Ron Jones Advanced Designs
Design Excellence · 60 Years · Timeless Innovation

Ted Jones Classic Hydroplanes

Thank you very much for your interest in the Ted Jones Classic hydroplane plans, which my dad, Ted Jones, pioneered and developed in the late 1930's and during the 1940's.  The plans you see offered on the Vintage Hydroplanes web site are a complete list of APBA racing hydroplanes featuring forward engine, driver aft conventional configuration of the Classic hydroplane era.  There are seven (7) limited hydroplane sets in all, featuring:

 

48 cu. In. * 135 cu. In. * 136 cu. In. * 225 cu. In. * 280 cu. In. * 266 cu. In. * 7 liter

 

In 1950, my dad achieved historic success when he designed and built the "Slo-mo-shun IV" unlimited hydroplane, which set a new world speed record, bringing the famed record to America from England.  He then drove the IV to win the Gold Cup trophy, taking the race away from Detroit for the first time in many years, creating a fierce, decades long hydroplane rivalry between two great cities, Seattle and Detroit. During the years following, I worked for my dad, and one of my chores was to take his limited hydro designs, which were typically a sketch and a schedule of coordinates, and scale them to accurate drawings that others could use to build competitive boats.  This I did, and many successful hydros were drawn, built, and raced.  As an honor to my late dad, I have recently taken on the task of updating those historic drawings, featuring detail and precision to the best of my ability, and making them available to the folks now having a great time building and restoring vintage hydros.  There are 17 to 20+ sheets in each set of drawings and they are quite complete.  I'm sure that you will be as happy with the quality and detail of these historic drawings as I, and that you will be able to build beautiful boats as my dad and I did together!

 Sincerely, Ron Jones Sr.

 

Class

Cost

Example of each class

48 cu. in.

$275

Double Trouble, Darrel Olsen

135 cu. in.

$275

Avenger, Eddie Meyer

136 cu. in.

$275

Tiger Too, Harry Schneider

225 cu. in.

$295

Black Stream, Doug Tenzler
(became) Miss Tide Air, George Henley

280 cu. in.

$295

Thrifty Chevrolier, Bill Muncey

266 cu. in.

$375

Gun Shy

7 liter

$375

Miss Vitamilk, Bill Brow
Best Wishes, Bill Muncey

To protect intellectual property, each page is copyrighted and would be stamped restricting re-printing.
The plans are for one-time use only.

Ron Jones Advanced Designs  ·  Kent, WA  98032

Note from The Vintage Hydroplanes:
Sadly, Mr. Ron Jones, Sr. passed away January 19, 2017.
We are leaving this page up as a rememberance to him.


Bill Muncey, my best woodworker and myself looking over Bill's 7-Litre hull that we had just built.


Ron Jones shop in the 1950s. All the hydros in this photo are plans available to purchase.

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