Henry's HOVERSITE 2003

Page 1

It's a Mean Green Machine ...  and it actually flies!

The culmination of nearly a year's work -- our first flight on a frozen lake in New Hampshire.

Still to be done: A final coat of paint, better graphics (that's blue masking tape!) and maybe a windshield.

The full story...

Having recently parted with the last of a series of ultralight airplanes, I decided to start a new project with my 14-year old son and some of his friends. Scanning the Internet, I came across the Universal Hovercraft website which modestly proclaims: "We are the world leader in hovercraft technology and the world's largest supplier of hovercraft plans, kits and parts." A phone call to a cheerful Donald Small at UH confirmed that the model 13-P was their quietest and most efficient 2-person design.  He thought it would make an excellent father-son project. In early May 2003 we placed our order for their most complete UH-13P kit, and a few weeks later a very large crate arrived containing what you see in

The complete "kit" --  less engine, prop, fan and duct.   Do you think it will fly?

the photo to the right: Seven sheets of Styrofoam, six sheets of 1/8" plywood, 11 yds. of fiberglass cloth, 1.5 gallons of epoxy resin, 7.5 yds. skirt material, 250 skirt screws and various and sundry belts, pulleys and cables. There were also three sheets of blueprints, a video tape and a manual on hovercraft building.  We also received (not shown in the photo) a pre-formed propeller, a 4-bladed lift fan, a fiberglass lift duct and a 25-HP, vertical shaft, air-cooled Briggs & Stratton lawn tractor engine. Having built several ultralight aircraft from kits, I quickly realized that this project might be a bit of a challenge.  The UH "kit" was, in reality, an assembly of the raw materials needed to build the craft.  To top it off, neither my son or I had ever, in our entire lives, laid eyes on an actual hovercraft!

Continue to Page 2  -  Construction, Days 1 thru 6

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