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CLASSIC THUNDER NEWS |
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The Classic Thunder News page has been established as a place to view breaking stories within and around the growing Classic Thunder community. If you have any news to share, let us know. It doesn't have to be related to the club or even our hobby. Feel free to attach a picture to go along with your news. Just e-mail me in the newsroom at hydroscale@gmail.com.
************************************************************* John Twitchell's Miss U.S. completed
New CT member, John Twitchell, recently took delivery of a brand new 1970 Miss U.S from Craig Bradshaw at West Coast Custom Boats. It's an understatement to say he's pleased with the results. It's been a long project that began with a plan to build the '68 Miss Bardahl. When the registration was no longer available, he had to make a switch. I'd say he made a good one. Who doesn't like a bright red boat?! Needless to say, John is thrilled that he can finally go racing and we hope to see him out on the water with his new boat soon, having some fun with it and getting some wheel time. John, the boat looks beautiful! We can't blame you for being excited.
Tousley's Kai refurb completed We've received updates along the way from John Tousley on he progress of his Hawaii Kai III refurbish job and are pleased to report that it is now done! The boat was a group effort and John wants to thank Danny Minalia and Mark Beatty for all of there help with the project. As you can see, it turned out fantastic. The boat is beautiful! Nice job guys. Can't wait to see thie "Pink Lady" back on the water again!
New members, Ron Fox and Brent Edinger have been busy too Hi there, during this pandemic I had serious vision loss but thanks to the University of Washington Retina Center, my vision was saved and most has come back. I tested out my boat, My Gypsy. it had a problem planing out but with some club member advice, the problem was solved. It’s ready, so I am currently finishing up my 1937 Oldsmobile. I had to go the hot rod route because there was so much of it missing, and impossible to find. The car was found it in a field near Spokane. It was being used for target practice. It kept me busy! Looking forward to meeting you all in person, regards. - Ron Fox
Here's my car project, while we're on the subject. Check it out on YouTube, a unique 1968 V-12 Mustang. - Brent Edinger
Here's what else Curt has been up to As everyone knows what a recluse i am and shy,... I thought I would go first and share what I have been up to. Like many of you, I have been tinkering on my boats and trying to fix all those niggling problems that drive us nuts. Finally figured out why my Ur-5 kept quitting out on the lake here. Turns out the radio and receiver had a bonding problem AND an interference problem as I had this cool looking chrome tape on the receiver... BAD idea... which had metal in it... Live and learn. I have also been converting old boats to fast electric. I have two dumas boats. An Atlas blue blaster and a SK-Daddle 40 Ski Boat i built for my brother ages ago. I'm now in the process of taking the old nitro engines out and putting in brushless motors in. It's a challenge but tinkering is what i love the best about model building. After that I happened to find an old Evinrude 9.9hp outboard that someone didn't want and am rebuilding it for my nephew to use on a fishing boat. I'm not great at this but my brother (and engine builder) is teaching me so learning a new skill. He helped me rebuild the motor on my 1957 VW Bug which i am back to working on after a long hiatus (and odd problems with it to solve) so hope over the winter to get it running. Last but not least, because I had the summer racing season off and am now fully retired, I decided to get back on stage and pursue acting again. I had heard that due to the virus that theaters and museums like our beloved hydroplane museum were closed and struggling and were trying to come up with ways to continue without visitors and audiences. A theater in our area called "Olympic Theater Arts" proposed an idea to do old time radio shows and put the word out to see what the interest level might be and see if it would work. I auditioned and put my acting resume in and was fortunate to get a part in a show called "Fibber McGee and Molly" a husband and wife comedy duo in the 40's. The theater decided to Video the show as well so that audiences can click on a link and watch these short 20 minute "radio shows". We did 6 episodes and three are out now FREE of Charge!!! on the OTA website. SO! If you are interested (Or just really bored) and would like to watch me and fellow actors do "Old Time Radio/Video" you can watch them at https://olympictheatrearts.org Hopefully the links work, if not just let me know. Hope you are all staying healthy, and safe. Looking forward to club activities and discussions with you all. Cheers! - Curt
Chuck has a new boat in his stable
64 Notre Dame in the works
Winged Wonder takes flight
This 75 Pay'N Pak was recently built by Mitch Dillard as a "for fun" project to relieve idle hands and reduce his pandemic fatigue. Even though he doesn't hold the registration for the boat in CT, it's been one he's wanted for several years and has always liked. He's happy just to have it to look at. George Henley drove this iconic boat. Mitch met him some years ago and found him to be one of the nicest people in the sport's history. When George passed away a few years back, he knew he wanted to build it. The project turned out even better than he figured it would. Though in its first test, it was obvious that the weight balance was way off, the boat looks great. He has already made some adjustments and is itching to get back out and see if they helped. Even though he may not be racing the boat, it was a ton of fun building it and even more fun to see it on the water. Pete's 7-Eleven hits the water
Recently, Pete Schille, got the idea in his head to convert his Division 2 champion Miller American into one of his favorite all-time boats, the 85 7-Eleven. He went through the effort of sanding it down, rebuiliding the ram wing section, fitting new cowlings to the boat and giving it a new paint job. The boat looks like it's going fast on the boatstand and it's still a bullet on the water. It looks great and willl be a tough one to compete with when we get back to racing. He has a few small detail things to complete still but it looks like it's ready to roll. Nice work Pete!
Meet the Baby Bootlegger
The vintage boat, Baby Bootlegger started out as a beautifully detailed, mahogany, static model that Jeff Howard saw being auctioned and had to have. It's now a fully functional seaworthy RC boat. Jeff had to gear it up, and what better gear to put in it but his vintage Astroflight 25 brushed motor from the old days in CT. The boat has an old style look and cruising propeller underneath and will be sporting two action figures in the cockpit when they get seatbelts. The finish on the boat is gorgeous and it looks really cool on the water. Jeff bent some more pitch into the stock prop and it really brought it to life. It was a lot of fun to see it run. It's so different than what we've grown used to. It's a classic vintage speedboat. Can't wait to see what he does with it next. If we're lucky we'll get to see it again soon. Mike Krone's been busy
Tousley updates on the Hawaii Kai III renovation
Thriftway Too gets a truck and trailer
Curt's been at it again. He's been back in his shop messing around. This time he decided to make a truck and trailer setup for his 62 Thriftway Too. He built it out of spare parts he had in the shop plus a cab that he found online. The bed is made of soldered 1/2" copper pipe and PVC downspout ends cut in half were used for fenders. He'll probably build a box trailer for hauling parts, but for now it's a flatbed that carries engines like Mike Krone's Design 360 Turbo Allison and a V8 model engine. The truck driver is one of Craig Bradshaw's formed drivers with an action figure jacket. He had a fun time tinkering and fabricating on this project. It's what he does!
Ken Duncan is making driver figures
Latimer's at it again
Curt's Prather Lap Cat Project
Mercruiser status update
The Miss Mercruiser made her maiden voyage. Curt Whit shared some photos of the completed craft and here they are. This is his first completed wood and fiberglass boat and after some the initial test on a windy day, he reports that she handles pretty well. She had a tendancy to lift the right sponson a little down the straigtaways but he's happy that it ran well right off the workbench. We're certain there will be more news from Curt soon. Curt's trophy creations and CT trophy inventory update
Tousley Shop News
Pete turn 30!
Return of the Bubble Bud to CT
Update on Curt's Mercruiser project
New boat out of the Heilbrunn shop
Update from Gentleman Jim
Curt's Edge project completed
Mike Krone finishes Arcadian, looking for new build suggestions for Division 2
Chuck's Miss Houston completed We got a message from Chuck Murray. We think he's still down in Arizona. All is well and he has got his new Miss Houston finished and ready to run. I haven't heard yet whether or not he has had it on the water for testing but perhaps we'll get another update from him along the way. For now, here's a picture of the finished project.
Mitch's rescue boat project completed!
This is what happens when a model boat guy like Mitch Dillard has too much time on his hands at home. It's a Camo Coast Guard Cutter Catamaran with electric ducted fan vector steering, a parts pick up net and working cherry lights! The basic design was inspired by the catamaran Jeff Howard built and successfully tested last year. Mitch's rescue craft was tested last month in Fife and seemed to work pretty well. Mitch has now programmed reverse into the ESC and added PVC conduit to the deck and ran wiring extentions from the radio receive box to the lights. He found some old cans of white, flat black, theree camo colors and clear satin paint, leftover red vinyl sheet and blue vinyl striping tape and went to work on the paint scheme. The black 1" vinyl letters and Coast Guard logo stickers were found for sale online at little cost. It's all in good fun, but it's functional too. The vessel numbers 4339 are his, his wife's and two kids' birthdates. His wife, Lynda, says there needs to be a siren or horn but that is beyond Mitch's capabilities, only having three channels on the radio system....so far. If we don't get back to racing soon, who knows what kind of trouble we boat guys can get into. News from the Heilbrunn boat shop
What has Tim been working on? Some of you may be wondering what Tim Anderson has been doing in his boat shop. Well, now we know. He's been cleaning up and updating some things on both of his boats. His 1980 Circus Circus received a new set of drive shaft bushings. He has also done some work on the rear wing. He's looking forward to getting out to do some testing. Tim has also done some work cleaning up his 1960 Nitrogen Too. It appears that he's been playing around with a 3D printer and recently finished work on a creating a dummy Allison V-12 for it. It's his first one but he thinks it turned out nicely. I would have to agree. Who knows what Tim will create next with his new toy. Progress on the Arcadian
A new Stroh Light
Boat sightings in Fife
What's Brandon been up to
We got a message from Brandon Sano with an update his projects. He has also been busy. He's got a new 2000 Kv motor and 150 Seaking amp ESC in the 99 Madison. It's ready to go. He has got the Weisfield's geared up for Division 2, but it's still go a wild ride and could use some more test time. He's also itching to get on the water with his recently finished 1:8 scale 1980 Budweiser backup boat. On top of that, he's keeping his skills sharp playing a VRC Pro A RC computer simulator in mostly 1/8 on-road and 1/10 touring cars. He hopes everyone is having a safe time and looks forward to seeing club members again. Another project for Curt
Curt White has shared yet another project that he's got a plan to complete after the hydros are done. He has had an electric outboard motor in his posession for many years and decided to get a boat to pair with it. His choice is a Prather Lap Cat tunnel hull. This should make for a fun project for him and another piece of equipment to play around with. Curt's going to have his hands full with all of these projects. New Such Crust hits the water
Skip-A-Long launched and tested
Andy Gese gets his first laps driving the Such Crust IV
Jim Latimer has some projects going
This guy's been busy Our resident busy bee, Curt White, is constantly at work in his shop on different projects. Curt shared a little bit of the boat activity he's been up to recently. He has been making a few fixes to the bottom of his '60 Thriftway Too, working on sprucing up the beautiful Blue Chip that he bought, getting ready to put some paint on his brand new Edge hydroplane that he received from builder, Craig Bradshaw and framing up his own build, the Mercruiser U-200 based on a framing kit that Nels Enquist gave him. Wow, that's a lot of projects to be working on at the same time. Something tells me that Curt spends a lot of time in his "Happy Place" out in the shop and will do just fine getting all of these boats finished.
Chuck Murray working on a new boat
Bil-Der sold to Ken Duncan
Champion Miss Bardahl sold to John Tousley
Effective March 18, 2020 Notice to the Membership regarding club activities as a result of the Coronavirus
Pandemic After a Classic Thunder (CT) Executive Committee conversation via e-mail and a few phone calls, it has been decided that all planned club gatherings shall be suspended for the time being. This suspension is effective immediately and includes cancellation of the remaining organized test sessions in Fife and cancellation of the first two races scheduled for the 2020 racing season. Moving forward, as we get more information about the spread of the COVID19 virus, we will re-evaluate the situation. (click to view entire letter in pdf format) To stay informed on the facts of COVID-19 and what we should be doing and avoiding, visit:
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Pete Schille
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Well, just when he thought he was out of projects, along game a new one. Jim Latimer has started another refurbish job. We haven't seen this boat for a very long time. It's the Miss Liberty! Pete Schille 
I guess Curt must have had some time on his hands recently as he's finishing all kinds of projects. The latest (that we know about) is the Prather Lap Cat Tunnel that he recently finished painting and putting graphics on. The color combination really pops. He had a brushless outboard motor laying around in the box so he decided to get himself the tunnel hull to put it on. It looks great! He had fun using graphics odds and ends he had squirelled away for years to create what he had invisioned. He added a Turnigy ESC that he won at one of our races and a Star Wars pilot figure and it was ready to go. He likes how it looks on the water and it's a lot of fun to drive too. As always Curt, thanks for sharing.
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Last year Curt White surprised us with a very cool Division 1 perpetual trophy for the CT Bill Muncey Cup. Curt is always working on something in his workshop. The club is in the process of trying to locate and take inventory of all of our perpetual trophies so that we can see what we still need to create for the regular races we have. Curt has given us yet another surpise by this year creating a Division 2 and 3 trophy for the Muncey Cup as well. We appreciate all of the work he's put into not only creating these original works of art, but for always looking for ways to help the club and bring smiles to the membership. He had meant to present them this year at the race, but the pandemic put an end to that. He thought it would be a good time to show them to us and keep things positive. He was right, thanks Curt! We're looking forward to 2021 and will continue to keep our heads up and prepare until we again have the opportunity to get together responsibly and safely as a club and put some boats on the water. FYI, I think we've been ablle to locate all of the perpetuals we have except for three. Please keep an eye out for the Division 1 Silver Cup trophy, the Division 2 Seafair trophy and the Divison 3 Atomic Cup trophy, let us know if you have any of them or if you know where we might find them, thanks.
About a month or so ago, we got some news from John Tousley. We have been behind on a few postings, but here it is. John has owned the 57 Hawaii Kai III for some time now and decided to strip it down for a major refurbish job. He's put a ton of work into it and it looks like it's coming along nicely. Hopefully he will send us some updates as the project moves along. Thanks for sharing, John and we look forward to seeing the Kai back in working order soon. )
30 is just a number, but it's a fantastic one when you're talking about Classic Thunder co-founder, Pete Schille. 
It's finally done and we're getting a look at Curt White's completed U-5 Edge for the first time. The boat took about a year and a half to finish. Builder, Craig Bradshaw put in a lot of time in developing this on of a kind hull and Curt is grateful for all of his work and that he is able to run it in CT. He hopes to get it out on the water this week for a shake down and to send some photos of it on the water. You can see that it's a beauty and why Curt is so excited about it. He hope all of us are staying healthy and busy. His next goal is to get his Mercruiser project finished. 
David Heilbrunn is another busy CT builder this off season. He's finished up work on three new boats and is working on adjustments on another. Let's start with the new ones. He started out with a new 1996 Smokin' Joe's and 1997 Close Call for Division 3. It sounds like Smokin' Joe's will be his primary boat and he may be open to finding a new owner for the Close Call if anyone's is looking for a boat for Division 3. The jury is still out on that. He didn't stop there. David is now going to start competing in Division 1 and will do so with his new 1960 Gale V
We just received an update from Mike Krone's shop. He's got a very cool project going over in Covington. Mike has been working on the very unique 1987 Arcadian. The real boat was powered by 
eight Mercury engines and appears to be part hydroplane and part hydroplane in its design. Krone is known for picking obscure boats to build and this has to be one of the more interesting of his choices. As you can see, he's doing a great job on it and has just finished cutting out his vinyl graphics and is in the process of finishing work on the cowling. This is one I can't wait to see put in the water. Nice job Mike!
Over the last weekend a few of us ventured back to Fife to try and get in a little more testing before vegetation takes the place over for the warmer months. There were several small clumps of lillipads to avoid when possible, but it wasn't too bad. 
We were greeted by a few other surprises when we showed up. It turns out we weren't the only ones who were itching to get out and run boats. A group of RCU members were on hand, parked next to Levee Road on the other side of the pond. We shared time on the water with a few 1:8 scale nitro boats. There was a Miss Cott Beverage, a Pete's Wicked Ale and a brand new Llumar Window Film. Though he didn't run his 1:8 scale boat, our very own Brandon Sano had his 1:10 scale Madison out and running well. He also did some laps with his Weisfields and is getting it dialed in nicely. It looked just a bit flighty, but fast. Brandon also showed up with a massive Checkerboard Bardahl for the Gas Scale class of racing. This thing was almost as tall as he was and is powered by a super torquey Zenoah engine. You could tell that the pond was way too small to open it up gradually, so half throttle was about all that he could manage without popping the nose up on sudden acceleration. I'd love to see that thing on open water where it can gain speed over a longer distance. .jpg)
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This last weekend, a few of us headed out to Fife to get some boats wet. We exercised flawless social distancing and kept everything safe. Andy Gese was on hand and got his first taste of driving the Such Crust IV. This long twin-engine, Detroit river boat was originally built, owned and driven by Jeff Howard. Andy has made a few of his own tweeks to the boat and they look to be working. We think he plans on trying out a three-bladed prop on it. We'll keep you posted on any other developments in Andy's stable of boats. I wonder if he has already said goodbye to the Adios? 
At the end of the 2019 season, Mitch Dillard's 1957 Miss Bardahl stood atop the season points table and became the Division 1 champion. Mitch had plans to build a new boat for 2020 and has just completed it. The Bardahl went up for sale and within a day, found it's new owner. John Tousley has added the boat to his stable. He "wanted to keep the boat in the club" and was successful in doing so. John is considering whether to sell one of his other boats. 
