SCHUMACHER Hydro R-8 RTR

Radio Control Boat Modeler, Aug 2004 by Thompson, James (Jet)

Make a splash with this responsive ready-to-run!

Before this boat even hit the water, I knew I'd have fun with it. Its clean lines and good looks truly exemplify the "ready" in ready to run. With the addition of a set of charged batteries, I could have taken the Hydro R-8 out of the box at the pond and run it within minutes of unpacking it, A few simple prerun checks were all it took to feel confident with the boat before I set it in the water, and after a few minutes of running, I knew I had a winner.

WHAT YOU GET

The hull is made of one-piece, vacuum-formed Lexan, as are the deck and hatch (the hatch doubles as the cockpit and rear deck). The motor compartment is molded into the deck and houses the 540 motor, the cooling system and the batteries. Everything is prewired and ready to go. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the stickers had been applied for me at the factory-one less thing for me to do.

The deck has been prejoined to the hull, and the hatch cover is held securely in place with strips of Velcro. The fit is very good; in fact, I had to inspect it closely to figure out exactly where the seam was! With the hatch removed, the molded motor/battery compartment was revealed, and I found a motor that is soft-mounted in the hull with an already plumbed cooling system. The receiver battery and 6-cell motor battery sit snugly in a molded compartment at the aft end of the motor bay just forward of the watertight radio compartment. Everything is neatly laid out and logically placed.

RADIO GEAR

The receiver, receiver power switch, steering servo, mechanical speed control and crystals are all contained in a separate watertight compartment at the aft end of the motor/battery compartment. There is no need to remove the watertight cover to change frequency because the receiver crystal plugs into the receiver from the top of this compartment. It is held in place by a swing arm that prevents it from vibrating out and sending the boat into a head-on run-in with an unfriendly solid object.

PROP AND POWER

When I flipped the Hydro R-8 over and checked out the keel, I saw that the prop-shaft housing and prop shaft are angled down. The propeller is about as large as I expected to find on a model of this type, and it does its job very well (as I found out later). When combined with the relatively long rudder and shallow draft, the prop gets the boat up on plane right away. Steering response is quick, and this boat is very easy to navigate around any obstacles you may encounter at the pond. The hull design, prop size and large rudder make the Hydro R-8 a very stable platform on the water.

Overall, I give the Hydro R-8 high marks for appearance, performance and value. It looks great both in the water and sitting on my shelf on the supplied display stand. It gets as many comments and questions from my friends and neighbors as any of the dozen other more expensive models I own. It's easy to run and even easier to get running. Simply add batteries, mix with water, and you have a recipe for fun!

Schumacher USA (813) 889-9691; racing-cars.com.