Toy Stats
Name: The Toy
Size: 5' X 10'
Weight: 150 lbs
Capacity: 1 person, or 250 lbs.
Or, 1 adult and 1 small child, totaling less than 250 lbs.
Power plant: Honda 11 hp engine,
36" dia. direct drive prop.
Speed: 25-35 mph (actual, not suggested)
depending on payload, wind and water conditions.
And now, a MOVIE CLIP!!
This
is a cross section of the duct. Notice the slits in the foam.
These allow the foam to bend around the plywood without breaking.
The foam and plywood are epoxied together.
So far, most of the craft is primed. I can't prime and paint the whole craft until I fiberglass the motor mount in place. I can't fiberglass the mount until I get the engine. The whole thing with the engine is becoming a huge headache! Sure, I got a great deal on a new 13 hp honda, but I ordered it three weeks ago (around June 16th) and I'm still waiting. All I have left to do is fiberglass the mount, prime and paint, make the skirt, and install the cable rollers. I WANNA HOVER NOW!
7-7-00 Update! AN engine has arrived. When Shawn (friend who works at Northern Tool and Equipment) called up Honda, they said they had a 13 hp scratch and dent engine in the warehouse. 4 weeks later, it turns out that engine was a ghost. Instead of a 13 hp, an 11 hp showed up at Northern's door step. Needless to say, I bought it. 11 horsies are much better then none, right? Alas, work continues.
7-14-00 all right, the rudders are now completely metal because
of a rain storm that blew through and soaked the wood dowels, locking them
in the rudder mounts. The engine mount has been fiberglassed in place
and the engine centered and bolted on. The skirt is mostly on, but
there are more screws to install. I also can't figure out what's
causing the right side to
wrinkle the way that it does.
SHE HOVERS! Saturday (7-15) afternoon, I finally finished up the
skirt and flew her around the back yard! Today (my birthday), I took
her to a lake and wowed the hell out of a few boaters. Driving the
craft from the parking spot at the landing, down the ramp and into the
water was just too much for them. I loved it!
The plans call for pulleys and cable to control the rudders. I tried that, but replaced everything with Teleflex push/pull cables because the pulleys kept ripping out of the 1/8" plywood deck. The added hardware was made from alum. which includes the Teleflex mounting brackets, and the joystick pivot. Now, the steering system is bomb proof.
While at the 2000 National cruise, I was asked by Linda Weber of Weber
Hovercraft, if I would take a spectator for a ride in The Toy.
A little hesitant because of weight constrictions, I agreed, and gave a
ride to a charming young girl. The UH-10F performed beautifully,
never giving me any trouble. I was even able to stop in deep water
and get going again without too much effort. All together, I had
over 240 lbs onboard!
Over new years, Walt was in town from Tacoma, WA. We decided to head
up to his grandparents lake to do some hovering. It's a pretty secluded
lake, so snowmobile traffic was at a minimum (snowmobile tracks are no
fun!). A couple of days earlier, it had snowed about 9" of
fluffy powder. The Toy had no problem going over it. In fact,
just the top 1/2" was blown off. At no time did The Toy dig in at
all. It was a bit weird, though. After stopping on the snow,
we'd get out of the hover and step down onto the lake, only to sink down
9" to the ice because The Toy just stayed right up on top. I never
did remember that, and it always caught me off guard. The temperature
that weekend ranged from -22 to +15. Very cold. Even with the
cold temps, she started perfectly the first pull, every time. Click
here,
or on the pic to view more pics of the weekend. Pictures courtesy
of Walter Jones Productions.
First off, I'd like to extend my deepest thanks to my friend, Walt Jones. This video was taken over new years with Walt behind the camera, and me in The Toy. Walt also did all of the video editing, digitized the vid, and pretty much, everything else involving this video. Again, thank you very much, Walt! The Camera is in an underwater housing, which is why the sound is muffled.
We're on the lake that his cabin is on, it had just snowed 11" of fluffy powder. The hovercraft went right over it, hardly leaving a mark, like those pesky snowmobiles.
Video - 56k connections
Video - high speed connections
