While sitting on my patio the spring of 2006 minding my own business, I saw an airboat go past my house on a trailer. I live near the Tuscarawas river in eastern Ohio near where I grew up. As children, we were always trying to build things that float and ride the river. But we always had to figure out how to get home again, back upstream. An airboat! The perfect answer I thought. I began researching but found that air boats were notorious for eroding river banks, not a great ecological thing. Further research brought me to hovercrafts. They are much more environmentally friendly, and much quieter. In my research, I heard about the upcoming hoverally in Chillicothe. I attended, got my first ride in a hovercraft, and that was it! I was hooked!
I began searching the web, reading websites showing many different features of different styles, designs, manufacturers, etc. etc. Each different style had features I liked, but I didn’t really like the looks of any of them. It is like the old Ford, Chevy argument. It is a very personal thing, and neither is right or wrong. That is what makes the world go around. If we all like exactly the same things, the world would be a very boring place in which to live.
I took the feature of each craft I like the best, and tried to combine them into a craft of my own design. This was very much against the advise of most everybody I talked with that was already in the hobby. I must admit, doing my own design, presented its own problems. Established designs have most or all of the problems worked out already. If you build exactly to the design with no variables, you will have completed a successful craft that will be ready to fly. That "cookie cutter" approach just isn’t my style though.
I have many people to thank for help in over coming problems my craft started out with. Mostly on "hoverlovers" a Yahoo message group of hovercraft enthusiasts. Many people on the board tried to discourage my approach. I believe their intentions were aimed to help me avoid wasted time and money, and keep me out of trouble. Others on the board were very supportive, and offered advise when needed, and answered questions when I needed answers. Between the two approaches, I came up with a hovercraft that is something I feel very proud of.
On my birthday, November 18, 2006 "The River Rat" came out of the shop for the first time. A wall had to be removed to get her out, so no testing had been done in my tiny shop. I couldn’t even start the engines with props on, or I would have sucked things off the shelves and into the fans. The first test went terribly. It was discovered that I needed much more pitch to my lift fan for starters. I repitched the fan blades and the cushion improved 100%, but still wasn’t what it should have been. She still seemed a little tail heavy. My center of gravity was too far back to properly balance. It didn’t seem extreme though, so I decided to try a test on the river as it was to see how she performed. Well, she didn’t sink, but just wouldn’t get over hump and up on cushion.
I thought of an easy way to add 2 feet to the rear of the hull which would move the center of gravity. That was the next approach to "fix the problem". After adding to the hull, it made all the difference in the world as to how she comes up on cushion. Now sitting level and much more balanced the cushion problems now seem totally eliminated.
Back to water for another test! The pictures Jeff has included here on his site were taken that day. I was amazed at the difference in the way it was balanced. There was still a serious problem though. She may "look fast" but she isn’t. Now to solve the next, and what I truly believe is the final problem. A friend I met at the Chillicothe hoverally, David Beechy, was so kind as to give me a thrust prop from and old craft he no longer has. His new craft has a 52" duct so the 48" prop was of no use to him any longer. The problem is, he spun that prop with a 60hp engine. It is just way too much prop for my little 18 Hp twin Briggs thrust engine. I can only get up to 1900 rmps. It should run close to 3600 rpms. It is what we believe to be a 48-50 pitch prop. I am currently carving a 48-35 which I think will spin much faster and solve the last of the serious problems. She should run 35 to 40 mph with this prop.
Am I sorry I designed my own craft for my first build? No, I am not!
Would it be what just anybody should do? Absolutely not!
To build your own hovercraft from a set of plans is extremely rewarding. To design your own hovercraft and build it is incredible! But if it weren’t for the advise and suggestions from people in the hobby, I would have failed. If you are going to design your own, you need to be willing to ask questions, and follow advice! If you are going to ask for advice, take it! You also have to be the type of person who isn’t easily discouraged. You have to look at every new problem as a new challenge. A new quest to conquer. I knew I had all winter to work the bugs out of "The Rat". By June, she will be ready, and I will be in Chilicothe!
