Building a

HovercraftSienna Kirk’s

8th grade project

4 Types of Hovercraft

Type 1 hovercraft

Sport hovercraft

Industrial or

commercial

hovercraft

Flight-capable

hovercraft

Why Do Hovercrafts Float?

Building Materials 4 foot diameter plywood

Powerful leaf blower

Heavy duty shower curtain

Plastic garden chair

Foam tubing

Paint can lid

Skill saw & jig saw

Drill

Heavy duty staple gun

Duct tape

Compass

Straps

Exacto knife

Wood glue

Screw driver

Nuts and bolts

Making Hovercraft Platform

Drew outline of 4 foot

diameter circle

Used skill saw to cut

out circle (with help of

friends Rudy and

Sergio)

Sanded down the

edges after cutting out

the hovercraft body

Performing Balance Test We placed a baseball under the hovercraft body to help locate the

center. This helped to determine where to place the chair/human and

leaf blower so that the weight would be distributed evenly.

Learning and having

fun with my mentor

Mike Campos

Figuring It Out & Getting Started

After finding the weight

center, we:

Fiddled around with

the leaf blower to

find the best

placement

Did the same with

the plastic garden

chair

Used a drill and jigsaw

to cut a hole for the leaf

blower nozzle

Used duct tape to create

a tighter fit

Inserted leaf blower in hole

Attaching Shower Curtain

Stapled the heavy duty shower curtain to the plywood body

Hammered

down the

staples for safety

Cut the

extra plastic

off

Glued the

plastic to the

body for

extra

strength

Secured the shower curtain edge with

duct tape

Creating Vast Air Bubble

Bolted on a

paint lid to form

a donut-

shaped air

bubble so

shower curtain

wouldn’t drag

Used a compass to determine where to place 6 holes on the heavy duty shower curtain where the air will escape equally

Drew outlines of circles and used exacto knife to cut them out

Attached foam piping for a bumper

Taking Safety Precautions

Drilled in an

eye hook

Attached a

rope to hold so

I don’t fly away

Bolting Everything Together

Screwed down straps that hold down the leaf blower so it doesn’t go any where

Screwed down

the chair, that

way when you

fly you don’t fall

off

It is now ready to FLY!

Houston We Have a Problem

From all the air pressure,

shower curtain tore

Failure is Not an Option

Reinforced shower

curtain and new

paint can lid with

more duct

tape, staples, and

nuts and bolts

What an Adventure!