Hovercrafts

[Ian W.]

Me and some friends are trying to get together this summer to build either a hovercraft or go kart. So far, it's leaning much more torwards hovercrafts, cause they're slightly more legal (and one of us lives by a beach, with plenty of open space).

So, i was wondering, does anyone know any good sites about building hovercrafts? we have some basic plans, but nothing specific yet. One of our ideas used a vaccum cleaner motor, and the other a gas engine (leaf blower) to lift the hovercraft up, but none of us are sure how the whole skirt system works, so we're wondering how to make it work, but we couldn't find anything online :/.

So far, as a prototype, i think we've decided to get a circular plywood board, a big battery, and a vaccumm cleaner motor. but we have no idea how to make the skirt. if we get that design done, we're going to convert it slightly, and you'll all know if that works .

our other design calls for a gas engine, so we can use it on the beach and in the water. we have some basic plans, but once again, nothing on how to make the skirt. this design is more complicated than a circle, but i think a rectangular skirt would work, so making it won't be too hard.

so, if anyone knows of any good sites on building hovercrafts, or more specifically, anything on how the skirt works, and how to make your own skirt, i'd be grateful, and we just might have a very unique thing to show off next year .