10 HP Hovercraft

I was looking for a project that my Grandson and I could build. together. We decided on a hovercraft after watching a TV special. Knowing absolutely nothing about hovercraft we researched the web on the subject  and found the Universal Hovercraft website to be the best source.
We had an old 10 HP Briggs horizontal shaft electric start engine from an old riding mower that looked like it would fit the bill.  We bought the plans for their UH10F craft. We liked it because it only uses one motor. Most hovercraft use a separate motor for lift and thrust. This one directs approximately 1/3 of the thrust air to provide both lift and inflating the skirt. Most of the materials could be found at the local builders supply.
The only parts we needed to buy from Universal Hovercraft were the Plans, propeller, propeller hub, and the skirt material. Although it busted our $500 budget we decided to purchase their materials kit which included all the epoxy,fiberglass , screws, and glue. The skirt is the heart of this thing and we didn't want to save penny's  on something this critical. It was a fun project for the both of us. It would be a great Father and Son project.
 

Step 1 TOOLS AND MATERIALS LIST

Tools required

Table saw to cut 4 X 8 Foam and plywood
Keyhole saw or saws all to cut openings for air ducts
Scroll saw for plywood duct and body peices
Shop vac for vacuum blanket
Two to four saw horses
Several plastic squeegees
Basic hand tools

Materials list

From home depot cost about $80
For the hull
1 sheet 1" white Styrofoam
4 sheets 2" blue construction foam 4 x 8
4 sheets 1 /8" plywood (doesn't have to be marine)
2 12' lengths 1 x 2 lumber( pine is fine)

Hardware kit from Universal Hovercraft  $349
This kit contains every little thing you will need to complete this project including
Plans, fiberglass, skirt, glue , skrit screws,epoxy, and a 24' steering cable

DRIVE KIT from Universal Hovercraft $159
 Includes propeller, hub, and bushings

MISC. $20
Small roll plastic sheeting 2 to 4 mills
Paint

Total cost of the project was around $600 plus the cost of a new or used motor.

Comments

[hover_crafter]

Very cool! How Much does it weigh?

[mickydee]

I am not absolutely sure. I would guess about 125 lbs., maybe 150.. The engine and prop are the determining factor. The bulk of the craft is made of very light weight foam and 1/8" plywood. If you go to larger motor with electric start, you could double up on the foam quite easily.
mickydee

[serice]

When type of epoxy die you use to coat the bottom of the hull with?

[mickydee]

I used an epoxy called "System Three" medium temp. I bought a gallon on line, It is available from several sites. I liked it because it comes with attached plungers for accurate measuring and it cures overnight. Be sure to use the vacuum bagging procedure as spelled pout in my ible. You can use just about any two part epoxy you want, it is not critical. I used half a gallon for the whole project
mickydee

[engineering wizard]

i rember the first one i built, aha that was a awsome day i spent a whole week with my uncle sketching and looking at the gaint hover crafts called LCAC-landing craft, air cushioned”" used by the marines and they are amphibious by the way

[Mr. walrus]

What kind of trailer did you use?

[mickydee]

My trailer is a 4 by 8 with removable side rails. It also has a dump feature with a pin in the front. I can literally drive it off the trailer, but it will not climb the incline by itself.
Two people can easily lift it onto the trailer. It could be easily winched on if the motor was left idling to provide a little lift.

[Football viking boy]

WOW I wish my grandpa was this cool

[garagegenius]

yeah right???

[Football viking boy]

???????

[arjun0520]

dude where did u u get the motor from

[Wahoo96]

hey, im thinking of making my own,what engine (make/model) would you recomend??

[Wahoo96]

is it amphibious? how fast is it? and can you put a more powerful engine on it?

[tdem]

Just a little warning. Not long ago, a man here in NZ was decapitated by his kit built hovercraft. Be careful!
article

[voyageur10]

Don't leave us hanging! What happened exactly?

[deobomb]

do you think it would work if i used a large inner tube and a small 110 atv motor to make a small one

[ctz]

I was wondering if you could tell me the time it took you to build this amazing contraption.

[avatar_i]

Forgive me if I missed this, and I am quite bad at math, but: How far and/or how long can you run this beauty on a gallon of gas? If you were to estimate the gallons per mile- as it were- what do you think it might come out to? My thinking here is to build one for one human and two 30~50 pound Dogs to
be traveling about.
Looks liks a blast to ride in, too! I only hope I can succcesfully built it!
Quite entertaining and instructive, and one of my top ten favourites!
Thanks!

[Eye Poker]

They aren't quiet, it would most likely scare the poop out of your dogs.

[hossweightlifter]

ewwwwww

[theexpert]

i dont know about your mileage for one gallon but i can tell you if you weigh oh say 130 then you will probably need a separate engine for the skirt so it can lift you and your dogs at the same time

[fortneja]

I built a UH-10F myself back in high school. I was slowly putting together an instructable for it several years ago, but it was taking too long, so I gave up. I can send you my notes and photos if you want to elaborate on some of the steps.

I originally used the rope and pulley system specified in the plans for steering, but later modified the steering to use bicycle cable, which was much more durable and responsive.

[rocketman20]

So that small rectangular hole fills the skirt and the big hole goes straight to the inside of the skirt which creates pressure and causes lift. That makes so much more since. Do you know the dimensions of the two holes.

[flarsson]

I'd install a fan guard of somekind, wouldn't be too nice to get something driven trough my neck. Anyways great project :)

[rrodriguez13]

wht not put a larger motor/prop and get more lift and speed? I guess it would work...I may try this

[magnusbuilds]

MAKE A VIDEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[gellis1]

hello, i am about 15 and wanted to build a hovercraft with my friend and this looks awesome, but I am only a beginner DIYer so I don't have much experience, also do not have an engine and we are both a little strapped for cash (the 500$ budget is totally do-able but i wasn't sure if that included the engine or not). would this still be possible for us to build! also does it work well on land? (thats another must for us!) but great project anyway! thanks!

[SIRJAMES09]

I have windows vista os & I had no sound either, so I doubt that it is anything to do with your MAC. It has to be an Instructables malfunction or something....

Now about the boat.
I love it! I can see me building this but rigging it up for fishing all day! 8=D
It looks like it was a blast to play in!

TY for sharing!

[SIRJAMES09]

I'm droolin' over your workshop....wish I had one like that.

[nibbler125]

I have been building basicly the same hovercraft. The only exception is mine has a seprate lift and thrust engine. One of my dads friends built one and later modified it to have twin engines. he said the speed wasnt increased much but its allot easyer to move around. I havent mounted my thrust engine yet but I just did my first lift test with great sucess. At half throttle I could easly be pushed around the yard whyle sitting in the craft. Or gain speed going down a hill

[rocketman20]

Do you know how many holes and how big they are on the inside of the skirt.

[mickydee]

I don't know what you mean by holes! There are no holes in the skirt exept for the screw holes to hold the skirt to the wooden strips. The total screws are around 200 with about 75 on the inside and 100 or so on the outside. I didn't have any problems with the skirt tearing or coming loose. .The skirt inflated at just above idle and the craft lifted up about 3 to 4 inchs. I hope this answers your question
mickydee

[enjohnson]

mickeydee, rocketman20 is talking about another common design for hovercrafts. Instead of having a hole in the base for air to be pumped into and then a second hole for air to go into the skirt, there is just one hole to fill up the skirt. The skirt then has numerous smaller holes around the perimeter facing in to pump air out of the skirt and underneath the craft therefore providing the necessary lift.

[husamwadi]

what was the maximum speed

[MRHint]

Congrats!

[jackhg]

mickydee,

great project, looks good, I am happy the project worked well for your group, nobody was hurt, everybody had fun with hc.

let us know what you doing in the future

jack

[mickydee]

I would like to play with my Arduino Uno and try to build a balancing robot.
mickydee

[mark429]

It's funny you mention the Arduino... I am in the middle of building a model hovercraft that will be semi-autonomousand plan to use the arduino uno as a system to help prevent crashes and aid in properly steering the craft as I'm sure you discovered it can be a little tricky steering.. for me if felt somewhat like driving a rear wheel drive car on an ice rink. Once I have my prototype all worked out I plan on scaling it up for use on a Universal design hovercraft... tghey really are the best. If you watch any hovercraft races you'll notice they are always among the top performers. As a side note in my quest for all things hovercraft I discovered goldstein hovercrafts llc sells some wonderful low priced kits for experimenting with hover-crafts and I highly recommend their R/C kit, it is a blast and I put the kit together in less than hour, they include tons of spare bodies and parts to encourage experimenting . I'll see if I can throw together an instructable on the model unit and hope to have a full size craft as cool as yours for my son when he is old enough! Kudos on a GREAT instructable!

[mickydee]

have fun! I think making a model would be a blast. I checked out the Golstein site and it looks like a bargain. The kit would save you all the trouble of finding motors and props, and ducts. I would prefer a larger model myself . Let me know your progress
mickydee

[bricabracwizard]

Great Hovercraft! Please let me know as soon as you build or have instructables on your balancing robot. I have just bought an Arduino Uno and was wondering what to do with it!