Thad Allen's Apache + The Birth of the Cheetah Cat

[Steve 1]

Laying out for cutting the access panels which is the only way to work on this.

[Steve 1]

haha i thought u were going to call me awhile back????? steve, how much lighter is that than a standard glass PP????

Just looking the standard 33's they were @ 2900# that boat was a better than a 1000 pounds lighter

[Steve 1]

Access Panels cut and fairing starting soon race is getting near.Damaged photo.

[Steve 1]

I think the cat he raced in before the company...was named powerplay !!!!!

Yes the Cougar and the Coyote Both in fact the boat company started in the race shop across the street from where the factory was.

[Steve 1]

Fairing started.

[Steve 1]

Fairing the Bottom

[Steve 1]

Fairing the tunnel sides.

[Offshore Ginger]

Yes the Cougar and the Coyote Both in fact the boat company started in the race shop across the street from where the factory was.

Coyote /Sonic and a name that most people have not heard much of ........or knew about , i think . Steve , at this point in your thread i am just lurking and asking questions as you go foward and to tell you the truth i am glad to see that you have so many pics to share / everybody of what all is involved from start to finish on the build of a Cheetah Cat .

[Offshore Ginger]

Steve , seeing that you are in Dubi and.... being curious what type of fairing compound did you use ?

[Steve 1]

Steve , seeing that you are in Dubi and.... being curious what type of fairing compound did you use ?

I had my 3-M glass bubbles flown in as the filler and mixed some of the laminating resin in to keep a common backbone so to say then some white gelcoat, I could not find any wax solution in those days around there but I had styrene and paraffin so I made my own.

[Steve 1]

In 883 you can see how wide the tunnel is in this little Cat and here is a shot of the top sides getting close to longboard time and Epoxy primer, I have the Canards and linkage built, the Canopy has arrived.

[glassdave]

Steve does the tunnel on this cat have any toe in or is it perfectly linear and perpendicular? Its a very unique bottom on this boat that doesnt look like anything else i have ever seen. The sponsons look to have a pretty steep deadrise with no strakes and the flat pad (?) bottom running all the way from the tip. Great stuff man, thanks!

[Steve 1]

Steve does the tunnel on this cat have any toe in or is it perfectly linear and perpendicular? Its a very unique bottom on this boat that doesnt look like anything else i have ever seen. The sponsons look to have a pretty steep deadrise with no strakes and the flat pad (?) bottom running all the way from the tip. Great stuff man, thanks!

Dave thank you ,The Tunnel is parallel looking up from the Keels ,now the outside tunnel chine converges forward of the projected center of gravity giving that Illusion.

[Steve 1]

Dave here was a good thing about that place the Acetone was costly and hard to get so I built a couple of these with parts from a hot water tank. This simple recovery system used the natural heat cycle to circulate cooling water through the condenser. In the background we were Building a Aluminum race trailer I worked out a Profile and had the Beams extruded.

[Steve 1]

Here is the recovered Acetone we got back 60-70% evaporation plays a large role here on the loss and the crew was taught to keep the containers covered and run two batches a day,It had a good flow.

[Steve 1]

Back to the Raceboat we carried everything up to the second floor including the Engines rigged and started it,Then had the roof opened and Hoisted it out with a Crane the national race was upon us by this time, we won btw Nice prizes .The photo is the canard I cut and shaped them on a table saw and covered with 8 pieces of 5.6 oz surf board cloth and 12 layers around the control shaft feathered out into the surface.

[Steve 1]

I flew the seats in from California, We built everything around the throttle man the driver got the wheel a compass and control stick for the canards to give him something to do.

[Steve 1]

Another picture, the Dash board and the white lever in front is the stick if the linkage ever failed the control surfaces would just assume a harmless neutral position in the airflow.The rear half of the fairing had the hatch on it as well with a single aircraft pull pin retaining it.

[phragle]

Is that a mastercraft seat??

[Steve 1]

Is that a mastercraft seat??

Yes good seats Light,Tough and comfortable.