Building an ELECTRIC hovercraft

I built a 12000w electric hovercraft I can drive! Check out PCBWay at www.pcbway.com for your one-stop solution for PCB prototype services and more.
TEMPLATES
Make the model hovercraft in this video with plans and instructions (and support my channel!) store.projectair.co.uk/produc...
BUILD THINGS TOO
👉🏼 I sell downloadable plane, car and boat kits on my website.
store.projectair.co.uk/collec...
👉🏼 Build a simple rubber band plane I designed store.projectair.co.uk/produc...
👉🏼 Where to get electronics, cameras and 3d printers (Amazon affiliate) www.amazon.co.uk/shop/projectair
SUPPORT MY VIDEOS
👉🏼 Sign up to my Patreon / jameswhomsley
👉🏼 Follow me on Instagram for day-to-day updates on my current builds / jameswhomsley
Big thanks to Andrew Applepie for the music used in this video - / andrewapplepie
DISCLAIMER: This video is purely for entertainment value. Personal use of video content is at your own risk. Recreations of experiments, activities and projects are the sole legal responsibility of the person(s) involved in replicating them. I can not be liable for any information or misinformation, wrongful use, damage to personal property, death or any circumstances that result from replication of any projects seen. Be safe!

[@Project-Air]

Here's the model hovercraft plans you can buy and support me through. 😀Thanks for watching! store.projectair.co.uk/products/rc-hovercraft

[@johnnyrocket3200]

Awesome! Hey, is your hot glue gun powered by battery? Which one is it? Mine from Bosch is pretty crappy. It's more for warm glue not hot...

[@SutherlandBoswell]

I think it'd be great if these plans were part of the patreon perks! I'm not sure if I have the time to build any but if I could take a look at all of them out of curiosity it would make me more likely to join the patreon

[@Project-Air]

@@SutherlandBoswell thanks for the suggestion, I think I’ll do that!

[@Project-Air]

@@johnnyrocket3200 mine is an amtech one which has a detachable charger

[@Blutankalpha]

@@Project-Air Why are people disliking this? It's really cool and interesting!

[@kasroa]

The best thing about everything being hot glued together is that nothing ever breaks it just fall off 😂

[@abdullahbawadi8188]

Just like old cartoons

[@uberchipmonk2568]

Haha, I'm rebuilding my rc seaplane with polyurethane glue for the same reason.

[@quinnfoster1234]

Except if it breaks after it goes flying off

[@ashleyreid7260]

This is true 😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅

[@RGOR30]

Hot glue is strong when used right

[@L1mJahey]

Your dad shouting "BANG!" was a classic dad move 😂

[@cyphercollider2824]

5:35

[@RonDennisMum]

ProjectAir + DIY Perks = Dream Team. Brilliant work!

[@gerryfalke]

Tom Stanton as a bonus would be awesome.

[@Craftlngo]

@@gerryfalke like in the Damm Buster Video, a couple of years back?

[@gerryfalke]

@@Craftlngo exactly

[@backgammonbacon]

The whole other famous youtuber just lurking in the background thing comes across as creepy. Normally its just done in the hope of sharing subscribers or business trip tax dodge.

[@SingleTrackMind207]

Came here for this comment!

[@historythyme]

When I was a teenager my dad bought a hovercraft that was 13ft long. It was an old fan boat that had been repurposed into a large hovercraft. The thing was a beast and fun to drive around. We brought it out on a lake several times. Good memories.

[@Runoratsu]

Very cool. I only rode a hovercraft once, but that was one of the massive English Channel Hoverspeed ferries from Calais to Dover, in the early nineties, when my parents and me went to Britain for vacation. Good memories there too, I was over the moon getting to ride that even once as a kid! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoverspeed

[@dandeve]

As a man about the same age as your dad, I remember the hovercraft plans that they used to sell in the back of comic books and kids magazines. The expression on his face truly tells that story. I have driven 180 miles per hour, flown airplanes, repelled out of helicopters and other cool stuff; but I known I would grin ears wide on that DIY hovercraft!

[@OfficiallySnek]

Your dad has only spoken a few sentences, but I already really like him

[@muirjs]

Your dad is a legend. He needs to be in more videos. Such dad energy, clearly an absolute 1st class chap. Also DIY perks!!! Best collaboration on KZbin. Incredible scenes.

[@nothing-ue8fb]

ok that was perfect timing for refreshing youtube main page

[@dominicmillerca]

Having a dad looks so fun! This is the part that got me. 🥰

[@PCBWay]

Brilliant as always👍!! We are sooooo proud to partner with you, James!

[@Project-Air]

Let’s do it again!

[@PCBWay]

@@Project-Air Terrific! 🥳🥳

[@thetobyg]

@@Project-Air Can you lend me a trillion billion Dollars? I need to fuck some shit up!

[@davesendit1348]

@@PCBWay I think it’s great you guys help out and support project air! Great stuff 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[@WoodsPrecisionArms]

Your dad is AWESOME. I too had a really wonderful father. We are lucky people. Damn lucky.

[@andymuzzo8568]

Takes me back to my year 11 at high school days. Was doing a project on hovercrafts for physics. I made a 8x4 ft hovercraft from 3mm plywood. I spent a lot of time on the plenum chamber design. I used a 2 stroke lawnmower motor for the lift motor. Awesome build mate.

[@claudiamiranda2630]

wow my school would probably just make me write an essay

[@SvdSinner]

I love it! I grew up drooling over the hovercraft plans advertised in the back of Boy's Life magazine. I bought them and built one, but the 1980's requirement of using a vacuum cleaner motor plugged into a wall outlet made me dream of making a cordless one.

[@steprockmedia]

Gas-powered blowers work great. I assume the battery-powered ones would also be good.

[@Blender3DProjects]

What is this trend of youtube RC makers colabbing to make ride on vehicles?? First RCTestflight and Think Flight, now you guys. It's awesome!

[@marcovw6415]

I'd love to see more of this. Maybe get a sponsor and create a bigger one which has more stability so you can sit more comfortable

[@badad0166]

I saw where someone had great success with a full under bag setup with strategic silver dollar sized holes. Appeared to have better lift with similar motors. Of course, comparing apples and oranges, but, also easy to try! I'm like your dad with the "always wanted to build a hovercraft" dream.

[@katbutnohat_]

Another brilliant colab with DIY Perks done and dusted. Am I the only one now desperately awaiting another colab with Tim Station?

[@motor_misc]

This video inspired me to build my own RC hovercraft and I have to say they are by far the coolest vehicle except maybe ekranoplans

[@user-wm5ku4vv7g]

i really like the way you solve problems so quickly and fix it fast

[@unusualfabrication9937]

I had done a lot of stuff with hovercrafts and have learned that using impellers for the plenum are better as they generate far more static pressure.

[@themerseybore8875]

Christopher Cockerell will be smiling down. I’m old enough to remember the mighty SRN4 Super 4s and the ill-fated French N500. With an east wind, you could hear them coming from Calais/Boulogne long before seeing them. Happy memories of visiting my great aunt in 70s Dover. Keep up the good work.

[@vitowizard4867]

I like that I am noticing content creators that started with rc are slowly just making vehicles they can get in. No complaints because it's cool, let's be real

[@monkeyman1406]

The best thing about ProjectAir, they still care about family, and family wants for a long time.

[@theoriginalpauly]

This video demonstrates (over and over) the benefit of weak attachment points. Parts fall off, but they don't break.

[@user-om6ci5lv8t]

Man you make things that might become revolutionary to the world I’m not joking at all

[@chimee1237]

My dad has always wanted one of these finally he can have one!

[@THY..]

At 4:49 that was the most quickest advertisement that my whole life saw

[@rogerrabbit80]

The small racing hovercraft also use rudders, but at least some of the steering comes from the driver shifting their weight from side to side. That may give you a little more control.

[@randybobandy9208]

Maybe centrifugal blowers would work better to create the pressure underneath? Although they are probably heavier. Awesome work!

[@JoseCarlosSgdf]

DIY Perks is life.

[@RetinaBurner]

Corner thrusters will help to keep the vehicle on track, and will also help to compensate for terrain that isn't completely level. Also some sturdy fan guards and corner bumpers will help to protect the vehicle and nearby personnel. Nicely done job of "hot gluing your way to a better tomorrow." (Yes, you can use that if you like, with attribution) :)

[@martinfairweather700]

This chap sounds exactly like ‘diy perks’. Well spoken and we’ll explained. Well done.

[@MrGridStrom]

Such a fun project. Really neat seeing how they're made, I might have to try building a small scale RC one at some point.

[@steprockmedia]

Good work! I've built a few basic disc hovercrafts out of a vacuum cleaner (indoor, extension cabled) and a leaf blower (gas-powered, outdoor) That type is fun for kids and you kind of play a giant game of air hockey pushing them across tennis courts and that sort of area. Yours is much more of a vehicle and seems to have good lift. Way to go.

[@parkerk3599]

That is amazing how little power was needed to get it to work so well and RC plane parts even though it broke quite a bit

[@feebster11]

I always love it when James says "What's the worst that could happen?" Great build.

[@davesendit1348]

Those throttles are BEAUTIFUL

[@rickibaron4816]

Great job! When I was much younger I wanted to build a hovercraft but at that time with internal combustion engines the cost was way too high. Keep up the good work and tweak the machine to get it even better.

[@definitelybored]

Your videos are so awesome!! They are so entertaining and fun to watch! It also teaches me things!

[@Simonize41]

Absolutely brilliant!! Well done, be proud of yourself.👊🏻😎

[@TriviaChallenge]

Li-ion and brushless motor make almost anything possible!

[@brrp8407]

I'm really amazed at your designs - they're mostly capable and work really well! keep up the effort :)

[@timnook9090]

That's so cool, amazing work!

[@sffpv9671]

Really cool fun project. Would love to see a more refined version of this in the future

[@SunnyOst]

I used to daydream about making this while on a bus in middle-school 15+ years ago, glad to see you making my dreams come true 😁

[@krissfemmpaws1029]

Nice start to a SEV. A friend of mine use to design hovercrafts or surface effect vehicles to be more correct. Barry warned me to keep the cushion pressure below 10 lbs per square foot that would be about 50 kg per square meter. Oh Berry designed the Sevtech hovercrafts about 30 odd years ago... the bag skirt that he uses is more stable then the finger skirt developed in Britain that you are likely familiar with.

[@JacobKrizan]

Great video! Looks like you all had ton of fun building and riding it together. I wonder if you could use thrust vectoring with your dual prop setup? Do you know about how much thrust they each can produce?

[@motosk8er2]

Differential thrust*. But yes, this. Would have been easier to just use a rc transmitter and receiver to control it. Then rudder and differential could just be tied together on the TX.

[@fonwoolridge]

Fantastic! Love it James and Co!

[@OrenTirosh]

Great! Now fill it with eels.

[@mrsmith4662]

Incredible, possibly needs a little more development to be a 'practical means of transport', but Christopher Cockerell would be proud.

[@WindCatcherRC]

This is fantastic! I've always wanted a hovercraft.

[@MCsCreations]

Fantastic work, James! Amazing hovercraft!!! 😃 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@astro_che]

Awesome video. Id love to see another video trying to go as fast as possible with beefed up rear motors

[@Hoch134]

So when is your hoverboard coming out? These turbines should be powerful enough?

[@kevo1163]

This guy deserves more subs 😍😍

[@needmoreboost6369]

Great build! I love the duct tape engineering! And Thanks for not just 3D printing everything! and actually saying how it’s faster just making it yourself! I still want a printer though lol I highly suggest a gyro it makes hovercraft builds so much easier to fly

[@RazShifrin]

Brilliant as always!! Extremely entertaining "big you-tuber style" well edited videos. Thank you, it was a great watch:)

[@dan725]

lol your dad is awesome!

[@user-vt8kz1ll7b]

To quote Anakin, “It’s working! It’s working!”

[@NPC5273]

This is gonna be more amazing if you make this a series. About making some vehicles from scratch

[@michaelkoelbl4004]

Amazing project! I think the only thing that it really needs is directional thrust, meaning you steer by changing the direction of the motors rather than moving the rudders.

[@kitsandham7001]

Nice one! Rip stop kite fabric for the skirt worked for my rc one, didn’t take too long to make a finger skirt. 5 blade fan from a scimitar 1500 does the lifting.

[@kjsandham9478]

@@user-yp8by8yu4n This is a poor effort at scamming. 2/10

[@thepianoaddict]

It would be cool to see a hovercraft / car (or bike) hybrid. Use the fans and skirt to reduce the friction of the wheels when cruising, and drop down onto the wheels for sharper turns.

[@0789-Sid]

A wonderful invention. You are very well. I follow you from Algeria

[@davidkettell5726]

What fun, i built an r/c one and as you have found out they are almost impossible to steer and seem to love goin sideways , but boy are they fun on snow.

[@frankgraham1403]

Slap a portable fusion generator on that puppy and it's Jetsons time. And I thought my solid fuel balsa tissue paper model plane was cool until flamed out on lift off. Nice one guys.

[@LITTLEEXPERIMENTCHANNEL1]

The youtubers are all making boats. Its like they are competing content against each other. No complaints, its all brilliant material to watch.

[@TheHandyAndy]

I love hovercraft. I build an RC one from scratch it did not work well but it was fun.

[@bennickerson9581]

awesome project!

[@johnymodem1326]

Another great video. Keep up the good work.

[@csf6614]

That was brilliant man .... thank you

[@Sebza_Tshabalala]

Well I'm impressed 😁 This is fabulous 🤞☝️

[@chrisbarnes8887]

Very nice work.

[@BazilRat]

I think the best part is your dad asking for one for Christmas XD

[@Louis_Roper]

This is so cool!

[@cupidzsnakes6865]

I actually watched the ad because I hadn’t seen it before and it was relevant ish to the video and it’s something I’m interested in

[@_spartan11796]

Awesome video!

[@MrYart]

You need differential thrust for the edfs so that you can ride on slanted surfaces. If the surface is slanted, power down half of the craft and power up the other half to tilt the craft for more straight traveling.

[@randomyoutubeuser3918]

Nice

[@changbeerbeer]

Must be great growing up in the age of social channels and more advanced/available tech, building projects with friends and family and, learning whilst having such a laugh! You have my sub and bell! Looking forward to seeing more. 👍

[@olivander65]

really cool project!

[@ThLDQ]

That's crazy ! I like this !!!!!

[@CarsonCreatesStuff]

I love it so much! I want to build one now. Do you think it would hover on water?

[@Shayaankahn]

Love this bro, super cool 👌

[@SAHarry]

My dad has also pulled the bang move on me, seems it’s universal🤣

[@whoever6458]

That's really cool that your dad helped you build this. He sure got a kick out of driving it! I hope you did make him one for Christmas. It would be funny to race them. I'm actually quite surprised that those trash bags held up to that. Maybe you guys have better ones in the UK or maybe those are the same as the contractor bags we have here. I've never actual bought any of those before so I don't know. I want to buy some eventually because I saw a guy build an entire bushcraft bed out of them and some logs, which seemed cool.

[@eduardschreder1623]

pretty cool, imagine it could go even fast if you just installed 2 more propellers!

[@GuyonaMoose]

man this brings me back. dad and i found a backpack leafblower on the side of the highway(all smashed up, likely fell off truck) we turned that sucker into a hovercraft. plywood and 6mil plastic

[@pete3897]

If you want to level up from driving sliders with servos, consider looking at digital potentiometer chips - they're an awesome alternative to a slider pot :)

[@haraldk6828]

Awesome project! What's the reason for going for rudders rather than individually controlled motors when you have two of them? Wouldn't individually controlled motors save you for the unnecessary mechanical complexity of the rudders?

[@rctestflight]

Great video! And nice Park City sweatshirt. Thats where I grew up!

[@Project-Air]

No way! Didn’t realise that but knew you were a Utah resident. Visited last summer and it was great!

[@themrwinston9570]

i get so happy when i see a new upload here c:

[@fallingwater]

I get the feeling the skirt needs a TON more power. It's basically dragging it along, instead of it barely touching the ground. Mind you, I've never built my own hovercraft, but I did have a Tyco hovercraft when I was a kid and I distinctly remember the skirt floating - it'd only drag when the battery got really low.

[@Chevsilverado]

Yeah the skirt is just to be able to conform to the uneven ground and provide some stability if there’s an imbalance, and it should float a little bit off the ground. It’s the same concept like the board with no skirt, it should float without contacting but the skirts just provide some leeway with bumps and stuff.

[@elihennessy]

That was awesome

[@ronaldbundaybunday]

I love you're videos.

[@jackjones9886]

Great video and love your proff of concept starting off with a small model 👌 and working out the bugs before you let dad have a go on your machine 😀. Always room for improvement and and watching your video provides lots of inspiration for all of us dreamers. Mabe one powerplant and flexible cable could be used for lifting and steering. And honeycomb cardboard, coated for the deck, and 2 liter soda bottles cut in half to form the doughnut 🍩. Just a few thoughts on a build, with some borrowed ideas from a helicopter 🚁. Keep up the good work and good luck 👍

[@cswrighty]

You did my suggestion. Nice.

[@ruffriki3264]

Awesome!

[@sandofpv9719]

diferencial thrust XD nice proyect