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Welcome to the APBA Vintage Region 10 website!
 Bill Kilian's Copy Cat
On this website you can see the region's vintage hydroplanes, owners
and drivers, and check out the upcoming exhibition schedules as well as participate
in our forum used to discuss vintage hydroplanes.
Newport Miner Interviews Copy Cat Owner Bill Kilian
1) First of all, where did you get the vintage hydroplane? Did you
buy it, get it as a gift, always owned it but just recently got it ready?
I bought it from a man in Everett, Wa. in 2004.
2) Working on it over 5 years sounds like a long time. How much work
did the hydroplane need: was it even buoyant when you started, or did
it just need some minor upgrades (that took a while to put it back on)?
The boat was in great condition when I bought it but it required some
minor repairs on the bottom and cockpit area. Also, it needed to be
completely sanded down and re-finished. We had alot of mechanical
work to do in order to install the engine; ie: plumbing for coolant,
electrical, and fuel systems needed to be completely custom made and
installed. Most of this custom work was done by Dave and Levi Weber
of Bill's Heli-arc Welding in north Spokane.
3) How did "Copy Cat"'s debut go?
Copy Cat's debut went very well actually. We took her to Lake
Chelan, Washington, toward the end of September, and entered her in
the vintage class for older hydroplanes. This class of boats are ran
just like they were in years past. Back in the mid to late 80's
hydroplanes were required to have a reinforced cockpit and now have
to be fully enclosed for driver safety. On Saturday we finished in
second place and on Sunday we were poised to pass the two boats running
in first when our motor broke. However, dispite this setback, we are
very optimistic that we will continue to run up front when next season
starts in Moses Lake in April. We will also be running in various other
locations throughout the state of Washington as well as on the Pend Oreille
River during the hydroplane regatta next July.
4) Tell me about hydro planes in general. Are they a specially
designed speedboat? What's the difference between a hydro plane and
other watercraft?
Hydroplanes are designed to run on three surfaces that touch the
water when underway(thus the term 3-point hydroplane). They trap air
underneath the hull so as to get as much of the boat out of the water
as possible. Most other boats, ie, ski boats, cruisers, etc. are
displacement hulls meaning they never really get out of the water
completely.
5) How did you get into hydroplaning?
I became interested in hydroplane racing back in the late 50's and
early 60's when the city of Spokane campaigned a Unlimited Hydroplane
called Miss Spokane. In 1975 I bought my first competitive
hydroplane and have remained interested ever since. With the
onslaught of the vintage class I re-entered the sport since the cost
of owning and operating such a boat is quite a bit cheaper as compared to buying a new enclosed cockpit hull.
-Bill Kilian responding to questions from the Newport Miner newspaper.
November 04, 2009
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