new to air boats

[pureaddiction]

Hi im luke, i have wonted a air boat sense i was a kid. i do alot of bow fishing. my team was the MI state camps this year. I have built meny boats from scratch over the years. i am now going to build a air boat. Im looking to build a mini. but have a few questions. if i was to build a mini say 13 or 14 foot with a 70 inch bottom and put a 40hp engine on it wood it perform. how much hp do you need on a boat this size to plane, run dry or close. i also have a 1000 cc engine out of a sport bike i was thinking of using. is there people using this kind of engine. sorry for all the questions but i have no idea about airboats. there are not meny airboats around here. is there some where for me to start gathering info. thanks for all the help in advance.

[Papee]

Welcome to the site. The hull size sounds good, running dry is pushing the limits on a mini but it can be done. You will need at least 40 hp and reduction to do it. I prefer more cylinders for more torque myself. The twin cylinder lawnmower type engines will work but I'm not sure how reliable they are. It seems the guys using them seem to move on quickly to something else. Right now the best choices for a mini are the 084 or a Rotex. I;ve been running my 084 for almost ten years now with little problems. I know the Rotex engine also is reliable and lasts a while.