One Mans Blog
Specialization is for Insects.
Posted on Apr 25, 2008 - 3:07am by John P. in Vehicles, Videos
Ok seriously. Who here doesn’t want to build their own hovercraft? Thank you, I rest my case.
Hovercrafts are totally cool. You can build a small one with a leaf blower for less than $50, or you can buy a big kit and spend a few grand. Of course, you can also opt for a commercial version that is fully manufactured “to marine leisure standards“, but however they chose to do it, here are a bunch of folks who are living the dream.
First of all, here is a great British TV show segment on some commercially available hovercrafts.
This guy in Thailand built his own hovercraft. I can’t tell if it was just for fun, or to serve a purpose…
A man and his hovercraft.
Here is how the Miles Community College builds em. (And here are the plans for how it’s done.)
Here are a bunch of folks in Ohio in 2003 racing their monster hovercraft!
What? You say you’ve got no time for building hovercrafts? Fine. Buy one already made!
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A ready made hovercraft, how cool would that be as a Christmas present! In fact, I am 40 later this year, may have to ask for one!
Thats it, I am off to the garage
Hover crafts are cool, but the dust where I live would probably kill the fun.
Kim:)
Yeah Kim… I can see you racing down next to the Highway to Subic straight to the floating bar…
I actually tried to make one of these as a kid. I used a corvair hubcap and an .049 model motor. actually worked great.
50 bucks are nothing when u are making a thing like this.I can try but don’t think i can do it alone.
“Cool” they are, indeed. Some years ago I had one and was involved in getting the concept to ‘take off’ seriously: Monster hovercraft were ferrying cars and passengers across the Channel between England and France, they were operating elsewhere in the world, specially the Far East; there were military operators as well (there still are). As they must use a great proportion of their engine power generating lift to get them away from the ground as well as thrust they are terribly hungry for fuel so I guess commercial applications went out with higher oil prices (the ones that were higher back in the 1970’s!, now they would out of the question).
The little sporting blighters are great fun - be warned though, they are hard to steer - no wheels to grip the ground, just air from a big fan to push you this way and that, hopefully in the direction you want to go. Races are a hoot, a kind of mixture between Formula (or Indy) and fairground bumping cars. I suspect building a sports single seater or a slightly bigger fun version would be easier now than it was thirty years ago as therre are many more compact, light and powerful engines available.
Thank you for bring hovercraft back up. They’ve faded into the background since they were the rage a few decades back
Q
When I was a kind my parents bought me a howercraft toy which I broke the same day I think. Since then I always wanted on. We have a lot of fields to go on here in England too. I think the only way I can afford one however is to build a budget one myself and replace one of the engines by personally blowing air through straws.