Thread: The Ultimate FC

Getting to this stage was a days worth of work.
Needle gunning and scraping old flaking paint is a slow process.
I cannot seem to find enough time to throw at this project.

Personally I think you're doing very well!! Its a mammoth project, and from the outside looking in, it looks like you are going at quite a pace.... Look at the thread start date, and look at what you've already achieved in such little time, especially of late. Keep up the good but gruelling work! It'll be worth it in the end.. The smile on your face after you've taken your first swim will be massive!!

Details of Dowty water jet.
The impellor clears the housing with only a few thou to spare.
Only a single impeller and stator.


This one is looking up the exit pipe at the stator.
One day I will have to reach up there with my arm and hand fully extended and fill a oil lube fitting.

Each water jet has about 1000lb/500kg static thrust.
The water jet housing is all alloy.

The water jet is just like a normal early water jet for a boat, but is turned on its side.
This is the protection grill for the water jet.........getting it ready to paint.
Both water jets push the Stalwart along at 6 knots....3000rpm engine speed which considering the amount of hull in the water ( 2mtrs) and 6 wheels and suspension, brakes etc is not too bad.........the hull does require a lot of push to do that 6 knots because its is short and blunt too.


This is as far as I got to day.

Originally Posted by 101 Ron

Details of Dowty water jet.
The impellor clears the housing with only a few thou to spare.
Only a single impeller and stator.


This one is looking up the exit pipe at the stator.
One day I will have to reach up there with my arm and hand fully extended and fill a oil lube fitting.

Each water jet has about 1000lb/500kg static thrust.
The water jet housing is all alloy.

Lovely piece of engineering.

All the advailable research I have suggest the Stalwart was the first amphibious vehicle to use water jets...........a Russian APC did use a ducted propeller system in the 1950s, but not a Dowty (Hamilton system under licence) type system and lead the way for jets to be used on other amphibious vehicles and the military in general
Water jets are well protected in both off road and marine enviroments
The Stalwart appears to have 2 other firsts
The use of modern caliper hydraulic disc brakes on a truck.( and its use on all wheels)
The use of a modern altenator in a truck. ( and a very good one at that and it is semi sealed against water and dust.
All the above was developed for the stalwart around 1960.
The stalwart was cutting edge in the early 1960s in many ways including its concept and why I wanted one.
The short wheel base and the off road angles the vehicle can find itself in off road wise is taken care of with the longish block of the straight 8 Rolls with the dry sump engine lubrication and two scavage pumps, one either end of the motor.

Ron, if you get a chance, I'd love to see the reverse buckets for the jets, and how they operate.

Some job you are doing!

Fraser

Originally Posted by fraser130

Ron, if you get a chance, I'd love to see the reverse buckets for the jets, and how they operate.

Some job you are doing!

Fraser

The bucket set up used was designed by a bloke in the Alvis factory and is very simple, in fact a lot simpler than the Hamiton water jets of the time.
there are two levers in the cabin, one for each jet, so each jet is worked independently from the other bucket wise.
The Stalwart has no rudders like a DUKW or LARC amphibs.

A series of rods and bell cranks connect steering navigation levers to buckets, running the full length of the vehicle.