Car Parts, Fiberglass and a Dream: How a Teacher Built a Hovercraft (msn.com) 29
"The cab was cut from a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee," writes the New York Times. "The engine once revved up a 1985 Toyota Celica; and 107 hand-sewn rubber segments, courtesy of Mr. Tymofichuk's wife, help to direct low-pressure air beneath the craft so that it rises eight inches above the ground..."
On a cold spring day in a small garage in Alberta, Canada, an engine revved up and an improbable machine — fabricated from auto parts, a hand-sewn rubber skirt and an abandoned fiberglass hull — came to life.
A homemade hovercraft began to rise off the ground with a small crew standing by.
The successful liftoff was the culmination of a lifelong fascination of Robert Tymofichuk, 55, who spent about 1,800 hours over a year working on it [according to this nifty video on YouTube ]. And, to the gratitude of passengers, it comes with heated seats. "If you're going through all that hassle, you might as well make yourself comfortable," Mr. Tymofichuk said. He repurposed the seats from a Volkswagen, so the heating coils were already installed.
Achieve speeds around 40 miles per hour (or 64 kmph), "Mr. Tymofichuk's hovercraft now sails above land and water, a bright red gem coasting over the Saskatchewan River," according to the article. And it also quotes Mr. Tymofichuk as saying it's the fulfillment of a childhood dream.
"To actually have something constructed with your own hands be zipping around, and it's fully functional — it's like magic."
A homemade hovercraft began to rise off the ground with a small crew standing by.
The successful liftoff was the culmination of a lifelong fascination of Robert Tymofichuk, 55, who spent about 1,800 hours over a year working on it [according to this nifty video on YouTube ]. And, to the gratitude of passengers, it comes with heated seats. "If you're going through all that hassle, you might as well make yourself comfortable," Mr. Tymofichuk said. He repurposed the seats from a Volkswagen, so the heating coils were already installed.
Achieve speeds around 40 miles per hour (or 64 kmph), "Mr. Tymofichuk's hovercraft now sails above land and water, a bright red gem coasting over the Saskatchewan River," according to the article. And it also quotes Mr. Tymofichuk as saying it's the fulfillment of a childhood dream.
"To actually have something constructed with your own hands be zipping around, and it's fully functional — it's like magic."
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Re: Thankfully, not on my lake (Score:1)
Oh does this Cessna hover at sea level for an hour too?
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'Oh does this Cessna hover at sea level for an hour too?'
No, they fly over their house for an hour or 2. :-)
The one besides mine.
Probably from an older Volkswagen (Score:4, Funny)
it comes with heated seats. [...] He repurposed the seats from a Volkswagen, so the heating coils were already installed.
I assume it was an older model, otherwise he'd need a subscription to turn them on in his hovercraft.
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Is that legal?
The fact that you even feel the need to ask that question says a lot about how manufacturers managed to twist the concept of ownership out of recognition.
Of course it's fucking legal! It's YOUR CAR! YOU bought it with YOUR MONEY! Everything in it is yours to do as you please.
What you can't do legally is reverse engineer and disable / modify the hateful proprietary firmware that prevents you from using YOUR property without paying a mafia-like protection (sorry, subscription) fee to the manufacturer, by virt
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I suspect most people won't do this because they don't want a kludgy panel of toggle switches on their sleek, futuristic car.
This is just one of the reasons I am unlikely to ever buy a Tesla. The dash is ridiculous. Get rid of the stupid tablet glued to the screen, and bring back proper buttons and switches.
Tangentially, I wonder if this is part of the reason pickup trucks are so popular. They often still have proper buttons, switches, and even proper ignition keys. Maybe this is what the public actually WANTS.
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In the USA? Yeah you’re probably circumventing some EULA agreement. Corporate rights do trump individual rights.
In the EU? Of course not. Are you living on the Ferengi home world?
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Nicely done (Score:1)
I'd have been satisfied if I proved it can work, left it at that, and it'd be one real ugly prototype.
He went the whole way and it looks fantastic.
+1
Like Junkyard Wars but without time limit? (Score:5, Interesting)
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It's a shame we largely abandoned hovercraft technology. We used to have car transporter ones crossing the Channel between the UK and France regularly. We do have a rail tunnel now though, so that particular crossing is pretty fast anyway.
The only commercial passenger hovercraft still in operation is the one between Portsmouth and the Isle Of Wight I believe.
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It's a shame we largely abandoned hovercraft technology. We used to have car transporter ones crossing the Channel between the UK and France regularly.
They have terrible fuel efficiency, which limits their use to niche areas. They are cool though :-)
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Junkyard Wars teams built theirs in 10hrs, so they looked at little rougher: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
See also: Top Gear's Hovervan. [fandom.com]
What about the eels? (Score:3)
They forgot to install the eels!
Seriously though awesome awesome build and I love the presentation in the video.
That is not all that difficult (Score:3)
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And not only at the individual level. We have almost daily announcements of new technologies that show lots of promise, but that fizzle away, at least for decades, for the simple reason that scaling them up profitably. I am sure this hovercraft works nicely. I am also sure it is a one-off, that has cost him a lot of time and no doubt some money, and that it costs him dearly to operate.
Oh yeah, time and money. But also hella fun! In addition to the basic concept, the guy has a sense of aesthetics that go way beyond the basics. That is one great looking machine, and I suspect it might end up in a movie at some point.
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I hate to say it but this NYT article would be better as a youtube video.
Speaking of which: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Done in the sixties (Score:3)
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Way back in the 80s (Score:3)
Flashback (Score:2)
Whatever happened to hovercrafts? They seemed everywhere back in the 80s/90s.
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I watch a few, but I'm not talking about cartoon ones. I'm talking about the real world.
What ever happened to hovercrafts for sale? (Score:2)
It was about 10-15 years ago, but there were shops that were selling hovercrafts and trailers to toss them in. They pretty much ran on a small gasoline engine and was easy maintenance, and because they used foam for most of the body work, when powered off, they actually could float, perfect for fishing. Some models could go 70mph, assuming the terrain was smooth enough. The curtains were fairly easy to maintain, and came off to be repaired/replaced easily, and they were decently manueverable.
It is odd ho
now sails above land and water... (Score:2)
now sails above land, water, and snow. No excuses for being late to school on snow days anymore.