Hovercraft takes first place in parade!

I was browsing the Make magazine web site and came across this entry. I thought this might be a great father-daughter project. So I sold my daughter on the idea of a building a hovercraft with dad.

We started our adventure by visiting some local pawn shops looking for a gasoline powered lawn blower. Seeing the prices were as high as new one we went to Lowes Hardware looking for a suitable blower. We chose the Weedeater FL1500. Not only was this the least expensive one, but the blower had a two inch port, ideal for a PVC fitting. The instruction manual revealed that the motor was to be started on the ground, horizontal before lifting it to use as a leaf blower. So we needed an easy way to attach the motor to the deck of the hovercraft. Checking the plumbing section we found a 45^o "street elbow". Seventy-five dollars later we were on our way.

We began construction by drilling a hole in what would be the center of the deck made from leftover OSB board. Then marking and cutting a disk 34 inches in diameter using the center hole as a guide. Then we made an 11 inch disk with a hole in the center from the scrap. This smaller disk would hold the skirt in the center. Finally, I cut a hole for the PVC plumbing piece eleven inches from the center. We glued the PVC elbow into the deck with gorilla glue and let it sit overnight.

The skirt was made from ten mil plastic cut into a forty-two inch disk. We secured it in the middle with the smaller disk with a quarter inch bolt. Then we carefully folded and taped the outside edge to the top of the deck. The hovercraft construction was completed with stapling cardboard on the deck to evenly secure the skirt as the tape doesn't hold well to OSB board.

The motor neatly slides over the plumbing elbow and I pulled her with a rope. We decided to enter a local Fourth of July parade.

I didn't realize at the time the parade was a little over two miles. We had committed and so I packed an repair kit and extra fuel in a little red wagon that we also decorated. I felt that the skirt would tear traveling that distance for sure. We were very surprised when we made the two miles and won First Place!