I understand that there were some pictures posted and discussion about the pneumatic down plate system in my 81 Cole several weeks ago. Sorry that I missed the discussion, however, up to last Saturday, application of the system was limited to test passes made in private.
Last Friday and Saturday we went under the microscope (really appreciate their concern for safety) of the NJBA before they allowed me to run. First pass I was allowed was a 1/4 pass, which set a new low personal first for me at 29 MPH in 16 seconds. Second pass of the day the system was run conservitive at 129+ MPH in 8.4 seconds. Sunday we re-tweeked the pressures and bleed off valve on up pedal, and gave the system a hard pass at 137-MPH at 8.05 seconds, with a back up run later at 8.06 seconds at 136.6 MPH. The system worked exactly as engineered at my facility (Machine Automation Systems), and the boat which is new to me took a great set and ran dead straight.
We have the plates set conservatively (flush with the hull, no up), and are running a 439 inch BBC on alky. Blower boost is only 12 lbs, so we hope to see a lot of life out of this combination.
Boat is named after my wife "Butterfly", and will get no more horsepower, as I promised to stop with final tuning as it is.
Our 75 Hondo will be campaigning a full hydraulic cavitation plate system sometime next summer, including hydraulics to the in/out of the vdrive.
Be glad to answer any technical questions. Denis