Before I proceeded into making one, I read about what makes the vehicle tick, of course. I found out that in order for me to be successful in building one, I have to have the necessary materials:

1. Hull- a below that I attached to my skirt system.

2. Skirt system- the part of the hovercraft where air is collected to make it hover. In my hovercraft’s case, I made use of rubber.

3. Plenum- without this, a hovercraft won’t hover for it is where the air is ‘canned’. It has to support the principle of having air equally distributed in all of its parts so that there will be stability and lifting is easily achieved. I had to make use of rubber for this, too.

4. Centrifugal Lift Fan- unlike any other fan, this has to suck the air from the surroundings and into the plenum. The airflow into the plenum has to be constant and strong in order to make up for the air that is escaping at the edges. I tried making use of the vacuum cleaner’s fan, but it was too small. I ended up using a large exhaust fan, though.

5. Propulsion System- I almost forgot this until by the end of the construction, I realized nothing on the vehicle that I was assembling propels it and moves it to any direction that I want it to go. So, I got the lawn mower’s engine, disassembled some parts of the almost complete hovercraft, fitted the engine in and reassembled it again.

Aside from these, I learned of two things in order to have a properly working hovercraft: the power-to-weight ratio and the power-to-weight-to-strength ratio.

First, let’s talk first of the power-to-weight ratio. This is very important in order to lift the vehicle and propel it without causing instability. This is determined by the measuring the distance between the skirt and the ground surface. It doesn’t always mean that if there is great distance between the two, it is stable. In this case, I had to do a couple of trial and errors to achieve the right power-to-weight ratio.

And now, let’s talk about the power-to-weight-to-strength ratio. To achieve the right ratio, you have to have a carriage that is strong enough to bear the weight of the person it carries, while at the same time be light enough to be carried by the skirt system. In my hovercraft’s case, I first used a skim board, which is a wider looking surfboard made of wood, but found out that it is a bit heavy for my skirt. Thus, I ended up using our plate wall décor that made of aluminum. It provided both strength and lightness since it’s also thin.