1/8 Scale 1982 Miss Pay N' Pak Unlimited Hydroplane

[Aros]

For years ever since I was a little boy I watched the hydros on Lake Washington every August as part of the annual SeaFair tradition in the Pacific Northwest. The sound of the piston engines was of course reminiscent of the warbirds we all love. When I was a child it was all about the races between the Miss Pay N' Pak, Atlas Van Lines, Circus Circus, Squire Shop and Miss Budweiser. I loved the look of the Pay N' Pak, the white with the black and orange striping...Then in 1980 when they switched to turbines with the dual intakes I was over the moon. I vowed one day to have someone build me a fully functional 1/8 scale version of my all-time favorite, the 1982 Pay N' Pak.

I finally had the means and found the right person for the job. He did a masterful job. I only had it on the water once. Not having the space for it I decided to loan it to the Unlimited Hydroplane Museum in Kent, WA where it was on display for several years before I reluctantly sold it. I wish I had it on the water a bit more but I was just thrilled to have had it for those few years. The child within was tickled beyond belief. Anyone else into Unlimited Hydros?

[PappaBear]

I can't say that I'm into Hyro racing as such. However, I really admire the technology that goes into them even more so with the real thing. To get a boat to run on the water at speeds of 200MPH plus takes an awful lot of power and I admire the work that goes into making that happen.

The late Donal Campbell run a jet boat in the UK on Coniston Lake in Cumbria, UK in 1967. Unfortunately, the boat became airborne just over 300MPH flipped over crashed and Donald Campbell was killed. Since then the boat has been recovered from the lake and renovated to running condition again. See the link below to the story.
https://www.foxnews.com/auto/300-mph...er-fatal-crash

PappaBear

[RCGuy83]

Wow that looks great! The market could use a nice vintage hydro. As a hard core RC boater it seems like the market is a bit stale. Could you imagine if Motion got into some fast electric boats?

[Aros]

I remember seeing that footage some years back. Wow...Hydros back then didn't have the safety cockpits they do today. Not even sure new tech would have saved him, such a violent impact at tremendous speeds.

[Aros]

Wow that looks great! The market could use a nice vintage hydro. As a hard core RC boater it seems like the market is a bit stale. Could you imagine if Motion got into some fast electric boats?

I would LOVE if Motion RC started carrying fast electric hydros! I had a 1/12 nitro Miss Budweiser years ago...Only ran it a few times but they are loads of fun.




Here's Pay N' Pak driver John Walters with a 1/8 scale 1982 Pay N' Pak like mine.

[RCjetdude]

I've got one of the Proboat UL-19 hydros that Horizon put out until recently an I used to run tunnel hulls. Lots of fun when there is a group to race with.

[Aros]

Yeah that's one thing I have always wanted to do is race with others...There are clubs an hour or so from me...I might have to get out there one of these days and watch some races.

How fast could your UL-19 go Steve?

[RCjetdude]

I have hit the mid 60's with it on 6S using a prop that I sharpened myself. With a properly sharpened prop it could go faster but speed it not necessarily what's important in a race I have found. When I used to race tunnel hulls back in Oregon this old guy with the slowest boat of us all used to win all the races because the rest of us would flip over and then we got to watch him complete the rest of the laps. He called it his "Fish" boat. I did some tunnel hull racing in Gaffney, SC about 20 years ago until we lost the lake that we ran on. One guy there had a very well trimmed boat that hugged the water and was fast. Not as prone to flipping.

[Aros]

Yeah I would imagine in that hobby you would have to be either a really good swimmer or have a raft or inflatable.

On one of the runs with my Pay N' Pak, it stalled out in the middle of the lake. Luckily we were able to get a woman who was swimming laps retrieve it for us. She was submerging half of it but who was I to complain? I got my boat back without getting wet.

[Alpha]

These days, with the use of a drone, offshore rescue of capsized birds could be made much easier than having to draw straws to go swim for it! The good ol' days! Bury a magnet inside the hull along a highpoint when upright and the highpoint when capsized, and send your drone out with the opposite polarity.

Hydrofest at Pearl Harbor used to be an annual trip for us throughout the '90s. Steve David, Bernie Little, Miss Bud (over and over again)... the sound was In.cred.di.ble.

[Aros]

Now that's using the ol' noggin! That would be a pretty cool retrieval vid...

[RCjetdude]

I have also seen RC retrieval rigs made from PVC pipe and pool noodles. We used to have an aluminum boat available or take an inflatable raft. For close in retrievals a tennis ball on a spool of heavy fishing line worked good. This was before the days of drones.