Hovercrafter

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Whether you're new to the field or an experienced builder and pilot, there will always be more to share and learn for future hovercrafters. This is hovercrafting told by your fellow enthusiasts. If you have an interest in hovercrafts we encourage you to join us.  

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Brand new. Could really use advice. PDF Print E-mail
HoverLogs - General Discussion
Written by Justin   
Tuesday, 14 May 2013 20:50

 Hi all,

I'm going to start by apologizing for the multitude of questions/ ignorance on pretty much all matters of hovercrafting.

That being said, my name is Justin and I am currently in my 5th year of college and decided, "hey I want to build a hovercraft this summer". So off I set researching as much as I could (still am). That being said I feel that I still know very little about how to build my own craft. I ideally would lie to build a 1 person, maybe 2, craft with 2 separate engines. Having no experience I ordered plans for the UH-12T4 to get a starting point. I later decided that the UH-13 looked a little more like the style I wanted and am considering ordering plans for that one to modify. I have also ordered a 6.75 HP brggs vertical shaft and a 5 hp honda horizontal shaft. 

Now for some questions:

1. I was thinking of making the craft a bit smaller, around 4x8', does this sound like it could be easily modified from the "13" plans to do?

2. Will those engines be enough hp for this to work? I'm not too concerned about speed at this point, just want it to work.

3. does the placement of the lift fan make much difference (front vs back)?

4. What is the big difference between lift and thrust fans? I know lift should produce high pressure and low velocity, I think, but how is this accomplished in terms of shape, pitch and number of blades, etc...

5. I would like to carve my own fans in the interest of money (I'm o a college student's budget and would like to try and keep costs under $600 if possible). I figure if my home carved lift fan doesn't work there is a Hascon as a backup. That being said the only fan carving guide I have found is from coffcraft.com. The thing is I don't know if that is for thrust props only or lift as well? I was looking at some of the posts on this site and I think I could follow along fairly well with the exception of having the lines to trace (templates) :(.

6. Thinking about using direct drive for both engines, is this a bad idea?

Again thank you in advance for any help guidance you are willing to provide it is greatly appreciated!

-Justin D.

 
How Loud is your Craft? PDF Print E-mail
Tools - recommended_tools
Written by Guy Fichtelman   
Sunday, 14 April 2013 21:42

A noisy craft is not only annoying, but in some areas it can even be illegal since there may be regulations in place that set decibel limits on vehicles. Have you ever wondered how noisy your craft is?

Well, believe it or not, "there's an app for that!" (Sound Meter Pro) If you have the right device you can use this little app to fairly accurately measure sound. How nifty is that? As an added bonus the "pro version" also comes with an integrated "vibrometer." So you can even measure how much your craft is vibrating when it's running. Has anybody tried these yet?

Guy  

 
18SPW Crank Up PDF Print E-mail
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Builder's Corner - Stumpworks Hovercraft
Written by Joey Griffin   
Thursday, 28 March 2013 18:43

Well after many many hours my Hoverwing is running. After setting for five years the subaru 2.2 wouldn't crank and I just figured the problem was in the wiring. My fuel pump was running and I assumed it should crank, so I took the whole wiring harness out and stripped it . After about 30 hours of comparing it to the original diagram I couldn't find anything wrong, so I re-installed the harness. Being a one man show I pulled one of the spark plugs out and tape my iPhone, with the video on to the side of the engine and proceeded to crank. The engine was firing so I knew it was a fuel problem. Turns out the injectors were stopped up, so I put some sea foam in the tank and in the intake. It cranked right up. This took about 3 or 4 times and it started running on two cylinders. Then finally all 4 and I'm relieved. 80 lbs of oil pressure sounds high to me but I guess that's a good thing since the engine is 18 years old. I've included a YouTube video, not great quality but I just wanted to share. 

http://youtu.be/eGVDdgEMEbA

On the trailer!


I'll address the trailer in another article. The bed rotates 360 degrees and tilts so you can drive on the rear turn and tilt drive off the rear!

 

Last Updated on Monday, 08 April 2013 22:12
 
WingThing Runs again PDF Print E-mail
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HoverLogs - cruiselog
Written by Greg Kremer   
Sunday, 17 March 2013 03:20

 It is early March up here in Wisconsin and the conditions are perfect out on the river for running the ice. I recruited some help from my co-worker Kraig to load things up and give it a try. I now had some new gadgets installed, an airspeed indicator, and a Magnehelic gauge to measure bag and skirt pressure so I was interested to see these work.

 I have yet to build a ramp system to run off the front of the trailer so getting to the river we put the trailer tongue down and shoveled snow to make a ramp. The hover came off easily, Here she sits:



Last Updated on Sunday, 17 March 2013 08:46
 
Composite props PDF Print E-mail
Builder's Corner - The Yellow Jacket - Enhanced
Written by ola.dal   
Wednesday, 13 February 2013 15:25


Composite propeller layup using diwinycell core,  multi-axial carbon fiber fabric (0-90/+-45 deg) and epoxy resin. Then finally vacuum bag it.

It is not easy to get a good quality upload of drawings, but it shows the idea of what and how I am planning to do it.

 

Last Updated on Friday, 22 February 2013 14:32
 
Belt sizing for you pro's out there PDF Print E-mail
Power Transmission - All Related Topics
Written by Sean T Reynolds   
Monday, 29 April 2013 14:10

 I'm building a UH-13P and on the thrust prop it calls for a 46" prop. Now, I'm running the max engine, a 27hp Briggs, I checked with UH and they said that was fine. My question to you all is if I run a 48" prop how do I figure out the new belt size? Im sure its not as easy as adding 2 more inches to the 106" belts called out in the plans for a 46" prop with a 9" pulley, right? Or should I just make the thrust prop stand and supports the added 2" and use rope to measure the length?

 

 
Finished Body, Engine Mount, and Lift Air Box. PDF Print E-mail
Builder's Corner - Alex's UH-10F Project
Written by Alex Morley   
Wednesday, 10 April 2013 18:36
Hi everybody, sorry for not being able to upload recently, but in the mean time I have finished the body, engine mount, and lift air box. 

 
 
Last Updated on Friday, 12 April 2013 15:35
 
Hardware i.e. pulleys and bushings PDF Print E-mail
Power Transmission - All Related Topics
Written by Sean T Reynolds   
Tuesday, 19 March 2013 10:26

 Question for all you veterans out there. Where do you buy all your pulleys/sheaves and bushings from? I've Googled them and haven't really come up with much. The UH website has them but is there somewhere cheaper?

Last Updated on Tuesday, 19 March 2013 15:19
 
A New Motor for the Explorer Project PDF Print E-mail
Builder's Corner - Hydra - Sevtec Explorer Projects
Written by Guy Fichtelman   
Saturday, 16 February 2013 23:23

With the initially planned use of the 1986 turbo Subaru I'd began feeling concerned with the age and the most likely scenerio I'd face of not being able to find parts. It's a pretty old motor by modern standards and besides that, I still had a whole mess of wiring to figure out to make it work. Well, after a lot of consideration about the old Subaru, I finally decided to go with something a little more modern.

 

Last Updated on Saturday, 16 February 2013 23:29
 
Sneek Preview PDF Print E-mail
Builder's Corner - Stumpworks Hovercraft
Written by Joey Griffin   
Sunday, 10 February 2013 09:30

 

I can't wait to get the covering finished, so I would like to share a view of the first piece of covering installed.

There are not any templates for the printing so the printer is having to measure each piece after the previous one is installed.

Hopefully it will be finished in a couple of weeks!

Another shot, don't know if we'll ever get finished. All that's left to cover are the doors and engine covers.

Tail section installed

 

Last Updated on Thursday, 14 March 2013 22:21
 
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