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2021 update

In my earlier days i got creative and built a 3 man hovercraft and a two man fuel injected Trike. This website is a collection of the build process i went through to achieve both those tasks.

The original website in general was written back in 2004-ish and for the most part of it has been left with the same wording as I had it back then, miss spellings and all :)

 

However nowadays I figured it was time to make it a little more user friendly. Back in the day I wrote the build website in HTML manually, but in this current day it looks ummm..... old :)

So recently I have tweaked the design and in some places, the wording, to be a little more relevant. I didn't go over board with the design keeping it simple and clean.

 

Navigation

To begin Navigating:

- Click "start here" button above to start from the beginning of the build
- Or choose a category from the drop down menu above
- Or select from the menu at the top of the page

Anyway... let's get into it....

 

The Hovercraft was started in Mid October 2004, and I achieved my first test hover in one spot on 11th November 2005. The plans were purchased from ASV Australia and I have stuck to the plans up until the stage of mounting a duct, from that point onwards I'm working off the top of my head which could be classed as a scary thought.

So the main items I'm not sticking with in the plans are , Duct, rudders, length, width, steering, fan assembly and the motor

 


 

Hovercraft Specifications :

 

  • Dimensions

Length 3.52m (11`6") + extensions total 4 meters

Width 1.98m (6`5") + extensions total 2.14m

Height 1.30m (4`3")

  • Total weight without payload

(max) 400Kg (881lbs), weighed on 23-Jan 06

Cushion pressure not sure fully about this yet either

  • Empty hull weight -

(no motor or parts, just purely hull and duct) 140kg - weighed on 17th Oct 05

Performance (all these readings may vary from the original plans so they are a guideline for now)

Hover height 230mm (9")

Speed - max 100km/h (i've currently taken as far as 60km/h over water and that's it till i'm more confident in how it performs)

Speed cruise 50km/h

  • Climbing ability

- Static 1 in 6

- Dynamic 1 in 3

  • Buoyancy

Not sure, would be more than original plans because i extended and widened the craft

  • Braking

- None, relying on no hangover and good judgment

  • Hull

- Monocoque, Epoxy resin bonded and sealed plywood

  • Skirt

- Extended segment, individually fed, Chip bag on rear material- I'm going to try "polyester Oxford"

  • Steering

- Multi aerofoil balanced rudders controlled by 2 marine push/pull cables

  • Engine and transmission

- Engine

- EA82 Subaru (1800cc) 4 cylinder, water cooled

Duct - 950mm diameter double skinned fiber glassed duct with internal reinforcing.

Fan - 9 Bladed Multi-Wing PPG 5ZL blades.

Drive train shaft size - 25mm

Gear ratio - 1.8:1

Fuel capacity - 25 litre plastic marine tank

  • Cooling system

- B14 Nissan Sunny radiator, approximately 400mm by 600mm

 


Click here for The start of Hull Construction