Remote Control Hovercraft

Since I was very young I have been fascinated by RC vehicles - especially those that move in an unconventional manner. Hovercrafts are incredibly cool because they don’t actually touch the ground, are super fun to drive, and can (theoretically) drive across land as easily as water.

Tools

I’ve built many iterations on this simple machine - in several motor configurations and sizes. The earliest models were made using cardboard and insulation foam and sketched on a sheet of graph paper. The most recent models were fully designed in 3D software and built using a mix of foamboard and 3D printing. The 9th and latest model was designed in Onshape - a completely cloud-based CAD software - as the sheet metal feature is much more robust than that of Solidworks.

Design

This single-fan design channels roughly one-third of the air from the prop through a duct around the perimeter of the craft. This duct is connected to the skirt and has vents directly under the center of the craft. The air fills the skirt and spills out underneath it, creating a cushion of air that the craft can ride on.

Previous Iterations of Note

Mark I

The very first hovercraft I made was in 2013. It was hacked together from a cheap walmart RC airboat model. I kept it as a keepsake and made a CAD model of it to remember it by.

Mark II

The second version was made of cardboard, was much larger, and used one fan for lift and another for thrust.