DIY Hovercraft – Part 2

Step 3:
In the previous picture you can just make out a bolt in the center of the platform. That is a critical piece I would be remiss in failing to mention. The skirt must be fastened to the platform to prevent it inflating like a balloon and bulging in the center. I passed a bolt through the platform, skirt, and that plastic disc I mentioned in the materials list. The disk shape allows it to act as a strain-relief since the skirt would certainly pull free from the bolt without it. I choose to use the lid from an old plastic food storage container with the rim cut off. Well, it wasn’t really an old container until my wife couldn’t find the darn lid for it anywhere later that week. I cut outlet holes in the skirt in a hopefully precise hexagonal pattern. I knew that the holes must be large enough to allow for enough flow to create the air bearing the hovercraft rides on, yet small enough to maintain skirt inflation. After much hemming and hawing I reached the conclusion that six approximately 2.5″ diameter holes placed in a hexagonal pattern would do the trick. I leave the distance between these holes as your aesthetic choice, because they were surely not engineered by me. Will post a pic of the underside of the hovercraft as soon as I remember to take one.
Step 4:
Attach blower, electric cord, platform and kid together and turn it on. Sounds far more exciting than the little rat let on. Maybe I can get him to try it out on water next time. My plan is to permanently mount the blower and route power through a light switch box and normal household switch.
Another completed view:

Continue reading DIY Hovercraft – Wrapup

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