I had a Scat and it did not have half the acceleration that yours appears to have. It also took a 14 foot trailer to haul it and a one car garage to store it. It had one prop and it had to be big , the bigger they are the faster the tip speed the louder it is.Yours makes all the sense in the world. Two thumbs up from the USA
That tube is a skirt, it's meant to accommodate the uneven surface below so that the hovercraft can work on land and water. Those fans cut off those tubes deflate.
Moving the throttle control stick to the left or right, one engine increases and the other decreases in RPM which in turn causes a turning moment. Also, by shifting your body weight with the turn. "works just fine" Thank you for your interest.
In the right environment, lack of rudders is not a problem, as clearly demonstrated. Weight shift (inducing drag on the inside of the turn) and differential thrust seem to work OK. Trickier in a cross wind, but that is part of "the right environment". Very clever idea. Skirt attachment seems a bit fiddly and likely to wear quickly, and few other bits that make me cringe a little, but overall a very credible little craft. I may pursue this concept, the fold-able ultra-light hovercraft.
Hi Konstantin. Yes, I import Hovery without engines. It is all different legislation for the customs if you import full vehicle, and much lighter weight. The engines can always be bought locally - either Honda or Kohler, whoever gives a better price :) However, I found Kohler easy to start, and with more power. Aluminum structures reinforce the ducts, and help to straighten the air flow for better thrust. QT is for cute - it looks like a flying pillow :) Thank you for the positive comment.
great idea,, compact , it fits in a car , light ,,,and look at her fly wow ,,i don`t know who built it ,,,natalia i hope ,,she a hell of a woman !!!,,,thks for the good video
I was wondering the same thing, but it does transition from water to land really well, overall it's a pretty good design, but first class engines are a must because losing power on the water is not good @ all...
Neat! But, yeah some issues with Hovers. I helped a friend with one in the 80's in Miami, Nice Kawasaki engine, reasonable hull. Fast and cool, but turn or stop? Un huh. We could only go out when there was nobody else on the waterway. Get going about 40 or 50 mph then turn? It would get sideways, we had accounted for that so it didn't flip, but it essentially it would still be going straight, then as it slowed down it would gradually form a decreasing arc, until finally you could get it turned 180 almost a quarter mile down the lagoon. Got quite exciting at times.
Can you build one like the rc hovercraft I built? Side thrusters, reverse thruster, ducted fan hovercraft built from paper, cardboard, and plastic bags
Hi Natalia. Nice hovery there. I see that your model have some bits different from the hovery´s website. Kohler engines are a nice upgrade instead of gx200 clones, did you imported the hovery without the engines? Also those aluminum airfoil type extrusions on the back of the duct, are they to provide extra protection for the fan, maybe a little turbulence removal? Why is it called Hovery QT? Great video btw, would love to see more of it. If you have time definately make one. Perhaps a review?
Ya'll need to build working vertical rudders behind the fan props! This would result in better performance in your turning maneuvers than just leaning the body weight from side to side just to negotiate a turn. Other than that. . . . night video!!!
If it had some fins behind the engines to act like a rudder, that would redirect the air flow and you wouldn't need to lean over in the direction you want it to turn.
Matthew Ford Matthew Ford I think you're making the same mistake Ivan did. It's not lean to steer, but lean to stabilize - you don't want the leading edge to plow on these. Steering looks like it's by moving the joystick side-to-side, so the two throttle cables are pulled different amounts. Ivan nearly plowed in when he came ashore at 7:45.
Moving your body just makes the effect bigger. Its steering to make one fan blow harder then the other. What you can see at 4:11. Bothe throttle cables are connected to the same "joystick" put it straight forward you go forward. Push it forward and a little left then the right side motor gets more throttle. So you go left. EZ as that.
Close - the split thrust will rotate the craft, but because you're floating on air there's no real "forward"; you have to over-rotate and use the thrusters to change course. Natalia seemed to understand that leaning needs to be opposite the direction of travel, to balance the hovercraft and avoid the skirt rolling underneath due to friction or contact with obstacles. Ivan was leaning the direction he wanted to go to try to force the hovercraft around & he nearly pays for that error when he comes ashore. I get the impression Natalia may have plowed in at some point before this. There's no teacher like failure!
Matthew Ford most small SEVs or Hovercraft do require that you lean and shift weight to help skirt handle side slip, etc. also, I believe that each motor has its own throttle and they are stearing with the differential between RPMS. Very creative design. Fun for hobbyist but not practical from cross country / extended overwater flight.
At the beggining of the movie, She fill up a buoyancy layer with a small blower. By the screw caps , this layer seems to be tight and so this volume ensures the buoyancy in any condition, either hovering by the thrusters or not.
THIS IS BOB OF SOLAR N MORE / I THOUGH I DID GREAT WITH MY INVENTIONS BUT THIS DISCOVERY JUST WET MY WHISTLE A WHOLE LOT MORE / ARE THERE LARGER KITS ?
@WV591 - Rudder is not essential, but skill is! A lot like skiing on snow, weight shift will get you most places. For greater precision a rudder really helps - back in the day ours had its steering damaged on the first lap of an F2 event and still managed to finish second in a field of ten.
i sent an example of proper engineering for controlling a hovercraft to any who may want to see it, not a smart-ass remark, just a great controlled craft with balanced control surfaces, look and maybe learn. Smiles J$
@ jeri andrade - - if it is too stable, it is hard to steer - there is NO rudder here - the method is to lean the craft to rotate it, then use the thrust to go where it is pointed. Get too far forward, and it can slow very rapidly indeed - not a good idea. Called a "plough-in"! Been there, done that!
@ fpvrcstuff - yes it looks a bit like that, but I think it's a heavier PVC-coated material similar to what we used on our F1 hovercraft in the early '80s. It was made by ICI, iirc, but I don't recall the name. It wore very well on a serious (100 mph +) machine.
