Hovercraft

Adrian_Thompson wrote:

Oh man oh man. This looks so doable.

I'm guessing the holes around the chair are just for adding lightness.

Keith Tanner wrote: Oh man oh man. This looks so doable. I'm guessing the holes around the chair are just for adding lightness.

or cup holders

Since we're posting cool photos...

Adrian_Thompson wrote:

GameboyRMH wrote: ^That's a combination hovercraft/ground effect craft.

YEah, an ekranoplan on steroids. Looks awesome fun. Do you even need a microlight licence for something like that, I assume it's got a ceiling of 10' or so.

Nope, they are legal to operate with a boating license :) I did quite a bit of research in this direction at one point. Super cool stuff. There's a company in Australia that sells a 6-10 seat WIG vehicle (Wing In Ground effect).

Keith Tanner wrote:

Adrian_Thompson wrote:

Oh man oh man. This looks so doable. I'm guessing the holes around the chair are just for adding lightness.

Yeah pretty much. The only real issue with using only 1 motor for both lift and thrust is that, when you throttle down to slow down, you will lose the lift cushion and drag. I've got some evil ideas for a build that involve magic spinning triangles, an old flat bottom boat hull, a PWC top half/controls and a side shaft lawnmower engine. You guys are a bad influence. I've been trolling craigslist for parts donors this morning due to this thread.

Now if I can just get my hands on some tank cooling fans.

Adrian_Thompson wrote:

Spinout007 wrote: Yeah everytime I see one come up near me for sale I have to tell myself no. I built a little one out of a pair of electric leaf blowers. Great for my then 6 year old niece. should couldn't go too far with it. I started gathering gas blowers to up the ante, but never got around to it.

Like this?

Pretty much, it's a disk with a smaller disk underneath. I was working for Home Depot at the time so it only took me a month or so and maybe 50$ (blowers)buying stuff that was scheduled to go down the dumpster chute, and broken/returned stuff. Just told management what I was doing and they laughed and helped me where they could.

I never knew I wanted one of these until now...

I came here expecting greatness and was not disappointed. Good work team.

pinchvalve wrote: Anyone else remember the Flymo hovering lawnmower?

I've always wondered how well these mow; it seems like they would do a terrible job since they're pushing air down on the grass instead of pulling air up like a regular mower. It seems like it would leave a lot of uncut grass and weeds that would pop up once you're past them.

you tube vid of a kid building one

Very simple once you get the theory down, hard part is packaging a larger craft. I want one in the 14-16' range for fishing the local estuaries.

dculberson wrote:

pinchvalve wrote: Anyone else remember the Flymo hovering lawnmower?

I've always wondered how well these mow; it seems like they would do a terrible job since they're pushing air down on the grass instead of pulling air up like a regular mower. It seems like it would leave a lot of uncut grass and weeds that would pop up once you're past them.

Just saw that, you couldn't market one of these in modern times, you would be sued into oblivion by people who cut off their own feet and toes.

What is used for the skirt? Are the rubber on the home made ones or is it some kind of plastic?

I have wanted to build one ever since junkyard wars. They built these a couple of times.

oldopelguy wrote:

Keith Tanner wrote: Oh man oh man. This looks so doable. I'm guessing the holes around the chair are just for adding lightness.

or cup holders

Nah, on a project this silly they are in descending order beer, wine and shot glass holders.

In reply to pimpm3:

Shower curtain reinforced with duct tape for a small one, if you're going big I would look into shower pan or garden pool liner. Any heavy plastic really works. Again that's for around the yard goofing off stuff. I'm not sure what the commercial guys use, I know it's a type of fabric.

Spinout007 wrote:

dculberson wrote:

pinchvalve wrote: Anyone else remember the Flymo hovering lawnmower?

I've always wondered how well these mow; it seems like they would do a terrible job since they're pushing air down on the grass instead of pulling air up like a regular mower. It seems like it would leave a lot of uncut grass and weeds that would pop up once you're past them.

Just saw that, you couldn't market one of these in modern times, you would be sued into oblivion by people who cut off their own feet and toes.

Still very popular in the UK. My mom has one, although not FlyMo brand. It doesn't provide much of a cushion and there is still a fair bit of friction to move it. You have to remember that grass is much thinner and shorter in the UK. It would never really work on American grass. I'm used too it now, but when people come here from the UK they comment that our grass right after cutting is longer than their crass after being neglected for weeks. If you play those sill stick and ball sports, think of the grass around the smooth but where the hole with the stick goes. That's the average British lawn

Check out these two kids high school science fair project:
Parts 1.
Parts 2.
Parts 3.
Parts 4.
Phase two post Science fair.

They went from a simple flat skirt to a bag skirt and different lift and drive engines. Way cool and a great job by them.