Wings?

[2us70]

Could you wing pilots out there please explain just how you go about flying one of those things? I was around them for several years but never even sat in one. They were always something of a mystery to me.

[RogerH]

Could you wing pilots out there please explain just how you go about flying one of those things? I was around them for several years but never even sat in one. They were always something of a mystery to me.

I'm certainly not the most qualified person on this BB to explain this, but have recent experience restoring and driving Miss Diablo 3 at various APBA Vintage & Historic events. This boat has been run at Gravenhurst Ontario, Rideau Ferry Ontario, Clayton NY and several times at Tavares FL since it's rebuild.

The Switzer Wing comes in two lengths 18' and 20'. It technically is a 4-point hydroplane, with a tunnel running between the two "sponsons". There is a controllable flap at the end of the tunnel, or end of the wing. The hull section above the tunnel has the shape of a wing, and that will provide enough lift, at speed and with the flap closed, so the hull will "fly" on the two prop-shafts. This lift comes into play at about 65 MPH, but that speed is very dependent upon the boat's overall weight and balance. As the boat begins to lift, there is a pronounced speed increase and noticable noise and vibration reduction as the hull loses contact with the water. The hull will continue to "fly" for a considerable distance once the throttle is reduced and the flap returned to normal. The hull can not be turned ( in a controlled manner - lol) till the hull has settled back in the water. The Wings were not the best cornering boats, hence Dust-N the Wind and Diablo have fins installed on the inside surfaces of the front sponsons. This shot of Dust-n the Wind, at the 2011 OFF event at Cadillac's place on the Port St. Lucy canal, describes it all best in my opinion! This is definitely a "Bucket List Ride" if you haven't experience this before.
There should be three Wings "flying" at the Tavares FL V&H / OFF event this coming November 13-15th. Dust-n the Wind, Thunderball, & Miss Diablo 3.

[2us70]

I knew they were difficult to turn because I shared race courses with them back in the day. If I got to the entry buoy of a turn inside of a wing in my SE boat I usually got out of the turn with a gap. The nerve wracking part was having a couple of them with stacks overtaking you in rough water. You could hear them coming but you sometimes couldn't take the time to look back to see where they were. You just had to hold your line and hope Gene was in one of them.

[willabee]

...... You just had to hold your line and hope Gene was in one of them.

What a great comment and compliment .....it sure put a smile on my face

[GENE LANHAM]

I knew they were difficult to turn because I shared race courses with them back in the day. If I got to the entry buoy of a turn inside of a wing in my SE boat I usually got out of the turn with a gap. The nerve wracking part was having a couple of them with stacks overtaking you in rough water. You could hear them coming but you sometimes couldn't take the time to look back to see where they were. You just had to hold your line and hope Gene was in one of them.

Thanks for the compliment, Jim. You remember that I ran for years in the 44" class. But when I graduated to the Wing, the race course got MUCH larger.

One exception was at Havasu---the NW turn, I found myself inside Rasini in a Moli single---my thoughts were "whats he doing there?" We bumped---Carlo was not very happy---

[2us70]

So I know the wings ran without power trim and with the motors pretty tucked under and low on transom height. So I am guessing that the flap was used for trim/ altitude control. Did you need to use differential throttle control to get them to turn?

[GENE LANHAM]

Did you need to use differential throttle control to get them to turn?

Retarding a throttle never worked for me. Those cute little fins that Rich and Roger have are probably the answer. I always wanted to put a large removable fin like the 7 Liters were using.---and Rich has the advantage of HORSEPOWER/TORQUE---to get the hull back up to speed---

[shadowcat]

Gene- as I recall didn't you have a small fin on yours at one point?

[GENE LANHAM]

Gene- as I recall didn't you have a small fin on yours at one point?

Hi Ted----some of the 18's came out of Crystal Lake with a 1" x 1" x 15" piece of 6061-T6 angle---attached to the stbd. hull, aft of the step. It was not very effective--

[GENE LANHAM]

So I know the wings ran without power trim and with the motors pretty tucked under and low on transom height. So I am guessing that the flap was used for trim/ altitude control.

Hi Jim----the motors tucked under---and design of the props kept the tail up---and the nose down. But---at air speeds above 80/85, there is an angle of attack that the aerodynamics can produce more lift than weight. And as the angle of attack increases, the center of lift moves forward.
The elevator/flap gives the driver some control of the angle of attack---

[2us70]

Does this mean you can include your Switzer Wing time in your log book?

[2us70]

So you use the flap to keep the stern up to stay sort of level? Doesn't this add drag? Is this drag the boats limiting factor for speed? If you put enough power on it will it just go fast enough to blow over anyway?

[GENE LANHAM]

So you use the flap to keep the stern up to stay sort of level? Doesn't this add drag? Is this drag the boats limiting factor for speed? If you put enough power on it will it just go fast enough to blow over anyway?

The limiting factor would be the original design of the boat.----Being able to control the lift---common problem in boats, cars, airplanes----Indy cars have tremendous aerodynamic 'downforce', but if they get backward on the track at over 200---they can blow over----

[Coupe427]

Almost sounds to me that if you put enough power to it that the boat would create enough lift that you would eventually run out of enough flap to keep it flat and the boat would actually fly high enough to pull the props out of the water.

I would love to see one of these run one day. They are an awesome hull and very interesting design and concept.

[lilabner]

Almost sounds to me that if you put enough power to it that the boat would create enough lift that you would eventually run out of enough flap to keep it flat and the boat would actually fly high enough to pull the props out of the water.

I would love to see one of these run one day. They are an awesome hull and very interesting design and concept.

Rich's boat "Dust in the Wind" has double the horsepower of anything that ran back in the 60's. Come to Tavares in Nov and you can see hopefully three..

see the photo in post #2