Entrop rudder

Here is an interesting thing to start with:

The very unusual rudder mounted off of the steering bar of one of Hu Entrop's racers from around 1960.

Seems like Gerry Walin was known as "The Phantom"...he was small in statur but big on Huevos (BALLS)....Leonard Keller could write a book on a 3 X 5 piece of paper...(on the back of his invoice for a speedo or a throttle...He always kept us up to date with the north east...He always called Gerry "The Phanton"...he typed neatly...

I don't know this as a fact, but we learned that an off set fin was faster than a fin in the middle of the bottom...the fin caused a turbulance in front of the prop...

I'm assuming, that "The Phanton", who was breaking kilo records before Hugh Entrop.....and I saw his rudders, figured that by cutting the skeg off and raising the gearcase out of the water...that a rudder, would be less drag...

Walin went nearly 100 with a "B" (350) in the late 1950's....

ADD TOO:

These "CABOVERS" had a ton of lift in them...the bow would lift, pre power trim, and the driver's weight would balance the boat, cause the tail to "POP" and prop ride...even if the gearcase wasn't high, once you were prop riding, the back of the boat was maybe four inches out of the water....without a rudder, you'd have no control...

Seems like Ron Anderson or Lee Sutter would be some of the few still alive that "HUNG" with "The Phantom"...mayb Dickie Ruetenburg, too...

Come on...you Seatle guys...let's hear from you!!!

ADD;

This was early Entrop, pre pipes....guessing 1960...

This story was taken from http://www.seattleoutboard.org/ under the Feature Articles folder the pictures can be seen on their website.

The Fine Art of Prop Riding
As developed by Hugh Entrop

In the late 1950's, one of the most prominent competitors in Seattle Outboard Association was Hugh Entrop, of Seattle. Hugh was by profession a model builder for the Boeing Company, who started designing and building his own race boats. The contemporaries of Entrop reads like a who's-who of that era of boat racing. Ted Jones and Entrop discussed boat design, C.W. "Doc" Jones helped with engines, and along with Doc Jones came the expertise of his acquaintances, such as Charles Strang and Jack Leek. The combined braintrust, plus Entrop's own knowledge and driving skills all led Hugh Entrop to be the first American driver to crack the 100 mile-per-hour barrier in an outboard powered boat of his own design.

RX-3, June 7 1958

On June 7, 1958, Entrop piloted a boat of his own design, powered by a Mercury Mark 75, 6-cylinder outboard to a speed of 107.8 miles per hour through Lake Washington's East Channel. The Lakeside home of Ted Jones was used as the center for the record-breaking attempt. The motor was essentially stock, with modifications only to the ports, and cylinder pads, or 'rickies' added.

Two years later, Entrop was back with another record attempt. This time, the engine used was a 90 cubic-inch Evinrude V-4, being pushed by a special lower unit designed and built by Randolph "Pep" Hubbell. Hugh's new boat designed required kicking the engine "in" by six degrees, moving more of the weight further back, plus utilizing a 1-1/2 to 1 'step-up' gear. This functioned as a gear within a gear, so that the powerhead was turning the large gear which had teeth on its inside, while the gear turning the prop shaft sat on the back side, turning at faster rate due to its smaller size. This played directly into the strength of the V-4, which had lots of torque, but was light on top end. The 1-1/2 to 1 step up gear delivered top speed directly to the propeller. This unique combination of gearing, propeller technology, and constant refinements of the hull design netted the first true 'Prop Riding' racing outboard.

Starflite Too--Prop Riding!

These two photos of the Starflite Too were taken at Lake Havasu in March of 1960, when Entrop raised the record to 114.6 miles per hour.

Starflite Too--Another view

(and people wonder why they're called hydroplanes!)

The Starflite Too's record lasted a mere five weeks, until another SOA driver, Burt Ross, reclaimed the record for Mercury running a 60-cubic inch, six cylinder engine on an outboard hydro through Lake Washington's East Channel. Ross and the Mercury team ran over 115 miles per hour.

The final boat that Entrop personally set a record in was the Starflite III. Based on the success of Starflite Too, the III was longer and narrower in the front. One of the most unique features of the III was that there were sections of the front end which were removable, as well as adjustable (though not while underway). Frontal areas of the boat could be raised or lowered to alter the hull's lift, or removed altogether, creating an early form of a pickle fork design. Though the hull had the capability to be extensively modified, this hull (and its eventual successor, the Starflite IV) never utilized these modifications. The reason? Simply enough, the boat performed so well in its "stock" configuration, Entrop and the Evinrude team saw no reason to change it.

On September 16th 1960, The Starflite III shattered Ross' existing record of 115, averaging 122.979 miles per hour through the traps. With better water, the record would have been set over 125 miles per hour.



Entrop's final record-breaking boat was the Starflite IV, which he co-designed and built with the Wilbur McDonald of Portland Oregon, who also developed the III with Entrop. In 1966, the Starflite IV, with Gerry Walin aboard, averaged over 133 miles per hour, a record which stood for six years.

Hugh Entrop is a life member of SOA, and can be found at many SOA events photographing the racers of today. For the racers, if you have a picture that Hugh took of you, it's usually when your boat is riding at its very best. The theory put into practice of "prop riding" that Hugh helped develop is key to today's modern racing technology.

Interesting comparison in boat attitude, if you go to that site and look at the pix. Both the R-22 and the Starflite III rode "downhill" (nose-low), while the Starflite II rode "uphill." Those boats were very sensitive to weight distribution, and moving a little lead in or out of the bow was a very effective trim adjustment. Another consideration is that those old kilo boats needed smooth water, no rollers at all; if they got to bouncing around, they would spill air and get way out of attitude.

(EDIT, many years later) Don't know how I ended up here, was searching for something entirely different. But I can see the need for a couple of comments. Entrop was racing and setting kilo records as Gerry Walin was just getting started in racing, soon with some assistance from Jim Hallum who had been asked for help by Gerry's dad as I recall the story. Several years later, early Sixties, Gerry and Jim started doing kilo runs with the Anzanis (they are a story for another time). Jim had known Entrop, but I don't know if he got the remote rudder idea from Hu or vice versa. The problem was not so much to have uninterrupted water in front of the prop, though that's a benefit, as to get the boat to prop-ride. Getting a standard tail-dragger hydro to ride level, with the lower unit bulb acting as the third planing surface (the propshaft was kicked in 6 degrees from level) was probably the main motivation for sawing off the skeg. FWIW, it also helps to have at least a couple of more degrees of angle of attack in the sponsons if you are making a taildragger work as a level-riding prop-rider.

Walin/Hallum set several records in A and B Hydro and runabout during the Sixties (Lee Sutter and another guy who ought to get a mention so he isn't forgotten entirely, the late Mike Smith, were a part of some of these projects). But their final triumph with the Anzanis, the 100mph BOH record, didn't come until 1971.