Hovercraft homemade - High-school Project - Full Video

[qawsedrftg7625]

i think u need stronger thrust for it, it a little bit slow, but other than that, it's a great hovercraft

[MarkChriestenson]

are there any sharks in there? How cute!

[dburrell2004]

A tarp, staples, and duck tape.

[JB9SKILLS]

what is the skirt made of

[Capt777harris]

That is a home made hovercraft if I ever saw one  :)

That main thrust fan needed to be ducted.

[Capt777harris]

That is a home made hovercraft if I ever saw one :)

[Arabhacks]

I build a hovercraft that was much simpler, based on a car innertube and lawnmower engine.

This floats like any innertube.

There is a wooden platform in the center that the engine and fan as well as the chair sits on.

Very simple design that is very cheap if you scrounge.

[Films4You]

well done :)

This shows why Hovercrafts are not alowed on the public roads

[dburrell2004]

@camdacat Any progress on your hovercraft?

[dburrell2004]

@camdacat An air mattress is an excellent idea. That will provide a HUGE advantage as far and getting the skirt to take shape. Getting the proper shape for the skirt was a very difficult task. It would be fun to fool around with one of those double high air mattresses. It wouldn't be necessary, but may be fun to try out. It would probably help for going through the grass (something my hovercraft failed at).

[dburrell2004]

@camdacat An air mattress is an excellent idea. That will provide a HUGE advantage as far and getting the skirt to take shape. Getting the proper shape for the skirt was a very difficult task. It would be fun to fool around with one of those double high air mattresses. It wouldn't be necessary, but may be fun to try out. It would probably help for going through the grass (something my hovercraft failed at).

[dburrell2004]

@danomated Let me know how it turns out!

[dburrell2004]

@danomated I used a tarp and used a staple gun to attach it to the frame. I then put duct tape all along the edge of the skirt to help trap more of the air. Because the middle of the skirt would bubble out, I attached the middle of the skirt to the frame with a bolt and re-enforced the hole with a piece of plastic (about 12in. diameter). I don't know if that makes sense, since it is kind of hard to describe. I then cut circular holes in the tarp where the tarp touched the floor.

[dburrell2004]

@danomated It was all trial and error, but each hole ended up being about 1 1/2in in diameter.

[dburrell2004]

Yea, as soon as the propeller stopped spinning, I started worrying because I knew there would be NO steering. That isn't good when you are headed straight towards a row of parked cars! It would have been pretty funny though. Well, not at the time, but looking back now it would been funny.

[Cook2430]

At 1:04 I was like hit the car, hit the car!!! Thats pretty sweet

[dburrell2004]

I did some research online to understand the general concept of a hovercraft, but the design I pretty much made up. It was a lot of trial and error, particularly with the skirt design. That was really the most difficult part of the project.

[AColorGray]

did u guys just make it or did u guys go step by step from a book or video???

[bergice1]

DUDE! THAT... IS.... TOO.... AWESOMEEE!!!

[dburrell2004]

no, they didn't make me. I asked to!

[MrHordeGuy]

your highschool told you to build hovercrafts....? AWSOME

[MrHordeGuy]

your highschool told you to build hovercrafts....?

[dburrell2004]

surprise surprise! :)

[MrKingclownfish]

holy crap it works! i didnt think it would take off lol everyone looks like theyre from the 80's

[MrKingclownfish]

holy crap it works! i didnt think it would take off lol

[COOLSTUFF467]

Y don't anyone use em in water???

[TheTechy2]

Mcfly you bojo you can't go on water unless you've got power

[darkesthour117]

This is really cool. I am curious though... How much force do those leaf blowers generate? Also, do you think that it would be possible to attach electric leaf blowers with a battery as opposed to gas?

[dburrell2004]

@darkesthour117 You would be surprised how much lift a leafblower will give you. I think an electric one would probably work. In fact, if I remember correctly, my preliminary testing was with an electric leaf blower and it worked just fine. I believe I lifted almost 200 lbs with the electric one.

[darkesthour117]

@dburrell2004 Visions of a leafblower jetpack just entered my head =P

[frankchapeau]

Awesome!

[samsoncj911]

to make a working model is a difficult task, and you achieved it.

Congratulations! from India.

[35manny]

small rudder

[dburrell2004]

It is a 20cc weedwacker motor.

[cambigfoot88]

what hp pushing

[darkdog4440]

nice i m in middle school cant believe what i have to do in in high-school

[blazerblast]

almost zero friction

[pyroboy08]

I built a 2' by 4' hovercraft with a weedwacker motor on the back, I used only one leafblower but it was a much smaller board. instead of putting the prop in front to get more power I bought a pusher prop so I could mount it facing backward. It was much faster than this one, worked on slopes but when I put it on water it just sank right to the bottom. thankfully it was shallow and I held the motor out of the water so it survived. I bought a 7hp motor and I want to make a 4by8 craft.

[dburrell2004]

@pyroboy08 Do you have a video of your hovercraft? I am interested in the prop you used.

[pyroboy08]

@dburrell2004 actually I did take a video before the shaft broke and I tore the hovercraft apart to make the new one which works but does not have a prop yet, I ordered the prop from an hobby shop, it is a 22 inch pusher prop with a pitch of 18. I will put up the video if I still have it

[pyroboy08]

@dburrell2004 just put up the video, it isn't great but it shows the prop and how it is set up

[RoboTekno]

It may be slow, but if you had the balls to take it out on a pond, I'll give you five stars for that :D Truely awesome. Throw a 5hp go kart motor for the rear fan, and maybe you'll get some decent speed.

[therandomexample]

You may be surprised, but I fully understand how this system works...Perhaps if you had placed the valves that allow the escape of air from the skirt aimed at the rudders, you would have gained additional speed. Overall a very impressive display of engineering, ingenuity and cleverness. Did the hovercraft sink?

[dburrell2004]

@therandomexample No, the hovercraft never sunk. Although during one run the propeller motor died and we had to drift to the side of the pond since our steering was gone. :)

[dburrell2004]

For propulsion, I used a weed-wacker motor. I believe it was a 20cc motor.

[sambog]

how strong is the motor that you used?

[balogh12]

lol thats cool can it self steer?

[dburrell2004]

I am not sure I understand what you mean by "self steer". The fins on the back are controlled by the operator and cause it to turn. But if you mean does it have a computer chip, then the answer is No.

[buckakw]

yea iut is 1 of tdhet better ones i hav seen as well congrats

[zekedge]

That's one of the better homemade hovercrafts I have seen, good job.

[ConnorXV]

Actually I don't lol but Doesn't look like it would be able to speed across anything other than Tarmac without nose diving though.

[ConnorXV]

Needs More lift lol any lower or we'll see sparks or smoke or whatever.

[dburrell2004]

Really?!?! More lift??? Is a 4 inch skirt not tall enough? Clearly, you are unfamiliar with the physics behind the lift of a hovercraft.

[dburrell2004]

For propulsion, I used a weed-wacker motor and bought a large propeller made for a hobby plane. If I remember correctly, it was about a 24" prop. Can't remember the pitch though.

[ragulancoolwheels]

what tipe of fan is that

[dburrell2004]

I just used a large tarp which I stapled and duck taped down. Then I cut out holes until I got the proper lift.

[levybest]

what type of skirt did u use

[2kulosi9]

dave that is hilarious

[Jacob1pl]

nice