steering – Larry's Hovercraft and trike build

Behind the rear of the tank i've cut out a section of the bulkhead for the air that will flow under the seat and for the top i started to think that i will just drill a few holes but then decided to get creative with the router, so i have now named my craft as AIR4CE1 (pronounced air force one for those of you like my friends that first off pronounced it 'air four C - one' *sigh*). I made the letters big enough so that enough air can pass through to the upper half of the radiator. It may not be the American presidents plane but it does force air and it is the first one I've built :-) *wink*. Now that I've used up my once a year spell of creativity its back to fibre glassing tomorrow.

Seating and Steering 6

Post author:lazza
Post published:January 7, 2021
Post category:steering
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View Trike BuildView Hover BuildI'm EmptySeating and Steering 6You can see what i mean here about the last 140mm of the seat sides, i angled them like that so that hopefully they have more chance of grabbing the air from the cockpit area than they would if they were just plain straight. kinda like a […]

Although i should be following the plans to the letter i will be trying my hardest to still keep the weight down as much as possible but make it to my liking. Although in saying that, from the balance test i tried the other day a fraction more weight in the front will mean the motor can be mounted slightly further back, i'm not talking about adding 4 tonne to the front or anything but a slight extra weight i can counteract when i balance the craft when putting the motor in. Does it sound like I'm trying to justify myself to all those experienced hovercrafters out there that say WATCH HOW MUCH WEIGHT U ADD ? ummm yeah your probably right, ....i think i am hehehe.

Post author:lazza
Post published:January 7, 2021
Post category:steering

Here clearly shows that i have only built 3/4 of the seat in length, and i'm now thinking that it worked out good because the fuel tank that i think…

I am trying to make it so that the dash will be removable just so in the future its easier to mount gauges, fix/adjust steering etc etc.

Steering and Seating 4

Post author:lazza
Post published:January 7, 2021
Post category:steering
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View Trike BuildView Hover BuildI'm EmptySteering and Seating 4As i mentioned in the previous page i've decided to start building a 3/4 length seat and when i work out the final position of the motor i will add the other 1/4, that way i will now have the seat , steering and any other frontal […]

Steering and Seating 3

Post author:lazza
Post published:January 7, 2021
Post category:steering
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View Trike BuildView Hover BuildI'm EmptySteering and seating 3For the throttle set up i've gone with this arrangement, similar concept to how the formula 1 car guys do it with their gear changing in the steering wheel. Not that its totally clear in this picture but the current position shown is when at idle, i've […]

This shot is from behind the steering wheel and i've added a red X to show where i intend to weld a small bracket to so that i can attach a cable to the rear side of the throttle lever, that way when looking from the front it looks nice and tidy with no cables jumping out at ya. Obviously i still have more work to do on it all like finishing the pivot point and attaching a cable, but that's the general concept of my throttle arrangement. The cable i plan to run directly down and as close to the steering shaft as possible so that the arc the cable has to follow through is minimal. The way i have my steering mounted means it comes out through the dash panel, therefore if i can run the cable as close to the shaft as possible that will mean the hole in the dash to allow the cable to move with the steering shaft will be smaller and tidier. I haven't yet worked out the leverage points for the cable yet so for all i know i might be a mile out but i'll cross that bridge when i get to it

Post author:lazza
Post published:January 7, 2021
Post category:steering

I have both cables mounted now and they are working correctly together, there is almost 180 degrees rotation of the steering shaft from lock to lock.The cable mounting brackets are…

Here's the same shot as the last one but shows the steering arm moved to its full lock. As you will see in a later picture the exhaust tubing idea i went with also acts as a steering stop so that i cant turn the steering too far and bust the rudders or something horrible. I know people will say why not keep things simple and just have a steering shaft with a bearing either end, and i'll respond with "cause i can" and its not heavy enough to be of concern and not any harder to make up. :-) close up of steering assembly

Steering and Seating

Post author:lazza
Post published:January 7, 2021
Post category:steering
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View Trike BuildView Hover BuildI'm EmptySteering and Seating AreaI finally come up with a plan that i think will work for my steering, the assembly i have made from 2 bearings, a bit of exhaust pipe and a couple of exhaust clamps and mounted to the cockpit front using a scrap piece of 6mm aluminum […]