Radio controlled powerboats are one of the most popular range of remote controlled toys amongst kids today. Powerboats operate in basically the same way as all RC toys do - through the use of a hand-held remote controller which sends transmission signals to an inbuilt receiver on the powerboat, enabling the operator to adjust the speed and change the direction in which the powerboat is moving. There are 2 types of RC powerboats - toy-grade and hobby-grade. The toy-grade RC powerboat is the basic simple model which is less powerful than the hobby-grade RC powerboat. You may either buy a ready-to-run (RTR) RC powerboat, or opt to assemble your own from scratch using an RC kit.The radio controlled powerboat is the most popular RC boat amongst RC boating enthusiasts. These may either be powered by motors or engines, and its range includes racing boats and sport boats. Sport boats are easy to operate and a lot of fun to play with. Sports boats are not primarily selected for their speed. As such, they are ideal for racing in small ponds or large swimming pools. On the other hand, racing boats require more skill in operating them in order to make them race faster.
Hobby-grade RC powerboats may be powered electrically or through the use of gas engines or nitro engines. Similar to RC cars, electric RC powerboats function through the use of brushed or powerful brushless motors. Electric RC powerboats are generally less expensive to operate and much easier to maintain than the radio controlled boats which are powered by gas. They are also cheaper and come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
The speed of the nitro powered RC boats is enhanced by the glow engine. Standard nitro engines are water-cooled, as opposed to the nitro engines in radio controlled airplanes and cars which are air-cooled. The cooling system involves the entry of water through a tube underneath the boat, which then passes back out of the boat through a cooling head on the cylinder. In the process, the water takes away heat from the engine.
Gas powered RC powerboats have a gasoline powered 2-cycle engine which is similar to the engines found in gas-powered weed trimmers and leaf blowers. The gas engine is normally used in the bigger RC boats as it tends to be larger than the typical nitro engine. For this reason, it is not advisable to play with a gas powered boat in a swimming pool. Gas powered radio controlled boats are normally more expensive to buy and more complicated to maintain, in comparison to the nitro powered boats. However, gas powered boats are relatively less expensive to operate than the nitro powered boats due to the fact that gasoline costs less than nitro fuel.
