Hovercraft question
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- Corporal
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Hovercraft question
Guys, years back I wanted to build a hovercraft. I had found sites back then that sold them but something always came up and never got one. Does anyone know where to get one these days? Appreciate the input.
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident."
Re: Hovercraft question
For those that prefer scale....most of the Rc hovercraft suppliers seem to have gone out of business.
http://shop.modelhovercraft.co.uk/index ... ry&path=59
still seems to exist.
Trouble with Rc hovercraft is finding somewhere to actually use them. Most don;t work well on grass as the skirt gets lifted too far from the ground for a scale model to work...so you run on concrete or water. The point of the thing is they can do both....so you want somewhere that has both together. And a gentle slope to link them.
All the ponds/boating lakes I know have a step....not a slope.
http://shop.modelhovercraft.co.uk/index ... ry&path=59
still seems to exist.
Trouble with Rc hovercraft is finding somewhere to actually use them. Most don;t work well on grass as the skirt gets lifted too far from the ground for a scale model to work...so you run on concrete or water. The point of the thing is they can do both....so you want somewhere that has both together. And a gentle slope to link them.
All the ponds/boating lakes I know have a step....not a slope.
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- Corporal
- Posts: 431
- Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2009 6:34 am
Re: Hovercraft question
Thanks for the replies. Yes, I thought about trying to make one. Biggest problem fort me is the skirt.
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident."
- wibblywobbly
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Re: Hovercraft question
I made a large one once, but decided to spend as little money as I could as I didn't have a clue what I was doing. or whether it would work.
I bought a pack of thick expanded polystyrene insulation panels, glued a couple together, and then built a superstructure out of styrene sheets. I bought four large cheap ducted fans and made holes for them, and hot glued them in each corner. The skirt was a travesty of engineering, glue and folded ripstop nylon. Two rudders were made and mounted behind the fans, with a servo.
I installed two Nimh batteries, and two cheap esc's.
I was quite astonished that it would lift not only itself but I could stick a heavy Tiger on it and sail all the way down the lounge. Only snag, well two, was that the batteries lasted about 5 minutes, and the Tiger had to be placed dead central to stop the contraption from becoming lopsided.
Good fun though!
I bought a pack of thick expanded polystyrene insulation panels, glued a couple together, and then built a superstructure out of styrene sheets. I bought four large cheap ducted fans and made holes for them, and hot glued them in each corner. The skirt was a travesty of engineering, glue and folded ripstop nylon. Two rudders were made and mounted behind the fans, with a servo.
I installed two Nimh batteries, and two cheap esc's.
I was quite astonished that it would lift not only itself but I could stick a heavy Tiger on it and sail all the way down the lounge. Only snag, well two, was that the batteries lasted about 5 minutes, and the Tiger had to be placed dead central to stop the contraption from becoming lopsided.
Good fun though!
Tiger 1 Late
Panther G
King Tiger
M36 B1
Panther G
King Tiger
M36 B1
Re: Hovercraft question
Rip stop nylon and uhu por glue is what you need to make a skirt.
Re: Hovercraft question
I have a feeling it might be on the heavy size and you want something as smooth and low drag as possibleSon of a gun-ner wrote:Sorry, the thought of latex skirts must have stopped me thinking clearly. . . .tomhugill wrote:Rip stop nylon and uhu por glue is what you need to make a skirt.
Tom, would wax cotton canvas work as well?