Hi Portside, I said you could ask but I didn't say you'd get... so thats the freeby question out of the way
Firstly, the old Trafalgar had a large turning circle for a number of reasons;
The rudders are in front of the propulsor cone .. so no prop thrust enhancement. When surfaced, the upper rudder is out of the water. The rudders had limited throw due to the arrangement of the rudder coupling which impnged on the propshaft tube.
The above can be greatly improved by disposal of the rudder coupling arrangement and changing it to that found on the Akula..two control rods, one for each rudder, both going to a common point on the dive unit control rod.. dead easy! this allows for greater rudder throw and thus better turning circle. The first one I put together in this way turns in half the distance and submerged, is extremely good. It's a mod worth doing to all the old style Eden designed Trafs' and you should'nt need a bow thruster unless your pond is tiny.
Don't worry too much about the front planes ,I only ever use them for trimming at speed anyway. DO fit a self leveller however as it will make running this boat so simple and relaxing.
The dive unit for the Akula will definately not operate your Trafalgar: A: it's too small and B: it has a direct drive whereas the Trafalgar unit uses a 5:1 reduction motor/box unit to enable it to turn that multibladed 50mm fan style prop.
Hope this helps.
Regards...Chris
