This is a Losi XXT that I got bored with. It was
snowing outside and the XXT with wheels just wouldn't do much,
so I came up with this idea. Basically I replaced the wheels
with custom made wooden skis, and placed an airplane propeller
on a motor and mounted the motor to the rear shock tower with
a motor holder. I totally removed the tranny and the swing shaft
part of the rear axles (leaving the actual axle in place). I
used a 3 blade, 5" diameter, 3.5" pitch propeller
from an airplane. I tried various other props, but this one
worked best over all. I had previously run a similar configuration
on an XXT, but with wheels, and on a dirt track. It worked fairly
well, so I decided to try it on the snow.
This car did much better on the ice than on the snow. On
the snow it just sunk in. Not enough surface area on the skiis,
I suppose. On the ice it was fast as hell, and even turned
decently. It had a tendency to do some bizarre torque steering,
where it would fly down the road sideways a little.
Run time with 1700's was not so good (like 4-5 minutes) because
I was always full power. This prop put a hefty load on a 14
triple motor. The motor stayed nice and cool though.
I attempted to stray from the pusher configuration but nothing
worked nearly as well. Placing the motor higher in the air
only raised the center of gravity and did not improve acceleration
or top speed.
You can check out what this eventually evolved into here.
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