Dave,
Here are some questions:

-Where did you grew up and what you play with as a child?
# Anyway where did I grow up? Born in the UK in Birmingham I only remember it was cold and there was snow! We moved to Australia when I was 5 and basically grew up in sleepy Adelaide South Australia. I was introduced into modelling when I was about 10. My good friend was playing with a cox 049 engine strapped to his sisters Barbie doll!! He was intending to see how far she would go up in the air! It would not run and we spent a few days with sore and cut fingers to find out the glow plug head was dead. So the next day we went to our LHS and got what we needed and some fuel. Well the first start was cool, lots of noise but Barbie was too hard to hold onto and flew off head first into the garage wall! That was the best thing we ever did to a Barbie! The next day she got soaked in fuel, set on fire, engine started and off it went! Then landed in the grass over the road and we ran inside! That was the start of my modelling as next came the Cox o49 control line planes!

-How did you get involved/interested in the boating scene?
# Finally after trying all the rest I found enjoyment in model boat racing back in 1990 and have never looked back.

-What type of boats did you have and what types you like most?
# I started off with a little plastic mono and an OS 21 side exhaust. It was soon found that it spent most of its time dead on the water as it was too light. Next I tried a 21 sprint cat, then one day there were some old solid shaft outriggers running and that was it if its not fast I am not doing it. So riggers is what I have settled for but I do occasionally build a mono or sports hydro just to be different.

-What is your profession?

# At my daytime job I used to be a machinist in the robotics engineering trade but gave this away to run my own business in recycling machinery and later was offered a business reconditioning automotive torque converters. Now that the auto trade has declined I work for them as an employee rather than buying a business that has a short lifespan from here. With this I have redeveloped some old skills taught to me many years ago and now produce tinware for vintage cars and bikes from the same workshop. As one declines the other is increasing.

- How did you get involved with salisbury pipes? Why carbon pipes and not aluminum?
# Now Salisbury pipes. Early in our modelling history there were a couple of us who had tried the ausie made Bolly Pipes. Interesting and very light. As a friend of mine started to get them to do custom pipes we saw the future was possible to make our own pipes. A long story short a couple of years ago now Bolly Pipes was offered to us for sale and SPP began. With many designs already in our mind and tested we were able to get going very well. Aero pipes have declined slightly and now we concentrate mainly on tuned power pipe for boats, cars and pylon racers. Carbon pipes are usually ½ the weight of alloy pipes and run at a higher temperature. They are different to tune compared to alloy pipes but simply a richer mixture and generally a shorter length is all that’s needed. They also take a lap or 2 to warm up and come on song. I would like to thank my friend Ian Invearity for all his help and support at SPP. SPP would not be here today if it wasn’t for him. As you can probably gather, SPP is not a full time workshop. It generally runs for a few hours each day then another hour or so on the net. Add to this 3 growing boys and things get very busy.

-In Europe we have a crowd and therefore noise problem. Is there any in Australia? Do you know of any differences between The States and Australia considering the boating scene?
# Noise is always an issue with us and we try and maintain some sort of muffling on our pipes. We have pipes all over the world and have been able to get down to the 84db limit for Europe. As the us Ozzies and the US we are still running at around 91db which a standard muffler will do. If a customer wants a specific level we can cater for that but you still need to get over the old myth that noise = speed!! Once we can convince modellers of this then getting all pipes down to this level will be the standard.

-The IW-forum seems also a popular meeting place for Ozzies,.
Where do you get your info if needed? (magazines, internet, meetings)
# International waters! Now that’s a great forum. You will find that most Ozzies are there because the people, information, and general community is so easy and everyone is accepted as a boater, not a novice or world racer but all boaters with the same goal. No to mention the humour and general stirring that goes on. Everyone enjoys it. Thankyou Tom!

I spend a lot of time on the net and will research things as far as I can. I do not read books because they have no pictures or diagrams! A picture with small text says a lot more. But I find myself spending hours looking for things on the net. And add to it many long phone calls discussing engines and why it won’t spin the right prop!

-Peer into your cristal ball and predict where this hobby/sport is going. What is going to be the next big thing? What technology should we be on the lookout for?

# Model boating in the future? Well I can see SPP having all its pipes under 80db within the next 5 years. I also see that electric boating will be an equal to gas and nitro. It’s already started here and has a great following. I myself am looking at an electric, as soon as I can find a use for the tuned pipe on it! 21 riggers going well into the 90mph mark and the old 100mph goal will be the minimum entry point! I just hope it wont go too far and have us internet racing!!!!!

What’s the next big thing? Well there are a few surprise pipes in the works, but they need to be thoroughly tested before they can be released. I am also looking into some carbon fibre hardware so we can accessorise our boats.

Then some more gas pipe development will be done. One of our biggest hurdles at the moment is carbon fibre. I had to buy a lot of it to guarantee that SPP will not run out.

_______________________

_______________________

Hope you can give some nice answers on these questions.
Ronald.

______________________

Thankyou for choosing me for an interview Ronald and if you want to know any more or some clarification then please ask.

Regards

Dave Hatcliffe

WWW.SALISBURYPIPES.COM

“Get one or follow one”