Friday, October 21, 2005

David Beachy's Hovercraft




I first got the idea that I wanted to build a platform that floats on a cushion of air about ten years ago,having no clue that there was such a thing as a hovercraft!
After doing some research I discovered that "hovering platforms" called hovercraft were being made since approximately the year 1967-the year I was born! Growing up, I've always enjoyed building things that I could sit on and go-even if I didn't know what to call it when I was finished!
I obtained a set of plans to build a hovercraft and built it. It ran well but was too small to carry more then one person, so I sold it and made a bigger one, this one lasted about five years. Next I decided to build my own design, almost entirely out of Styrofoam and fiberglass - which gave me the freedom to make it look how I wanted it to look! It has a Geo Metro 3-cylinder engine for thrust and a 14hp Kohlar for lift, I also made my own propeller and lift fan. I had the GPS clock my speed @51 mph but my engine was missing pretty bad at the time,so I expect to get about 65mph after tune-up.
I only have about 20 hours on the craft-with most of those hours giving rides.So I have yet to give it a good test! [Way to go David]