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Hovercraft
by dbc1218 on March 30, 2006

Table of Contents
Hovercraft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Intro: Hovercraft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Step 1: The Skirt and Base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

File Downloads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Step 2: The Lift Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Step 3: The Thrust Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Step 4: Steering and Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Step 5: It Hovers!!! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

http://www.instructables.com/id/Hovercraft/

Author:dbc1218
I enjoy building things more than actually using them.

Intro: Hovercraft
This is a full size(4ftx8ft) one person hovercraft built over one summer for less than $200. It was built with no prior experience or knowledge of hovercrafts but with sheer
determination to build something different. So check this project out, hope you like it.

Step 1: The Skirt and Base

Lets start out with a little history, I built the hover craft during the summer between my sophomore and junior years of high school. It was built by a good friend, Brain, and
myself Doug. Like I said I built the entire craft for less $200 including the engines and the fans. I will explain how I did it soon but lets start out some of the main things you
will need to get started.
3hp Horizontal Shaft Engine $50 at a local lawnmower repair shop
4hp Vertical Shaft engine took it off one of my lawnmowers
5.2 moisture resistant Lauan Plywood 4ftx8ft
Styrofoam 4ftx8ft
1/2in Plywood 2ftx4ft
A couple 2x4 8ft
A couple 1x2 8ft
1/4in bolts and nuts 1in- 3in
Wood Screws 1/2in - 1in
Plastic sheeting Painters Sheet (this is the skirt material)
Brass Grommets with punch You can get this as a kit
This is about what I started out with but in no way is this everything youll need. Also keep in mind that this is how I did it, if you plan on taking on a project like this do it
how you want to and with what is available to you. Use this as a guide so that you do not make the same mistakes I did.
Lets start out from the ground up. On a hovercraft the only thing that touches the ground is the skirt. The skirt is the part of the hovercraft that holds air to lift the craft. Like
in the second picture my hovercraft has two engines, one for lift and one for thrust. The lift engine pushes air under the craft and the skirt holds the air in. As more air is
pushed under the craft pressure builds up and lifts the hovercraft off the ground. This is how a hovercraft hovers, the only thing in between the base of the craft and the
ground is air.
But before I designed the skirt I designed the base of the craft. It has to be light(this is the most important) and it has to be strong enough to hold the weight of a person
and the engines and everything else. Keep in mind though that when hovering the craft is actually more stable than when its not. The air pressure helps to hold the weight
evenly over the entire craft.
This said here is how I made the base. I got two sheets of 4ftx8ft lauan and a piece of 2in thick Styrofoam. The lauan was the cheapest and the lightest sheet of plywood I
could find at home depot. One note, I got almost everything for this hovercraft at home depot. Lows or any hardware store will probably have the same items I got.
The base is just the two sheets of plywood with the Styrofoam sandwiched in between. Holes are drilled all the way through this sandwich and bolts are used to hold all of
the components on the base.
Back to the skirt which is one of the more trickier parts of a hovercraft. It has to hold its shape under pressure and it has to be the right size. To big and it will drag on the
ground which will slow the craft down or not let it move at all and to small and it will not hold enough air to sustain lift.
To overcome this I designed my skirt to have 8 different pieces that I sewed all together with nylon string. For each of the four sides of the craft there are two skirt pieces.
A upper half and a lower half, which are same shape. The picture shows what each part looked like. Basically the same design for all four sides just different lengths. The
skirt is actually smaller than 4ftx8ft by 2in on all sides. This is done so that the skirt can sandwich between the Styrofoam and the top piece of plywood. So you will need
four longer skirt pieces and four shorter ones.
Each piece first needs its flap folded over and sewn. To sew the skirt I used a standard sewing machine and sewed along the seam lines which are 1/2in from the edge.
Now take two pieces one short and one long and sew them together at the angled end. Now do this again for all the other pieces to form a two rectangles. Now put one
rectangle on top of the other and sew along the outside perimeter. This forms the whole skirt but its not done yet.
Now duck tape along the seam for added strength then flip the skirt inside out so the seams are in the inside. Punch holes on the inside of the skirt in the middle of the
flap on the top and the bottom of the skirt with the grommet kit. Put holes on all corners and every foot along the length of each side. Drill holes through the base that line

http://www.instructables.com/id/Hovercraft/

up with the grommets. Sandwich the top of the skirt between the Styrofoam and the top piece of plywood and then use 1/4in bolts to hold it all together.
This completes the skirt and the base. This is the most general part of the build. The rest of the craft is built specific to the engines, fans and components I used, you will
have to adapt these plans to fit your components.
Sorry about the pictures I could not get them to show up very well. I included the DWG file though. The last picture is the overall skirt put together showing the flap folded
over with the dashed line and where holes should be put with the circles.

Image Notes
1. These two vertical blue lines are not part of the drawing

Image Notes
1. Short Section
2. 56
3. 44in

Image Notes
1. lines should be here
2. lines should be here

File Downloads

http://www.instructables.com/id/Hovercraft/

skirt1.dwg (45 KB)

[NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'skirt1.dwg']

skirt2.dwg (42 KB)

[NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'skirt2.dwg']

skirt3.dwg (31 KB)

[NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'skirt3.dwg']

Step 2: The Lift Engine

The lift engine and fan were added next. Here is what I used, a 4hp lawnmower, a 20in dia. fan that I think came off a air conditioner, angle steel, a piece of sheet metal,
some nuts and bolts.
I cut a big hole in the base with a jig saw and then added the engine. The angle steel as seen in the picture is in a u-shape that lifts the engine so the fan is not below the
bottom level of the base. I welded these pieces together but they could be bolted together with a bunch of L-brackets. They are bolted to the base and connected with a
piece of sheet metal. The sheet metal has a large hole cut in it with smaller holes around it for the bolts that hold on the engine. The larger hole is so the engine sits flat
on the sheet metal. The fan is just bolted onto the engine shaft just like blade was when it was on the lawnmower. Then some 1x2s and more L-brackets were used hold
on some aluminum flashing to make a fan shroud. You can get aluminum flashing at any hardware store, its used for roofing but all it is, is aluminum sheet metal. A bike
brake and cable of an old bike was used to control the motor.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Hovercraft/

Step 3: The Thrust Engine

The thrust engine was a little bit harder than the lift. It has a larger fan, a pulley reduction and a large fan duct. I started off with the fan. It was hand made with a welder
and some steel. This is not a good idea, the fan has to be perfectly balanced and the pitch of the blades has to match the power of the engine. I you are going to build a
hovercraft do not build you own fan. I was lucky that my fan did not fly apart and kill me. Do not do what I did here and get a good fan to use.
So once you have a fan you need to build a duct. I used more lauan plywood to cut out the shape and screwed in a bunch of 1x2s to hold the two pieces together. Then I
wrapped more aluminum flashing around the whole thing to make the duct.
The fan was mounted to a 1/2in shaft that ran through two brass bushings with a pulley on the other side. This was all mounted on a 2x4 and plywood frame. Then a
smaller frame was made to hold the engine up so that the belt would fit. No type of clutch was used on the engine which is typical for most hovercraft. This finished the
thrust engine and fan.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Hovercraft/

Step 4: Steering and Controls

The steering for a hovercraft is done through air deflectors placed behind the thrust duct. For these I just used the circle I had already cut out for the duct itself. I cut one
of them in half and screwed a 1x2 on the rounded edge of each half. L-brackets were attached to the duct hold them on and allow them to turn. Then rope was attached
to the deflectors and run through eye-bolts. The rope was criss-crossed under the duct so that moving the control stick left would turn the hovercraft left and right turns
right. The control stick was just a piece of PVC pipe with a hole drilled through the bottom so that it could pivot.
The Thrust engine is controlled by a lawnmower throttle cable and the lift engine was locked into full throttle. I could have mounted the bike brake on the control stick but
it would have been just one more thing to worry about so I just left it wide open.

Step 5: It Hovers!!!
So here is a picture of it finally hovering. Looks pretty good, but really the project did not go as well as planed. It hovered and I could ride it but that was while I was
testing and it did not have the thrust engine or fan on it. Once I added the thrust stuff it would not hold all of the weight. All is not lost though, the build went well and I
learned a lot.
So I you are planning a project like this here are a few tips so you do not make the same mistakes I make:
1. Use more powerful motors or motor if you build a single engine craft
2. Get already made fans do not try to build you own
3. Use light components, this is the most important it has to be a light as possible
4. If you do not know what you are doing, get some plans off the internet, try Universal Hovercraft they have got some good stuff

http://www.instructables.com/id/Hovercraft/

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Comments
50 comments Add Comment

view all 269 comments

ilpug says:

Feb 9, 2011. 10:02 AM REPLY

nice. i think you need a much tougher more rigid skirt. i would also use a more powerful motor, or maybe two really powerful leaf blowers used together,
feeding air in from two separate points, instead of one point.

Wesley666 says:

Sep 9, 2010. 6:21 AM REPLY

This would work, what you need to do is get a 30in or larger diameter fan and maybe a 5hp motor for it, then it should hold the weight.

cronama says:

Sep 7, 2010. 8:33 PM REPLY

id like to see a vidio of that pimp wagon

pindalanderz says:

Jul 28, 2008. 9:55 AM REPLY

for the skirt why not use an inner tube for a tractor tire?

cronama says:

Sep 7, 2010. 9:21 AM REPLY

ive always wonderd that my self, you would think that the thick rubber would make it more dourable. my guss is that if you use one dont inflate it
completly leave some slack, but then agin i have no idea

weasel999 says:

Jun 9, 2009. 3:18 PM REPLY

the thrust fan..... u shud have ma it blow the other way and attached a sail

hippopotamusofdoom says:
it wouldn't go any where because it would be pushing the sail one way and the engine would be going in the opposite

http://www.instructables.com/id/Hovercraft/

Jul 25, 2009. 1:38 PM REPLY

the_doctor says:

Aug 22, 2010. 11:14 PM REPLY

well not exactly, if you were to make the intake vents point forward then it would pull and push in the same direction.

nibbler125 says:

Jul 20, 2010. 5:52 PM REPLY

you need a real fan that metal one has no airfoil and you could easy double youre lift with a good wood one it will cost allot more tho up to 200$

naruto the ninja13 says:

Jun 6, 2010. 7:18 PM REPLY

can you put the back fan on a swivle for steering?

dracoaliamin says:

May 20, 2010. 9:03 AM REPLY

Ok now that fan is a great idea but there are much more safer cheaper and more efficient mays to make that fan that puts air into the skirt. There are two
main problems with your design. The first is safety. Did you consider what would happen if someone got there foot in there? The second problem is air
escaping. It would be a good investment to put a skirt around the fan so that air could not escape. However the best way if you are building another one then
it would be good to stick a leaf blower in a hole and seal the edges.

jeroen says:

May 16, 2010. 5:59 AM REPLY

yooh i dont understand how you make the ropes of undersite of the skirt to the undersite of the hovercraft

pyroboy08 says:

Apr 24, 2010. 3:33 PM REPLY

I would bet a contributing factor to your inability to hover with the propulsion engine on is that you put your lifting engine to far forward. try putting it right in
front of the propulsion engine and you sit in front of that. that may not cut it, but it would definitely help. you should seek a larger fan for lifting and a larger
motor if nessisary

BIGHAIRYDUDE says:

Mar 3, 2010. 6:00 PM REPLY

just wondered if that specific hovercraft can go on grass and water?

how high does it hover?

dbc1218 says:

Mar 10, 2010. 6:44 AM REPLY

It hovered about 6in off the ground, but I never tried it on grass or water.

Rahdzhillaxxx says:

Feb 25, 2010. 5:08 AM REPLY

Just curiouse of the notion that a squirrel cage blower might produce a more sufficient amount of lift per HP. I dont know if it does or not just thinking it
might.

littlewit says:

Sep 30, 2009. 10:50 AM REPLY

Why doesent the side with the lift engine fill with more air than the opposite side? How is the air distributed evenly below the vehicle?

geoslim13 says:

Feb 20, 2010. 7:45 AM REPLY

pressure the us military already solved it and uses hovercrafts that transport cars and people over land and water

geoslim13 says:

Feb 20, 2010. 8:05 AM REPLY

heres a pic

geoslim13 says:
and mike rowe got to change the skirt of one on his military special for dirty jobs

http://www.instructables.com/id/Hovercraft/

Feb 20, 2010. 7:48 AM REPLY

tgo says:

Nov 16, 2008. 5:33 PM REPLY

would a water bed matress work for the skirt or would it be too heavey

vhayden says:

Aug 19, 2009. 2:33 AM REPLY

There are ready made plans for using a water bed mattress for the skirt. If you are interested, let me know.

geoslim13 says:

Feb 20, 2010. 7:53 AM REPLY

i am!!!! i know you aren't replying to me but i have a friend, well my grandmas friend that has become a family friend, that has a water bed and is
thinking of getting rid of it along with his treadmill (different project) that could work. it is a king or queen (whichever is bigger)!!!!

Thelonelysandwitch says:

Jan 26, 2009. 2:23 PM REPLY

use a thick tarp and duct tape

dbc1218 says:

Jan 24, 2009. 3:46 PM REPLY

I think it would be to heavy.

ilpug says:

Feb 9, 2011. 10:11 AM REPLY

it works fine. canvas tarp coated with polyurethane sealer is perfect.

holrob11 says:

Feb 4, 2010. 10:53 AM REPLY

how much weight can this lift with a 3HP engine?

selstonator says:

dose it
work????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

selstonator says:

Jan 24, 2010. 2:13 PM REPLY

can it carry a person on water???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

EI_Flyboy says:

Sep 28, 2009. 7:07 PM REPLY

FYI you don't inflate the whole underside of the craft as this wastes lift, you just want the air coming out around the edges of the skirt as in this diagram:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hovercraft_-_scheme.svg
On propellors, they must be balanced and the diameter must be matched to the max rpm of the engine so that the tips don't go supersonic at max revs
because then bad things will happen! Apart from not generating any thrust the stress can cause the prop to fail catastrophically.
Plus if you intend using your craft over water you'll need a bouyancy tank incase the schtuck hits the fan!

The Red Button says:

Sep 8, 2009. 1:36 PM REPLY

have an engine but it spins clockwise when looking from the top of the engine. any idea where i can get a fan blade the will thrust when spinning that
direction. all my electric fans are meant to spin the other way

mechanixman says:

Aug 19, 2009. 1:43 PM REPLY

what if you take model aircraft engines and use those instead of the heavy motor?

oscarthompson says:

Aug 5, 2009. 2:25 AM REPLY

I can see why you hover craft was too heavy If i was making it i wouldn't 1. use metal cowlings. I would use hard foam even polysterene 2. replace the 4hp
lawnmower engine with a leaf blower or two (lighter wight) 3. reduce the size of he ply wood (not all of it is needed) 4.Use carbon fibre or a wood propeller for
the thrust engine. 5. use a plastic fan for the lift engine 6. lighten the craft eg. do not use sheet metal or make hunky engine mounts But i think you did
good..... Im gonna make it so these are the changes im gonna make.

the_doctor says:
You should try an ion propulsion system it would be quieter and smaller looking

http://www.instructables.com/id/Hovercraft/

Jul 11, 2009. 7:39 AM REPLY

lane29 says:

Jul 7, 2009. 8:30 AM REPLY

sounds dangerous it needs some shrouds

charles61 says:

Jul 2, 2009. 3:01 PM REPLY

Propeller has flat blades : much noise , bad aerodynamic and poor thrust.
You have to wharp the blades so that they have the same diametral pitch (at any distance of the center) . Furthermore, it shoud be good too to give the
blades some curve (put a look on an airplane wing ) and to sharpen sligtly their trailig edge ...and make the leading egde 'round' . As a result you will obtain
MUCH better performances : much thrust for less power !

nomooremr.niceguy says:

Jun 23, 2009. 6:48 AM REPLY

About how fast can you go on yours?

bomberss27 says:

Aug 9, 2008. 2:00 PM REPLY

Great Job. I'm building one now about the same size as yours, and I wanted to know how I could attach this fan,
http://www.qcsupply.com/Products/11455.aspx , to a 5-6 hp vertical shaft engine, the shaft would probably be 7/8" in diameter. I was planning on using this
or just two leaf blowers, about 400cfm. Would the leaf blowers be just as powerful? I like the idea of the lift fan more but if it would be about the same as the
leaf blowers, I think they would be easier to attach. Please respond, Thanks.

dbc1218 says:

Aug 10, 2008. 10:48 AM REPLY

One of those fans could work but I would go with a horizontal shaft engine, so you could connect it with a belt and pulley like I did on my hovercraft. Also
make sure your pulley ratio is correct so you DON'T EXCEED THE MAX RPM OF THE FAN, you'll need to govern the motor too. The extra weight of
some sort of right angle drive to make vertical shaft engine work would be to much. Two leaf blowers would work but I would get at least 30cc each. If
you are not using plans or have not built a hovercraft before expect to have to redesign something to make it work. Just keep working on it and you can
make it work the way you want.

hyperzap says:

Jun 9, 2009. 3:01 AM REPLY

Hello again. If you want to only have one engine, use EXACTLY 11HP Honda engines. 11 Hp is good because it provides enough lift and a good
walking speed, and honda because their engines are the easiest to start and they don't stuff up. By the way, this will be spinning at 3000 RPM so it is
ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL that you have a fan cover and a STEEL propellor hub. I used an aluminim hub, and after two years, it cracked and went
flying. USE STEEL.

bomberss27 says:

Aug 10, 2008. 11:46 AM REPLY

Sorry I was talking about the lift engine, I'm pretty sure you are talking about the thrust engine. For the lift engine could I just attach the fan to a
vertical shaft engine with a hub or something? The lift engine on yours is a direct drive, right?

dbc1218 says:

Aug 11, 2008. 3:00 PM REPLY

Alright now we're on the same page, the lift engine. The fact still is you can't connect that fan directly to the motor because you will exceed the
the max rpm of the fan. A typical small engine like the one you plan on using will rev to 3000-4000 rpm so you will still need some reduction. A
pulley and belt could do this and keep the rpm below 1700. The super hard PAG fan on that site is rated at 3300rpm but I don't think it will provide
the cfm you need. I know the fan I used is very much the same fan that you are looking at and I connected it directly to the motor. So I am
suggesting not to do what I did. I just want to give you the "safe" advice not the "it probably won't break apart and send shards of fan blade flying
at you" advice.

hyperzap says:

Apr 9, 2009. 8:30 PM REPLY

I aggree with dbc1218. A 2:1 reduction helps. For my platoon (see post above) 2/3 of the hovercrafts used 2:1 gear reduction. They are
softer, more stable, and don't lose rev's when you go with or against the wind. Also the one without the reduction seems to shake and break
more easily... Use a heavy duty fan, and make sure it is NOT OFFSET in any way. That's what kills you. Get a fan that is rated for your rpm,
and screw in ALL OF THE BOLTS. You don't need a reduction. The one without actually goes faster (slightly) than the reduction ones. The
fan is the key. When not using a reduction, make sure you rpm is right, and take off some of the blades to keep efficency. (We went from 9, to
6). IN a machine going at 1500-4000 rev's, safety is your NO.1 concern.

bomberss27 says:

Aug 19, 2008. 2:23 PM REPLY

Hey, I've got one more question. How does the thrust system on the xinventions hovercraft work? They attach a wood propeller to a weed
whacker engine, and I believe that those have a really high rpm (like 7000-10000), does the wood propeller they use just have a really high
max rpm? Thanks.

dbc1218 says:

Aug 19, 2008. 8:05 PM REPLY

I'm pretty sure that prop was made for large model airplanes, so I'm sure it was made to spin that fast. I have seen that large of a prop at
some hobby stores and surprisingly they are not that expensive either.

bomberss27 says:

Aug 11, 2008. 4:06 PM REPLY

Yeah I've decided to go with a fan with a higher max rpm, something from universal hovercraft probably. I think this would be much more
powerful than two leaf blowers, so I'll probably use the lift fan. Thanks for the help.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Hovercraft/

abed 007 says:

Jun 8, 2009. 4:11 AM REPLY

can i know how mauch did it cost u waiting for ur reply

danielwiseman says:

nrepak says:

Apr 27, 2009. 10:01 AM REPLY

Jun 5, 2009. 11:25 AM REPLY

Not to be rude but how is this relevant to a hovercraft?

dombeef says:
What is that?

view all 269 comments

http://www.instructables.com/id/Hovercraft/

May 2, 2009. 3:32 PM REPLY