Neoteric hovercraft skirts feature an inventive quick-change system that allows you to replace skirt segments in the field without the need for any tools whatsoever. By necessity, the skirt offers a strong resistance to abrasion, pressureThere are three main families of skirts : bag skirts, finger skirts and combined bag and finger skirts. 3. Projects. The original hovercraft design used a vertically mounted fan to blow air between its outer shell and a slightly smaller inner container, creating what's called a "momentum curtain": a ring of fast-moving, inward-pointing air that trapped a bigger cushion of air inside it. The standard color is Carefully center the balloon's opening above the pop-top lid opening. Repeat the same operation for all your hull sides. Draw a semi-circle, the center of which is exactly below the edge of the hull, and facing the end of the attachment strip. A "vented bag skirt" is set to the hull in two places: on the edges of the hull, and on two strips - polypropylene strips in my case - under the hovercraft. In all cases, it is important to divide the semicircle with an even number, to obtain a correct positioning of your dots. A flexible curtain, called a skirt, is attached to the outer perimeter of the craft to contain the air beneath it. There are three main types of hovercraft skirt: bag skirts, finger skirts (sometime referred to as segmented skirts) and combined bag and finger skirts. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the hull, or air cushion, that is slightly above atmospheric pressure. We can accompany you either for a first assembly or during the maintenance of the skirts. again, see this page for more explanations. This is best suited to light racing hovercraft due to its low co-efficient of drag. You now have all the knowledge to design your own vented bag skirt. When joined together by soldering or sewing, this part of the skirt will have an angle of 90. 1. Divide the semi-circle into 8 equal circular sectors, each one being 22.5. You now need to draw the shape of your skirt using drawing software like. Hovercraft's skirt Skirt is made of cloth type material which does not allow air to leak through it. Particularly on larger craft, large inner bag panels tend to exceed the width of commonly available flexible materials. Hovercraft Skirt: Duplicate Paper. There are three main types of hovercraft skirt: bag skirts, finger skirts (sometime referred to as segmented skirts) and combined bag and finger skirts. A hovercraft including a hull and a skirt extending around and downwardly from the hull to form a plenum for an air cushion, wherein the skirt is a combined bag and finger skirt in accordance with any one of claims 1 to 6. ). By using this site, you agree to its use of cookies. pencil, graph paper, or drawing software like Geogebra, truck tarpaulin (density of 600g per square metern, must resist to stretching lengthwise and widthwise), something suitable for cutting out this truck tarpaulin (very good scissors or a very good cutter, I guess), large pieces of cardboard to reproduce your skirt templates on. A hovercraft, also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and other surfaces. Hovercraft Consultants Ltd was founded, specialising in hovercraft skirt design. That is, it is made up from a plurality of overlapping panels 40, each of which has one end attached to the bottom edge of the outer bag 26 and the other end attached to the hull 2 (at the lower skirt attachment line). Join the dots, and voil, you have your template, ready to be reproduced on a piece of cardboard. E-mail: team@neoterichovercraft.com, 2018 Neoteric Hovercraft, Inc Special thanks to Ian Smith, who created a large part of this tutorial, for giving me the authorization to improve and republish it. To achieve a good average overlap whilst avoiding covering the holes, the panels are wider at their hull attachment end than they are at their outer end. The first recorded design for an air cushion vehicle was put forwarded by Swedish designer and philosopher Emmanuel Swedenborg in 1716. You finally have your custom vented bag skirt set on your hovercraft / RC hovercraft. By suitable removal of finger and inner bag panel attachments, the finger 22 and attached panel 40 can be removed from the hull 2 and outer bag portion 26 together. Note that the front and back of the "vented bag skirt" must be kept open to allow air to escape (again, see this page for more explanations). the skirt also. Tape the ends first to tighten the skirt, then add tape along the strips. The Hovercraft narrow Front Segment Skirt System has extended inner diaphragm For a cruising craft low drag hovercraft skirt segments can be changed or replaced in less than one minute no 3 and 4. Therefore, I get : 22.5 x (/180) 3 = 1,2 cm. Haulein McInerney, Student of Mathmatics Sorry to interrupt ! The anti-scoop hovercraft skirt technology developed by Neoteric engineers gives the Hovercraft the ability to quickly accelerate without catching water. Control of the motion of the constructed hovercraft model. Preferably the panels overlap one another. It has six channels for various controls. If your hull design is complex, you can have two different angle values on the same piece of skirt, as shown on the drawing on the right. This is why we don't need skirt attachments for the front nor for the rear. One part of the skirt should The function of skirts for hovercraft has proved to be as important to the amphibious hovercraft (ACV) as that of pneumatic tyres for an automobile. Remember that you will need one template for each angle value on your hull. Be tailored so that it is even in height above the Here, Neoteric President Chris Fitzgerald accelerates a 6-passenger rescue hovercraft during tests to evaluate the anti-scoop rear skirt as well as the anti-plow front skirt. terrain over which you intent to operate it. About: My name is Tho, I'm the creator and owner of diy-hovercraft.com. A pure finger skirt requires specific hull shaping to suit the required skirt attachments and to provide air distribution within the structure. 5 years in U.S. federal prison and a fine of US $250,000, 1649 Tippecanoe Street Terre Haute, Indiana USA 47807-2394. 1983 The 1000TD. Congratulations for following the tutorial so far, you're almost there. If necessary, add a last dot "manually" at the very end of the skirt, like I did. Repeat the process like so, to get your second dot. The second picture shows the final result of two 45 corners facing each other. to restore it to a level position. Have the ability to absorb a large proportion of the A skirt for a hovercraft, the skirt comprising: a bag section for attachment to the hull of the hovercraft; and a plurality of fingers extending downwardly from the bag section; wherein the bag section includes an inner bag portion forming an interface between the bag section and the fingers; the inner bag portion being formed of a plurality of panels that are arranged side-by- side along the length of the skirt, the panels extending over the top of the fingers and the fingers being attached to the panels. google_ad_client = "ca-pub-8402110602011712"; We can accommodate 16 foot hulls with the cut out and complete versions. HOT Skater Chick Loses Skirt. In this way the bag has a secondary function as a conduit which distributes air evenly from a small number of lift fan outlets to the main air cushion. engine KM 24 Manual ( 23 hp at 6000 RPM), The This site uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic. The diagram in Figure 1 shows some of the key parts of a commercial hovercraft. Abrasion resistant Custom rubber formulation Custom skirt fabrication. Even a . . A skirt according to claim 5, wherein each of the panels has a drooping trailing edge to which an associated finger can be attached. You read it well, this tutorial works for both ! The design of the skirt mainly considers the type of flow and the number of air exit holes. The least we can say is that designing a hovercraft skirt from scratch can be confusing. Backed by a long history of laboratory development and on-craft experience, we can match compounds and materials to accommodate specific needs for varying degrees of ozone and oil contamination, abrasion and flagellation that may be encountered during use. This tutorial is for anyone who is looking to design a custom hovercraft skirt, whether for RC hovercrafts or "manned hovercrafts". google_ad_height = 90; 4. that will fully satisfy your specifications. Air is supplied to the plenum by a lift fan You can then "close the skirt" by taping it on the two polypropylene strips, edge to edge. Hovercraft are hybrid vessels operated by a pilot as an aircraft rather than a captain as a marine vessel. yourself as the driver of a racing hovercraft you may choose the full used.The skirt is a shaped, flexible strip fitted below the bottom edges of the plenum chamber slot. Return to its original shape after having been The newer skirt designs dont spray as much water as the old ones do. The first hovercraft is delivered to the RNLI for search and rescue along the coast of the United Kingdom. The drawing shows a RC hovercraft hull with its two attachment strips and all its skirt pieces ready to be put together. Take the appropriate cardboard template and set it 1 mm before the corner. Page 1 of 2 1 2 Next > Joined: Aug 2011 Posts: 91 Likes: 4, Points: 8, Legacy Rep: 49 Location: Fidalgo Island, WA rubenova . The skirt material has to be light flexible and durable all at the same time. You will notice that the strip is not perfectly straight, and that there should be two strips facing each other - this was a quick draft for me, you have to do better :-). A skirt (10) for a hovercraft including a bag section (26) for attachment to the hull (30) of the hovercraft and a plurality of fingers (22) extending downwardly from the bag section (26). The bag section (26) includes an inner bag portion (28) forming an interface between the bag section (26) and the fingers (22). where to put the hull structure to pick up the skirt and remembering with your friends : it will help us a lot ! Note that the front and back of the "vented bag skirt" must be kept open to allow air to escape (see this page for more explanations). Telephone: 1-812-234-1120 / 1-800-285-3761 Fax: 877-640-8507 Draw a horizontal line that represents your hovercraft hull. Car/Motorcyle; weight and center of gravity stay the same unless braking torque is applied or aerodynamic forces have an influenence. Manufacturer of electrical power transformer. Neoteric's engineers are never satisfied with the status quo. 1. Hovercraft can be powered by one or more engines. It is not useful to do the same at the front of the hovercraft. Fig. ground all the way around the craft. Overlapping of adjacent panels also offers the benefit of a stronger multi-layer structure without having to laminate layers together (as is often the case in conventional inner bags, which increases the cost and stiffness). First things first : you need to choose what your hovercraft hull will look like. Hovercraft development Need help with plans or your build? The skirt is in excellent condition and skirt patterns are included to make new future skirts. Draw a semi-circle, the center of which is exactly below the edge of the hull, and facing the end of the attachment strip. Every Day new 3D Models from all over the World. The outer bag portion 26 has a generally semi-circular cross-section and is connected at its top edge to the hull 2 at the line known as the upper skirt attachment 30. Fill out our contact form to send us your request. Pay attention to the last dot that you may have added manually during the previous steps - in that case, the two last lines, at the top of the drawing, will not have the same "X" gap as the others. "alternative drive" or Hydraulic system - "Fluid power ". For a large hovercraft, these two steps must also be performed - but using the appropriate tools and materials, of course. Now that you have all your templates, you need to cut skirts pieces with the right dimensions. Let cool for 20 seconds, then gently remove the skirt pieces that will certainly be sticked both to the workbench and to the cardboard. Urethane coated nylon fabric, 710gsm 20.9oz or 1200gsm 35.4oz/yd, STABOND 2-PART ADHESIVE for inflatable boats, or hovercraft skirts UK-148, quart, Vanguard hovercraft skirt, cut, ready to glue, Robo Scissors, carbon and glass, with two blades, charger/AC adapter, Completed vinyl skirt for Vanguard (14ft x 7ft) - color gray. Therefore, you will need to use two different templates for the right and left sides of these skirt pieces. A hovercraft, or air-cushion vehicle . We also sell Vanguard/Surveyor complete skirts that only need to be installed. Preferably the inner bag panels overlap one another by at least 5% of their plan area, more preferably by 40% or more of their area. Chris Fitzgerald inspecting results to determine what additional tests should be performed. How to design model hovercraft bag skirts using FREE tools (updated) Youtube Model Hovercraft Association 2.2K views 1 year ago Hovercraft part 2! whereas those fitted with bag skirts usually have square or angular Hot Bartender Prank. To check out the final steps and see how to stick this skirt under the hovercraft, you can check this page. Fortunately, to make things easier, the skirt can be divided into several parts, as shown on the picture above : one piece of skirt for each side of the hull. Use your compass to measure the distance between the penultimate dot and the last dot on the skirt profile, at the bottom left, and use this length as your last "X" gap. If you used it to make your own skirt, please post a picture, it will be a great reward for my work :-). up to 100% at the inner edge and no overlap at the outboard edge). . Please take a few seconds to share diy-hovercraft.com with your friends : it will help us a lot ! attachment (known as the finger tail attachment). The finger upper edges are attached to these flanges to prevent damage caused by snatching and water scooping. made and fitted, the skirt be cheaply maintained. A skirt according to claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the panels overlap one another by at least 5% of their plan area. An embodiment of the invention is described below by way of example with reference to the accompanying figures, in which: Fig. In some existing bag and finger configurations, the inner bag panel has paired flanges fixed to its underside using multiple fasteners. On a real hovercraft, where the semi-circle must be around 40 cm in diameter, you can go up to 12 equal circular sectors to get more precision - in that case you will get 15 sectors. 1 shows a hovercraft having a central hull that carries a passenger cabin 4. Let cool for 20 seconds, then gently remove the skirt pieces that will certainly be sticked both to the workbench and to the cardboard. A1. Between them the hull 2 and skirt 10 form a plenum for a cushion of air on which the hovercraft rides. You can use other materials or other fabrics as long as they are resistant enough, airproof and waterproof, while being flexible enough to inflate. Usually, a hovercraft is designed to be used with a vertical propulsion system to produce lift and thrust forces. More specifically, air from the lift fan is blown into the bag part 20 through openings 24 in the side of the hull 2, from where it passes into the main cushion via the fingers 22. After deciding on the best . variation in the exact shape and size of the skirt and structure can be Draw two horizontal and vertical axes which pass through the center of the semi-circle drawn previously. This stiffness is derived from two main sources: The first action when designing a skirt is to decide In this example, let's say I'm making a template for the rear of the hovercraft, where I have right angles (90). Bean Bag Chair. This helps to prevent uncontrolled leakage from the bag to the cushion that might lead to an undesirable loss of pressure differential between the bag and cushion. The first practical design for hovercraft invented by British in the year 1950 to 1960. Please hold in mind that no Hovercraft skirt is The Marlin is a turnkey hovercraft built to marine standards and has a sporting, modern professional look, which comes with a warranty on both the craft and engine for added peace of mind. but you may customize the color to match your hovercraft. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the hull that is slightly above atmospheric pressure. These additional attachments 48 help to better prevent damage to the fingers 22 from snatching and water scooping when operating in rough conditions. Join the end of the semi-circle to the end of the attaching strip with an arc. New segments slide into a special slot along the hovercraft's edge without the need for mechanical fasteners, which enhances the sleek, agile appearance of all Neoteric hovercraft. straight bag skirt if racing on terrain where hull damage would The slow speed and large mono chamber of the hover barge actually helps reduce the effect of wave action, giving a very smooth ride. First of all, choose the material for your skirt : for my RC hovercrafts, I use trash bag pieces which can be melted and joined together using a soldering gun, or K-way pieces which can be sewn together. black, but you may customize the color to match your hovercraft. Its breakthrough design and consistency pushes the hovercraft envelope even further. Do you need help deciding what to build for your application? Congratulations for following the tutorial so far, you're almost there. Material area of damage is compared for given test time, usually 3 hours. To be more precise, this tutorial focuses on "vented bag skirts", which are the best compromise between ease of design and assembly, value for money and efficient operation. It must keep the skirt in place without hindering its inflation. And you're done. will give you an instant improvement in your hovercraft's performance. With a compass, measure the length of the arc marked in red. Ensuring the movement of military troops in hostile areas Rescue of people in hostile water areas Transport of heavy equipment in swampy or glacial areas. of material. Draw two horizontal and vertical axes which pass through the center of the semi-circle drawn previously. Finally, use a piece of tape to stick the rear of the skirt and the hull together. Never use a backup machine for a stool when sporting a skirt! Accordingly, in a first aspect the invention provides a skirt for a hovercraft, the skirt comprising: 1, Fig. Sorry to say that I don't have pictures to show the sewing of bigger hovercrafts skirts right now, but the principle remains exactly the same. Image result for hovercraft skirt design. upon the main use to which you will put the hovercraft and the type of 2000 RNLI Hovercraft. These Of course, this level of precision is not required for models. I will demonstrate the following steps with a RC hovercraft skirt made with trash bags. The two skirt pieces will melt and solder. Image result for hovercraft skirt design. With your soldering gun, slowly follow the shape of the cardboard. Contact me with questions! Moreover, our engineers team can also assist you in the design and development of the material (rubber coated fabric) that will meet your technical requirements. Draw a corner above like shown. Once your mark is drawn, erase the two lines that you used to place it, to make your work easier. Take the appropriate cardboard template and set it 1 mm before the corner. Then turn it over like a sock, so that the solders are on the inside, for strength and aesthetics. Good luck ! not drag whilst another is 20 or 30 millimetres above the ground. Best suited to multi-terrain cruising hovercraft. Just remember to use the correct templates for each different angle value on your hull, and to use the length corresponding to the hull side. Thank you for following this tutorial until the end. Earth. Samples of various skirt fabric tested to destruction. The complete Neoteric Hovercraft black finger skirt system includes a spare side When joined together by soldering or sewing, this part of the skirt will have an angle of 90. The aim of this project was to design and model a hovercraft with a horizontal propulsion system. a bag section for attachment to the hull of the hovercraft; and a plurality of fingers extending downwardly from the bag section; wherein the bag section includes an inner bag portion forming an interface between the bag section and the fingers; the inner bag portion being formed of a plurality of panels that are arranged side-by- side along the length of the skirt, the panels extending over the top of the fingers. In addition, the invention is intended to improve the flexibility of the skirt bag. Keep in mind that you may need a seam / joining allowance on all pieces. Tape the skirt under the sides of the hull. This movement is done thanks to a ventilation system that sends air under pressure into the almost watertight skirts of the hovercraft, which allows it to rise. A "vented bag skirt" is set to the hull in two places: on the edges of the hull, and under the hull. Sample with the least damage is superior. Image result for hovercraft skirt design. considered until the happy medium is found. drag flaps and can be used in any front or side location on your hovercraft. Solid metal hovercraft skirts. At this point in designing a hovercraft a great deal of Filter by Draw a corner above like shown. The result may contain a very small margin of error, which will have no bad consequence. All Neoteric Hovercraft anti-plow finger skirts give you an inventive quick-change system that With our extensive experience we can provide the most effective customised service. This is certainly the most difficult step of the build : you will have to work in a smaller and smaller space as you tape the skirt. A hovercraft, also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is a craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and other surfaces. Hovercraft skirts feature an inventive quick-change system that allows the pilot to replace skirt segments in the field without the need for any tools whatsoever. At least 2" from the edge of the smaller circle but still in the reinforced area, cut 6 holes in the plastic. The standard color is black, For small models (up to 40 cm hull width), the height of these strips can be 10% of the hull width. over obstacles so as to keep the loss of cushion air to a minimum. 2. In this case, the compass was positioned at the top of the drawing, right above the center of the semi-circle. or jack-up the craft. fore extra cushion area and thus more lift is provided at that side, We begin by drawing the first mark : draw a horizontal line joining the beginning of the skirt to the diagonal drawn previously, and from there draw a right angle to join the horizontal line of the corner. In accordance with the present invention, the inner bag portion 28 is 'tiled', as best seen in figs. Stern/rear hovercraft skirt drag might be a version of torque or braking power applied. The hull typically also carries a cabin for the pilot/crew/passengers and, depending on the size of craft and intended use, may include further structures for holding equipment and/or cargo for example. The hovercraft is an Air Cushion Vehicle (ACV) that flies above a land or water surface on a cushion of air. Known hovercraft include a hull and a flexible skirt that extends around and downwards from the periphery of the hull. Logically, the more complex your hull is, the more work and calculations you will have to do : the red hull, above left, will require only one angle template (only 90 angles), and 4 pieces of skirt, as it has 4 sides. stiffer cushion, which helps mitigate the effects of plow-in. Please take a few seconds to share. We will continue the tutorial with older drawings. . What is the purpose of the hovercraft skirts? The continuous tube is inflated with pressurised air to provide a compliant seal between the craft hull and the operating surface. They also fit any shape hovercraft -- allowing you to experiment with different shaped hulls using the same skirt. If your hull design is complex, you can have two different angle values on the same piece of skirt, as shown on the drawing. Draw a vertical segment that will depict one of your attaching strips (3 cm height in my case, because my hull is 30 cm large). For example, The Hovercraft Homepage: The Hovercraft Design Calculator The Hovercraft Design Calculator If you need to calculate the location of a air splitter within a duct then try the splitter placement calculator The calculations that made this page possible were basically converted directly from James Perozzo's The hovercraft is then ready to glide whatever the nature of the ground: water, swamp, ice, earth etc Propulsion is provided by a propeller. In the same way, sew / solder all the corners together to complete the skirt. So ends this tutorial on how to design and assemble a custom skirt, from your own hovercraft hull dimensions. enlarge the following pictures by right-clicking on them and select "open in a new tab" or "display image". when sewn or glued together, adopt the shape required. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, The drawing shows a RC hovercraft hull with its two attachment strips and all its skirt pieces ready to be put together. If necessary, add a last dot "manually" at the very end of the skirt, like I did. There You can see here the final result of two 45 corners facing each other. Take two pieces of skirt and put one on top of the other so that the corners match. Start by taping two corners to tighten one side of the skirt, then add tape along the length.