DTFB airboat using mini powerpod

So I know this isn't a plane, but it's cold right now in Michigan. There is snow on the ground and it's pretty windy. Not the best conditions for flying. The other day a flying friend of mine started talking about how fun it would be to build some small airboats to run on the snow. Challenge accepted! Less than 24 hours after sitting down with my computer sketching it up in CAD, I had a functional prototype. A day later I had a second revision that I feel is good enough to share. 

The boat is 18" long and around 11" wide. 1.5 sheets of foam to build it. It uses the FT Mini Power Pod so it's technically "swappable." One 9g servo for steering and a 1000mah lipo for power. This little guy is a bullet! Lots of fun and takes a little skill to keep it on the ground at times. That said, it's quite tough and can really take a beating. We rolled it many times and it just kept going. 

Below are a few finished pics as well as a video of the original test run with the first boat. Due to it being foam board, I have a hard time calling it a "boat" as it hasn't seen water. I think if it's glued well and covered with minwax it would be waterproof and float. This would also be the perfect candidate to try out the new waterproof foam board that FT just came out with. I hope to get my hands on a few sheets to give it a try! 

Here is a picture of the overall finished boat. The bottom deck is a single sheet that fold around an internal frame for structure. Keeping it a single sheet also give it less seems for water intrusion. The top and bottom sheets are "keyed" with tabs on the internal frame to make assembly easy. 

Here you can see a view of the back. It uses a single rudder which has plenty of deflection to help steer. Two BBQ sticks are used to make the motor mount more rigid. 

A single 9g servo is used in the top deck to steer the rudder. The verticle "leg" is formed like a wing with a fold over technique. This leaves a channel down the middle for wires and also makes it more aerodynamic. This shows the FT mighty mini power pod installed. I'm using an 1806 T motor on it with either 5 or 6" props. There is also a little hatch in the top to access to wires when inserting the power pod.

Here is the deck hatch. Inside I have my receiver and battery. The ESC could also be mounted here if there were wire extensions made to connect othe motor to it. The internal frame has lots of openings so the battery can be placed in different "compartments" to shift the CG for better balance based on the surface its driven on. Further back for water, further forward for grass or snow to help keep the nose down. 

Here is a video showing some of the intial test runs and a few out in the snow. 

All in all, its a great little boat that is built really tough. It was really designed it for use in winter on the snow so sealing it up wasn't a huge concern. If the intent is to run on water, try and seal all the seams really well with glue as well coat the whole thing either in packing tape or using the minwax treatment method. It would also be a good idea to add a "lip" to the electronics hatch to help keep out water. I'm pretty excited to try the new water proof FT foam on it and see how that goes. I would also make sure all the electronics are water proofed. FT did a great video on both minwax sealing as well as water proofing. 

CAD file of the plans

Mini Airboat 18in DXF file