THE PERFECT HOVERCRAFT 

Two years ago, I built a self designed hovercraft. Many of you may have followed my build. I named it "The RiverRat". It was a 14' X 6' craft. In the beginning, I used a 7 1/2 hp lift engine, and an 18 hp thrust engine, driving a 4836 prop. It wasn't a bad set-up, but, as most first time builders do, I over built. The craft was heavy, weighing in at about 550. That is TOO heavy for a 14' craft. My contractor instincts just kept kicking in, adding support here, extra plywood there. It was a very strong craft when I was done though, built like a tank! But tanks don't hover well.

I later upgraded to a 26 hp thrust engine. That made a tremendous difference. The biggest problem was it was a very nice one person craft. Alone, I could go about 45 mph and once some tweeking was done, she hovered very well for that purpose. But, I wanted company on my river runs. With a passenger, it was a sled. I could haul about an extra 150 lbs besides myself, but only at speeds of about 25 mph at full throttle.