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Hovercraft Project in Progress |
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HOVERCRAFT PROJECT IN PROCESS |
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| Contact me: to ask questions, or provide some design tips, suggestions, information, send me an email. Click "Contact Us" above and lets discuss it. |
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Ok, Phase I objectives works, see picture below and then click movies to see hovercraft in action. The craft is able to lift up and travel. |
| Picture below is the hovercraft that was completed in PHASE I |
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| Click here for Movie 1 See the hovercraft in action. Phase I movie |
| Click here for Movie 2 See the hovercraft in action. Phase I movie |
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| I will use an 18" bicycle with rear hand brake. Nice bike but after I finish with it, it will be completely useless. My objective here is to cut the bike in thirds. front, middle, and the back. The middle I do not need. |
| First I will strip some parts off the bike to make it more accessible for cutting the frame. Bike was bagged from Gammy while she wasn't looking. She was saving it for later when the test pilot got a little older. Oh well. |
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| OK, so I cut the bike up. I cut the bike up when the test pilot and the V.P. of financial spending were not present because they would have laid claim to the bike. Bike donated by there grandmother. Either case I would not be able to use the bike if they saw it first. |
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| I will need to buy a new brake cable because the existing one is just not long enough, as you can see below. I will be adding brackets and adjusting the height of the wheels so they will come within 1 inch of the ground surface. To stop I will lean over to my right and allow the wheels to touch lightly and at that moment I can steer and or apply the brake. I will be using a rear brake. Why cause the bike didn't come with a front brake. |
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| Click here for Movie1 Quick time |
| Click here for Movie2 Quick time |
| Picture below: Hi. Rufus here, I have been standing by waiting for my ride. The kids, adults, and even the cat has had a ride. Soon, I hope. |
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| Picture above and below: Lots of measuring, metal bending, hole drilling and adjusting to figure out the correct angle and the specific position for the wheels. The front and rear wheels need to be 1" to 1.5" above the surface when the air bag is inflated. This will allow the craft to perform as if the wheels were not attached. After the craft is inflated and movement takes place you can "lean" to the right and allow the wheels to make contact with the surface. This contact to the surface should (to be tested) not stop the craft but allow it to be steered and braked. Some slowing of the craft is expected but I am planning on it not coming to a complete stop. More on this later. |
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| Picture below: I cut the bike handle bar and moved the hand brake to the left from the right side. I will replace the brake cable to a longer one. |
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| Steering: The steering on the bike is very easy to turn left or right. I tightened the bearings and shaft very tight. This made the steering movement less flexible. With a tight steering the wheel when the craft is inflated and the tire is off the surface, the wheel will not "flop" to the side (left or right), it will remain in a relative straight line. This will allow the wheel to be positioned straight ahead when the need to depress the wheel to the surface for steering. Steering radius is small and the steering will not need a wide range of radius to turn in, Steering on the craft is used mostly for steering correctness not for wide turns. |
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| Picture below: Bird captured by Oreo the cat. He brought this bird to me and it was very shocked and after a few minutes on the craft while I was attaching the wheels he recovered and I tossed him up in the air and he flew away. |
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| Picture below: the support for the wheel attachment is temporary at this point because I have measured the distance of the bottom of the wheel to the surface but don't feel that it is correct. Further testing is required. Although the brackets looks crude the wheel is solid and should withstand much weight. |
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| Picture below: The craft ready for Phase II testing before the brake cable is installed. The wheels could be smaller and attached differently but, hey, at this point the wheels are solid and attached. |
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| Now that the front and rear wheels are attached, it is time to set it down on the ground and test the actual height of the wheels. If the wheels height is acceptable then the next test is to inflate the air bag and measure the distance of the wheels to the surface and if the height is acceptable then I will get on and test the steering and center of gravity. |
| The wheel attachments are crude and not very impressive, however, they are installed this way because it was easy and the materials were available. |
| Testing is required at this point for the steering and braking. |
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| After testing the steering along with the air bearing and the adjustment to the height of the wheels to surfaces. The brake cable has been installed and now the BRAKING AND STEERING WORKS. However, the craft is slower and needs the rear wheel bearings loosened and the brake cable adjusted a little more. More testing tonight. Below 2 pictures, you can see that I removed the wood used to adjust the height of the wheels. |
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| I have at this time replaced the fan with one that actually blows some air, not much however, but testing it showed that is has an effect on the forward mobility of the craft. 1/8hp 120v electric motor. |
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| Picture below: Test pilot has made a makeshift bed on the sky cycle in order to be able to begin testing at first light. |
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| Picture Below: Test pilot finally is catching much needed sleep after a long day of adding a new brake cable and testing and adjusting the wheel height to the surface of the ground. We found that the adjustment needed to be increased in the front and some lowering was required in the rear wheel. Not sure at this moment what the correct combination of wheel height to surface is. |
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After the brakes and fan replacement and a rested nights sleep we
started testing the hovercraft.
Below picture: craft in off, down position. |
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| Craft is off and in position to receive the pilot. |
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| Front view of craft. Waiting for the pilot to begin testing, he's having breakfast and some apple juice before he takes on the hovercraft test flights. |
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| OK, several runs down the driveway worked well. The craft went in a straight line and brakes were applied to stop once it reached the end of the driveway. Video's coming of test runs soon. |
After several runs down the driveway I have learned that the rear wheel
is still not as loose as the front wheel and I will not be able to
correct this unless I buy a new rim like the front to replace it with.
I also notice that each time the front tire touched the surface the
knobs on the tire had a stopping effect. I have replace the tires
with tires that have smooth tread and have tested this down the driveway
and has improved performance a lot. Do not use knobby tires on this type
of craft or project. I tried to use the bike and bike components
as they came but had to modify and adjust to the situation. Next I
will replace the rear wheel hub to one like the front and then loosen
the bearings so it will spin fast. I know that loosening the
bearings will add undue stress on the bearings and will tend to wear
them out. But, on this project the wheels will not be used that
much and damage to the bearings will not be that much.
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| Phase II movies. |
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In the movies below you will see the craft go down the driveway with a
rider on it., You will see the steering and the brakes being used.
You will also see how light the craft is when returning up the driveway
it can go by itself. The fan in the back does provide some forward motion but little. the craft will go by itself and or with someone on it. This may be due to the downward slop of the driveway. The driveway is not slopped much. However on level surface the craft will tend to go around in circles, here is where the fan comes in, it does provide some forward motion and going down the driveway it increases the speed. The craft's fan is not strong enough to propel it up the driveway. The fan is the next item that would need to be upgraded in order to travel faster and go up small inclines. |
| Click here for Movie 1 See the hovercraft in action. Phase II movie |
| Click here for Movie 2 See the hovercraft in action. Phase II movie |
| Click here for Movie 3 See the hovercraft in action. Phase II movie |
| Click here for Movie 4 See the hovercraft in action. Phase II movie |
| Click here for Movie 5 See the hovercraft in action. Phase II movie |
| Click here for Movie 6 See the hovercraft in action. Phase II movie Rob's Ride |
| Josh, Justin, Joey, Rob, Thanks for taking a test ride on the skycycle. |
| More test flights: |
| Click here for Movie Joey's Ride Phase II movie |
| Click here for Movie Josh's Ride Phase II movie |
| Click here for Movie Josh's Ride Phase II movie |
| Click here for Movie Josh's Crash Ride Phase II movie |
| Click here for Movie Justin's Ride Phase II movie |
