Fun for the kids

This Hovercraft has had a pup. Check out http//hovercraftflightsforkids.blogspot.com/

variable pitch prop

variable pitch mechanism full forward

variable pitch mechanism full reverse

Prop Full fowardProp Full reverse

More about the successful learning curves later

On reflection

This was the second attempt at the lift fan and duct. The fan was just too small. We are now using a four bladed 34inch fan, home made from Universal Hovercraft plans. My plan was to build a hovercraft without using fiberglass & resin and it can be done, just not on my budget.

This is a shot of the air directer underneath to help the air to the back of the craft.

On the back you can see our first attempt at our thrust system. A 3ft 12 blade aluminium fan.

And here are the rest of our attempts at ducts or the rings thereof. We 've had the 3ft fan, a 5ft UH prop and now we have a 6ft7inch prop - also UH prop - but cut and stretched a bit.

This is Wind Dancer in 2007, before her refit. We found she was a bit on the heavy side and would'nt climb out of the hole or over the hump. So I started looking at making a bigger thrust prop. I'd actually got half way through cutting a wider chord 5ft prop when I discovered a variable reverse pitch propeller on U tube. This would be a great thing to have- brakes on a hovercraft!! It took a great deal of thought, but I designed a hub for myself. With some help from some friends to turn me up some things and work out how to put it all together - hey presto! Six months later we now had a variable pitch reverse hub. A further 18 months and 4 different blade types down the track we are getting very close now. More photos soon

Introducing Wind Dancer

Hi All, I'm new to all this stuff so please bear with me!

In July '05, this is what Wind Dancer looked like. Some things have changed...some have stayed the same! The power is still the same... a 26hp Briggs and Stratton for lift and a Subaru 1800 for thrust! This was the day my Hover dream become a hovercraft...but more about that later!

Out of the shed and into the sun...one would think she would be keen to fly!

And she did...I had to hold her still here.

Check in soon to find out more about the Wind Dancer story.