and Cigarette dealers back in the 80's and early 90's. Ralph Martin and Norville Staley owned it. Ralph ran it with his sons Tres and Glen. Ralph left to form Martin Marine and Tres formed Martin Offshore. Norville passed away and it closed.

Barry,

Do know which book that pics in? Did you ever hear what the final count was on how many squadrons were built??

Happy New Year!!!!!!...........almost

Eddy

Eddy -

It's in one of three books; Blue Thunder, Muscle Boats, or The King of Thunderboat Row. If you can't find it, I'm in Baltimore during the week, so you can see my copy. I believe they made up to about two dozen. I just thought of another one that was in Maryland a long time ago. When my buddy Bill Schaefer had Satin Doll (the first '38 Cig) in Ocean City, there was a guy who had an all white 27 Squadron called 'Hustler'. He would go out in the ocean and run with us until Bill hit the throttles hard (Satin Doll had twin fuel injected 496's running on 100 octane aviation fuel) That would have been 1979 and 1980.

It`s in 'King of Thunderboat Row'

That's the one Biggus! When I saw it in around 1986, it was not operational and I believe Everglades was selling it for storage expenses. If you know Miami, you can tell that shot was taken a little bit below Cigarette just south of the Sunny Isles boulevard bridge on the way to Haulover cut.

Hang time- Congrats, that's a gorgeous boat!

Gary Chambers- You are a true offshore enthusiast!

Brian

Damn, you guys are alright...........!

Thats the exact color scheme this boat was - you can see the gelcoat color through the 'glass up under bow, and on various nicks in different areas of the boat. I couldn't figure out why I was seeing blue gel on the sides, and red gel on the bottom as if it were bottom paint. Well that picture explains it!! Gonna have to snag that book.........

I did see a firefox on this site with the same two color gelcoat......

I just might have to contact someone down south to see if any records remain for the hull ID # they had down there. That would be pretty sweet if the DON actually drove this thing.................

thanks again! Eddy