my hovercrafts NEW VIDEOS!!!!

[airlush1]

Hello to all in this forum. I have been reading alot about hovercrafts and thought that i would make a couple. The rectangular one was the first and the rounded one is my second version. Both are constructed of 1" blue foam for the base and dow fanfold for the rest. They have heavy duty trash bag skirts. And with bits of wood here and there. Both are powered with tower pro 2410-09 for the lift fans and 2409-21 for the thrust motors. with 18amp ESC's. I get about 15 minute run times,with 1300mha loong max batts.Tell me what you think!

[metroidrc]

looking very good! get some video of them running!

[airlush1]

I just finished my very first video! Check it out http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=988951#post11413952 (http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=988951#post11413952)

[daoldguy]

Very nice and handles well. What type of material are you using for the bag and how is it configured?

Ron

[fdaremi]

Very nice. I am waiting for more building details :D

Good luck,


Fred

[erunway]

cool looking craft...
any plans for it?
Erunway

[airlush1]

I am working on making plans and i will be building another and documenting the process with plenty of pics.

[airlush1]

I built a couple of more bases and skirt assemblies and gave them to my friends with encouragement to try something different than my designs. and here are the pics. We also took some video which i will be posting up today.

[airlush1]

Here's the link to the new video of MHC V2- http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=990791

[dottney]

Ah see what happens when its cold out and you give the kids sharp things and foam!!!!!!
Very cool Marc. The V2 video of Mike's is really cool.
Dave

[airlush1]

Do you want one of your own dave? I think we can arrange something. These are lots of fun around the house!!!!!! Especially with the pending 6-10 inches of snow that is coming........

[metroidrc]

I'm really digging that new design :D

[airlush1]

I knew you would :)

[Phugedaboudet]

is there a version of the video without music? I can't hear the hovercraft sound over it.

very very nice implementation, sleek and fast. Might need bigger vanes behind the ducted fans?

[alpine_uni]

Very nice, Marc and Mike! The new heavy-duty bags seem to inflate just fine, and will last a lot longer, I'm sure.

Did I hear somebody say 'Giant Community Build'?

-Mike E.

[helcat]

During the maiden run it flipped over and the top fins and top halves of the rudders broke off. :(
However, Marc and I both noticed that having just the bottom halves seamed to be just as efficient as having full height. In the video Marc did, you can see that it only has the bottom halves of the rudders. The thrust from these EDF's is plenty to turn it in circles.
It's been repaired and ready to go. I added an elevator between the EDF's in hopes that in will help keep the front end down a bit more and keep it from flipping over. This craft really rocks! Thanks Marc!

Mike
PencenAround R/C (http://www.pencenaroundrc.com/)

[airlush1]

[/QUOTE]Very nice, Marc and Mike! The new heavy-duty bags seem to inflate just fine, and will last a lot longer, I'm sure.

Did I hear somebody say 'Giant Community Build'?

-Mike E.[QUOTE]

How big do you think the giant community build should be? Lowes has 4' x 8' x 2" sheets of the blue foam! Would that classify as giant. Then again if it were that big what would we need R/C gear for we could just ride it:)

[airlush1]

Well we made another video today and here it is http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=991344#post11444326 And a couple of pics before and after the fun

[dhadz1]

Did I hear somebody say 'Giant Community Build'?
-Mike E.

You know, during the summer my neighbor puttered with plywood and a leafblower.... I think there's some real possiblity here!

Mike P --- are you doing differential thrust with the EDFs in addition to the rudders?

[helcat]

dhadz1,
No differential thrust with the EDF's. The thrust coming from the EDF's hitting the rudders is plenty. I can spin it in very tight circles.

Mike
PencenAround R/C (http://www.pencenaroundrc.com/)

[airlush1]

Check out my new skirt plain by day and glows by night!!!

[metroidrc]

holy crap I think you've created a second sun!

[airlush1]

I ran it on the snow last night at dusk and it was really neat! But i left my camera at home... Sorry. Next time out i will get some pics and or video.

[metroidrc]

At the hovercraft event we should do night racing :)

[airlush1]

I agree I just got a hold of some white rip stop and will be making more skirts with led's. I also have some night fliers. Do you fly?

[metroidrc]

do I fly? Yes I do. ;)
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=985009

[airlush1]

Very nice stuff!!

[metroidrc]

your lit up plane is great too :D

[airlush1]

Check out the new skirt i have just completed. It's a finger type skirt and it works amazing. This hovercraft is my latest build which i documented thoroughly with many pics and i will post a build log in the near future.
The only thing left to do is paint this awesome little machine!

[bigbadbob2003]

wow! thats brilliant, how did you make it?

[hover dude]

Nice work there!

[fdaremi]

Check out the new skirt i have just completed. It's a finger type skirt and it works amazing. This hovercraft is my latest build which i documented thoroughly with many pics and i will post a build log in the near future.
The only thing left to do is paint this awesome little machine!


Hey Airlush1,

That is very cute. Can't wait to see the bulding blog. Please don't disappoint us :D

[airlush1]

I sewed the skirt my self and cut all the pieces of rip stop my self. it took me about twelve hours. And don't worry i will post the build log soon.

[metroidrc]

cool, looking forward to seeing how you did it. :)

[HoverTim]

nice job on the skirt but thats a segmented skirt Suanders roe/ BHC http://www.bartiesworld.co.uk/hovercraft/saunders.htm did the bag and finger ie the SRN4s where as Hovercraft Development Ltd http://www.bartiesworld.co.uk/hovercraft/hdl.htm invented the segmented skirt i would like to see a video of your craft operating to see wha the skirt performs like

[airlush1]

I will get a video of it very soon maybe later today or tomorrow This one performs alright but i made the mistake of leaving it on the floor and the segments got all creased and flattened down and now they don't want to inflate right so i have to get a teapot to steam out the creases and try again. But the frist runs were very good. There was a dusting of snow the night before and this thing would crusie along over sticks and other debris small patches of grass. It would travel over the grass with a minimal snow covering but when the sun came out and burned of the snow there was too much friction :mad: So today i am going to start construction of a revised skirt segment design which should only take a couple of days so maybe wednesday i will have a new skirt and video to share. I will be posting a build log once i get all the kinks worked out and have a final version so please be patient with me :)

[airlush1]

Here are some build pics of my hovercraft V3. This is the third one i built. These pics show the base construction. I start with 1" DOW blue foam and Dow fanfold. The 1" is for the base and the FFF is for the bag skirt attachment, the body and fan ducts. Once the base is cut to shape I trace that onto FFF which is used for skirt attaching parts and the bottom plate.

[airlush1]

This is my method for building a bag skirt with a trash bag.

Start by taping a trash bag nice and flat on the floor.
Next place the double sidedtaped template on the bag.
Trace around the template 3"
now i use my soldering iron with a flattened point to go around the traced line. this cuts and seals the bag at the same time. This takes some practice so try with some scrap first.
Now i slice through one layer of the bag inside the template and turn the bag inside out so the foam template is inside of the bag.
Now place the smaller template inside the first with double sided tape on the remaining bag and remove the excess in the center of the templates

[airlush1]

For these steps i use a soldering iron hot glue and double sided tape.

start by taping the large template so the base sandwiching the bag between the two pieces of foam.
Now i use my iron to burn holes through the FFF and the bag and into the base. Do this very quick as the iron will make a large hole very fast. the idea is to spot weld the template to the base with hot glue.
Once all the hole are burned around the perimeter fill each one with a dab of hot glue this step ensures the bag won't detach from the craft (in the cold the tape doesn't stick very well)
Now i cut a bunch of 1"sq blocks these are used as standoffs for the second template and the base plate. hot glue these 2" in from the edge of the base.
Now place the second template on top of the blocks and burn through this template with the iron into the blocks and fill with hot glue.
time to build the motor mount. I used two 10" pieces of 1/8"x3/8" spruce and a 1 ply disc and 4- 1" spruce pieces for standoffs with very thin ply to make the standoffs. Assemble all these parts with epoxy. The standoffs lower the motor which lowers the CG.
Now i make the thrust motor mount in the same way execpt with 3/8"sq spruce.
Sorry i didn't take more pics of the hole burning process but i think the average builder can figure it out. Don't hesitate to ask questions.

[airlush1]

I didn't take too many pics of the thrust fan duct construction but it's pretty simple.

Start with the round piece that was cut for the lift fan hole out of the base (if you will be using an 8" prop or else trim accordingly)
wrap the FFfoam around this and tape together and glue.
Once this is done remove the round disc and put in the thrust fan motor mount and glue in place. MAKE SURE IT IS CENTERED!
You can make the air rudders at this point. Two work good and three work better. to hinge these i use a very simple method simply three pices of carbon fiber. One that is the distance between the rudders and two smaller pieces that get glued to the rudders. I join these with heat shrink tubing and a little CA
Now glue this unit to the base. Be sure it is square.

[airlush1]

The body construction starts with the lift fan duct which is made the same way as the thrust fan duct. The height depends on how high the prop is when attached to the motor. I like to have about an inch above the prop. My body former and duct height is about 2" and slopes to the edge. I used a wire to achieve the slope. Once all the formers are on you can cut pieces to be glued on top of the formers and these form the body shell. I glue these parts down with the plastic skin in or remove it entirely so i can sand off the markings and smooth the surface. If i am unclear or you have any questions just ask and i will try my best to explain.

[airlush1]

After running the craft with the trash bag skirt i was wanting for something a little different. So i thought a segment skirt made of rip stop nylon would be really cool and all around better. After a lot of research I came up with my first design Where each segment was open on the underside to let the air out and create the air cushion. This work great on the first couple of runs, until the ends started to fray. My solution to this was to apply alittle CA to stop the fraying which it did, But also made the skirt very stiff at the ends. After one night sitting on the floor the skirt was creased and would not inflate properly :mad: So i came up with a new design where the skirt segments would be 75% selaed on the inside to prevent fraying and also possibly create more pressure in each segment. I also had to change the base of the craft a bit for the new segment skirt. I put a solid base and sides made of FFF. The the sides were perforated to allow the air to fill each segment.The white skirt was the first version and the red was the second. The red skirt has 4" of ground clearance!!! I am able to run this over moderate size obstacles (curbs, speed bumps,etc.) I'm very satisfied with it :D I will try to get some video of it soon............STAY TUNED!

[dhadz1]

Great pics Marc... after seeing this run, it's cool to see the work that went into this.

Bring your camera tomorrow morning and one of us can grab some video!

Again, nice job and a very well documented build log...

Dave

[airlush1]

I just finished a new video! It is very short due to the battery in my camera crapping out :censored: . I think it was due to the cold (15degrees this morning) But we did get a good shot of it going up a 6" curb with no problem :D Here is the link ENJOY: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1009346

[airlush1]

Well, with a little help i was able to load all of the videos on you tube so that i could put the links here for direct viewing. So here they are ENJOY!!!!!!! :D
Hovercraft #4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqaWmDFgPpg) (0 min 32 sec)
HOVERCRAFT VIDEO #3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQXlix1HsE8) (2 min 1 sec)
My Hovercraft V2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KzRhwfWGQ4) (1 min 5 sec)
My hovercraftvideo #1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5IfSxO9cIs) (2 min 1 sec)

[LiveElectric]

WOW! That red one is a Hover-BEAST!!! A six-inch curb? No problem! And there was enough lift to get it drifting like that on powdery snow? Wow. Great Job man! That's an awesome piece of work, not to mention the others!

Wolf

[airlush1]

Thanks, the red one is my flagship of my hovercraft fleet.(so far!) I haven't been working on these to much lately due to warm weather + time off + new planes to build! On the plus side i have flown more in the past week than i did all winter. every time i go out i kill my TX batts :) :) :) :)

[hemiblas]

This is a great build. I'm hoping to build a couple of these, but still not 100% clear on how the air gets under the craft and into the skirts. Any help or pics of the underside would be appreciated. Is the fan open to the bottom or is there foam underneath the fan? I was also thinking of substituting 1/8" plywood instead of foam for main section. Do you think its a good idea? Is the added weight going to be a problem? I have a couple of kms 31/21 motors that are outrunners just like the ones you have shown. Thanks for the help.

[airlush1]

The air gets sucked down and then forced out by the bottom plate. There is a piece of foam under the lift fan and all of the skirt segments get attached to the bottom of that and the sides of the craft. As far as using ply wood, you will need more thrust to move the craft. Which then turns into more motor, batteries , and ultimately more wieght. I tried to keep mine as light as possible while constructing the fuselage/hull so the remainder of my target wieght could be used for POWER. I hope this helps and i will get you some specific pics if you like.

marc

[hemiblas]

Ok, I see the bottom plate on the hovercraft with the segmented skirt. But the original V3 hovercraft, does that one stay open to the bottom? It looks like the air goes down to the ground and then some of it gets transfered to the sides to fill the skirt. I'm currently working on a griffon 2000tdx and it turned out to be a lot bigger than I imagined. I just started building these so its the only frame of reference I have at this point.

I'm also trying to find some of the dow fanfold with no luck. Is this something I can get at lowes or home depot. I've never seen how you can bend foam like that to make the round ducts.

Thanks.

[airlush1]

All of my hovercrafts have a bottom plate. The air gets forced out to the sides and then out of some perforations on the bottom. The dow brand fan fold is available at lowes and home depot has the pink stuff ( owens corning i think) You could use either but i think most prefer the dow fff (blue stuff)
The round ducts are easier than you think, just start with a rounded edge and run the foam over the edge to start rounding. Once it starts to become round make a mold of the duct size you need by cutting a circle out of thicker foam. Once you wrap the foam around the mold i use a hair dryer to gently heat the foam to help it keep the shape and walla a nice round duct. I hope this helps

marc