HOVERCRAFT Hovercraft are weight dependent vehicles Lightweight hovercraft lack strength and durability, and race manufacturers tend to scrimp on safety aspects, so check whether a duct rear fan guard is fitted. Race hovercraft tend to have smaller engines that are up-rated to get as much power as possible from the unit. Two things to mention about up-rated engines, they tend to work to their upper power limits, so when you start a hovercraft from an on-water situation, there may not be power left in reserve to get you “over the hump”, to overcome the pressure wave all hovercraft create when starting on water. If you fail to get over “Hump”, you might not get home. The second consideration to ponder on up-rated engines is – how would modification of an engine to get more power output affect the manufacturer’s warranty if a problem occurred? Many engine manufacturers might state that engine modification invalidates the warranty. Decide – do I wish for my hovercraft to be durable and
Hovercraft Guide
strong, or do I wish it to be really fast? Ofcourse we all like speed but at what cost?
High Density Polyethylene (HDPE)
As an alternative to glass fibre, the Hov Pod Hovercraft is manufactured from High Density Polyethylene or HDPE, which is much stronger than glass fibre, and more buoyant, too.
Many boats are made from glass fibre so why not hovercraft? Well, boats do not travel over land and meet the occasional tree or goalpost in their path. You might drive your glass fibre hovercraft up the slipway and embark with 2 or 3 passengers; a small stone under the floor can fracture thin glass fibre to allow water seepage, and as we all know, water is very heavy stuff, it sank the Titanic. Boats have no issue with weight so are generally made from thicker glass fibre, hovercraft
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For more information about hovercraft visit http://
• Hovercraft terms • Hovercraft safety
www.hovercraft-guide.com/
Hovercraft Safety There are a number of terms that apply to how hovercraft perform during operation, e.g. ploughing, getting over hump.
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are very weight dependent, so hulls are usually very thin, particularly racing hovercraft. So the type of hovercraft you buy all depends on how you wish to use your hovercraft. The next issue of Hovercraft Guide will explain some of the hovercraft terms you need to be aware of before purchasing a hovercraft.
HOVERCRAFT GUIDE Free to Republish Feel free to republish this guide, if you have your own hovercraft website, club, or school project.