Things You Should Know Before “Building a

Hovercraft”
By: Daniel Drouillard
© 2006 Hovercraft Central
All Rights Reserved

This publication is designed to provide authoritative information with regard to the

subject matter covered. It is provided with the understanding that the author and
the publisher are not engaged in rendering legal or other professional advice. If
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professional should be sought. Daniel Drouillard individually, or corporately, does
not accept any responsibility for any liabilities resulting from the actions of any
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Enjoy “Building a Hovercraft.”

Things You Should Know Before “Building a Hovercraft”

We have often heard of the difficulties involved with building a hovercraft, and
that is why we have created this simple guide. The most challenging problems to
most home builders include the issues of lift, thrust, and control.

Let’s get right to it!

Lift calculations
Air Gap Size

To calculate the amount of lift air flow you need, you must first know the size of
the air gap under the craft (between the skirt and the ground). This size will be
the total area of the gap.

Since the air gap extends all the way around the bottom of the craft, the
perimeter of the skirt must be included in the calculation. Also since the area of
the gap is the length times the width, the gap size becomes a simple calculation.

Area = (Length) x (Width)

Or
Air Gap Size = (Perimeter of Skirt) x (Height of Air Gap Under Skirt)

To apply this calculation correctly, you must keep the same units throughout. So
if the perimeter of the skirt is measured in feet, the air gap also needs to be
expressed in feet.

Since there are 12 inches in a foot, convert the air gap height from inches to feet,
simply by dividing by twelve.

So now the calculation would be:

Air Gap Size in Square Feet = (Perimeter in Feet) x (Height of Air Gap in Inches)
12

Now let’s try an example!

Suppose you want to lift a 4 foot by 8 foot sheet of plywood a half an inch. The
air gap size would be:

Perimeter in Feet = 2 x (Length + Width) = 2 x (4 + 8) = 2 x 12 = 24 feet

Since you already know how high the plywood is going to hover, you can just
include it in the formula the way it is.

Now combine the perimeter we just found with the air gap height:

Air Gap Size in Square Feet = (Perimeter of 24 Feet) x (Height of Half an Inch)
12

Air Gap Size in Square Feet = 12/12 = 1 Square Foot

Filling the Gap

After you know the size of the air gap below the craft, you have to find out how
much air is needed to fill the gap continuously. This will be the total lift air flow.

Because the air supplied to the underside of the craft escapes through the air
gap, this air will need to be constantly flowing to replace the escaping air. We will
call this escaping air the air discharge.

For most smaller commercial and recreational hovercraft, air discharge speed is
around 60 feet per second. A larger craft typically has a slower air discharge from
under it. If the air discharge speed is not known, you can replace that unknown
value with 60 feet per second without too many problems.
Note that the air discharge speed is rated in feet per second. Also note, however,
that most fans are rated in cubic feet per minute (CFM) air flow.

For this reason, we are calculating the air flow using square feet of air gap size.
We will also convert feet per second to feet per minute for air discharge speed.

Lift Air Flow = (Air Gap Size) x (Air Discharge Speed) x (60 Seconds per Minute)

Or

From the last equation if we replace “(Air Gap Size)” with “(Perimeter) x (Height
in Inches) /12” we get:

Lift Air Flow = (Perimeter Feet) (Air Gap Inches) (Air Discharge Speed) (60 sec)
12

This might start getting a bit confusing. To simplify, think of it this way: there are
parts of this formula that can be changed and there are parts of it that stay the
same.

For example, “12 inches to a foot” will never change. Neither will “60 seconds to
a minute.” Also, for most purposes, we can accept air discharge speed as “60
feet per second.”

Therefore, the formula can be simplified if we multiply and divide these known
numbers first to provide a constant. Then we can easily multiply the varying
values by that constant:

Lift Air Flow = (Perimeter Feet) (Air Gap Inches) (60 Feet per Sec) (60 Sec)
12

Since “(60 feet per second) x (60 seconds per minute)” can be solved, we have
an air discharge speed of about 3600 feet per minute.

But we can reduce this further by dividing the 3600 feet per minute by 12 (the
inch to foot conversion). This gives us a constant of 300.

Now we can simply multiply the air gap in inches by the perimeter in feet and
multiply that by 300:

Lift Air Flow = (Perimeter in Feet) (Height of Air Gap in Inches) (300)

The method shown in green above can be used to estimate the total lift air flow
quickly and easily.
Keep in mind that this is not meant to confuse anyone. It is used to show how a
simpler formula can represent a more complicated function. It also shows where
some of the equations you might see come from.

Let’s use the new equation!

We will continue using the example of the 4 foot by 8 foot sheet of plywood:

Lift Air Flow = (Perimeter in Feet) (Height of Air Gap in Inches) (300)

From the previous calculation:

Lift Air Flow = (Perimeter of 24 Feet) (Height of Half an Inch) (300)

Lift Air Flow = (12 Square Feet) x (300)

Lift Air Flow = 3600 Cubic Feet per Minute (CFM)

That’s it! Now you can find the lift air flow for your hovercraft! If you’ve just started
building one, try finding an air supply of 1 ½ to 2 times the air flow needed so you
never lose lift air!

Thrust Calculations
Sir Isaac Newton and Daniel Bernoulli

The last section was a matter of lift versus weight and this section will be a
matter of thrust versus drag.

Sir Isaac Newton’s third law applies here. It states: for every action force there is
an equal and opposite reaction force. So that a propeller pushes on the air, but
the air also pushes back on the propeller. This is the principle that we will apply
to achieve thrust.

Also from Newton’s work, we know that these forces are the result of
accelerating a mass (weight). This can be represented as:

Force = (Mass) x (Acceleration)

Thrust is typically measured in pounds. One pound of thrust is equal to the force
needed to suspend a one pound weight, without it falling, if the thrust was
directed straight upward.

Expressed mathematically, this would be:

Thrust in lbs = (Weight of Air Flow Pounds per Sec) (Velocity in Feet per Second)
(32.2 Feet per Second2 Gravity’s Acceleration)
Notice that the only difference between the above two equations is the force of
gravity. In order for the air flowing to support the weight, without it falling, it must
overcome the force of gravity. It isn’t enough for the air flowing to equal gravity’s
pull.

By my calculations this value is about twice that force. This can also be
confirmed by Bernoulli’s equation:

F = (0.5) x (Density of Air) x (Area) x (Velocity2 – Velocity of Travel2)

Notice how Bernoulli realized that the force transferred to the object depends on
the area the force acts upon. Also notice how the speed the vehicle travels
affects the total thrust. In other words, if you are producing a 60 mph wind, your
vehicle cannot exceed 60 mph total speed.

We can presume that the initial velocity is zero if you are getting started from a
stop. Therefore, there is no need to include the velocity of travel for this purpose.
When combined with the previous equation, we can express this value in pounds
of thrust, by including the force of gravity:

F = (Density of Air) x (Area Acted Upon) x (Velocity of Air Flow Squared)

(2) x (32.2 Gravity’s Acceleration)

Note: That “0.5 times density of air” from the previous equation has been
replaced by “density of air over 2” in the above equation and “velocity of travel” is
omitted because it is considered zero.

The weight of air (air density) at standard pressures is around 0.075 pounds per
cubic foot.

Problems

The biggest problem people have with finding the thrust for a given application is
converting the propeller size and speed into air velocity.

If you want to, you can use empirical data (from a chart) to find this value at a
given propeller speed. The only disadvantage is when this information is not
available. If you don’t have a chart, you will have to calculate!

But notice how the formula works: because a bigger propeller will collect more
air, the size of the propeller (area) will affect the air mass. Also, since the same
size propeller turning faster (higher speed) will move that amount of air faster, the
propeller speed will affect the air velocity.
You should understand that Bernoulli’s equation does not address the issue of air
compression. If you try to use this formula for supersonic flight, it will not work! It
also does not involve the area immediately surrounding the propeller for the
same reasons.

The formula still is useful and can be applied to the area in front of, and behind,
the propeller.

Another problem is that the formula can only be simplified so much. For example,
the only values that do not change are: the force of gravity, the air density, and
the 0.5 value from Bernoulli’s equation.

To simplify, we can reduce these values to a single constant. Since you can
solve for “(2) x (32.2)” this gives a replacement of 64.4 as the denominator.

Now you have:

Thrust in Pounds = (0.075) x (Area Acted Upon) x (Velocity of Air Flow Squared)
64.4

Regrettably, this is as simple as it gets.

Let’s apply this formula!

Suppose you want to use a leaf blower to propel the example sheet of plywood.
The leaf blower has an air flow output speed of 140 mph. The output area (at the
blower nozzle) is 6 square inches. You want to know how much thrust the leaf
blower will provide.

We don’t want miles and tons, we want feet and pounds. Since we want all units
the same we must first convert “square inches” to “square feet” and “mph” to
“feet per second.”

To convert to square feet, divide by 144:

6 square inches/144 = 0.041666666 square feet.

To convert mph to feet per second, multiply by 1.4666666:

140 mph x 1.466666 = 205.333324 feet per second.

Now use the area and velocity we just found in the above equation:

Thrust (lbs) = (0.075) (Area of 0.0416 Feet2) (Velocity of 205.3333 Ft. per Sec.2)
64.4
Thrust (lbs) = (131.5447)
64.4
Thrust (lbs) = 2.0426 pounds of thrust

See if you can make a leaf blower hover a 2 pound weight!

Control Methods
Vector – Part One

Relax, no calculations are in this section!

We will only discuss methods of directing thrust (since lift is always in the same
direction).

The most common way to direct thrust is to use control surfaces. These controls
can be placed at the discharge end of the propeller (slip stream). Tilting these
surfaces left redirects more of the thrust to the left. Tilting right moves the net
thrust to the right. You can even adjust the attitude of the craft by redirecting
thrust vertically.

Another placement of control surfaces could be at the intake (free stream) end of
the propeller.

This works oppositely and is not as efficient.

Vector – Part Two

The best method of control for thrust is to vector it. Vectoring thrust means that
you change the thrusting direction instead of redirecting the craft to adjust for a
single direction thrust.

Using control surfaces behind the propeller is one way to vector thrust. The other
way is to point the propeller in a different direction.

You could mount the engine and propeller on a pivoting frame, and simply move
it in the opposite direction (like an outboard motor on a boat). Holding the engine
and propeller still against their own forces is the only difficulty.

Whichever methods, or equations, you use remember to be safe and have fun!