Monday, July 9, 2007

My Hovercraft Plan

For some reason I have always been fascinated with hovercraft. I think the idea of hovering over almost any surface is really cool. I came up with a plan to build my own hovercraft. I built my first hovercraft from a basic set of plans I found at the local library. It consisted of a platform made of plywood with a shop vac attached to it for power. You sit on it and when someone pushes you it glides across the floor like an air hockey puck. Now while this was great fun it was not what I was looking for. I wanted to build something a little more serious. I looked into hovercraft kits or buying a used or new one and they were all out of my budget. According to the wife. I found a reasonable set of plane online and bought them. After reading through the plans a few times I was off to my local hardware store to buy what I needed. I already had most of the basic tools required so I was now ready to start building my very own hovercraft! Construction is pretty basic and consists of plywood, foam and some fiberglass. I have assisted in building experimental aircraft before so this was an easy task for me. But I think even someone with basic skills could build there own hovercraft. I built the whole project it a few weeks and was ready to test it out. With a few last checks I started it up and hovered around my back yard. It takes a little getting used to the controls but once you do it is fairly easy to drive. Everything seemed to be going well so I headed out over the lake. On smooth water this thing just glides along and is so smooth. It is the coolest feelings in the world. I came back from my first test run grinning from ear to ear. I am now in the process of building my second one for the wife. She loves it and wants her own. I figure we can go hovering around together. I am already planning some modifications for the second one plus a little more power. Feeling confident about the building process now. What is so great about hovercraft is that they can be used all year round. Unlike our boat or motorcycle that have to go into storage for the winter months. My homemade hovercraft glides over snow and ice with ease. Cost for the build was very reasonable and with a little scrounging you could keep the costs even lower. A good place to start is your local garage sales. Great for picking up any tools you are missing too. There are bigger more expensive hovercraft plans out there but dollar for dollar these plans cannot be beat.

Mike D Tucker is a self employed Internet entrepreneur and product reviewer. If you would like a set of the plans I used to build my hovercraft Visit http://www.rave-reviews.net/Hovercraft-Kit/

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