Flying Hovercraft MK1 by Rudy Heeman NZ

[@BillHallProductions]

Seeing the wing construction was so helpful

[@johnwahannah2385]

Good on yer Rudy! See you next year. Ned

[@fboomerang]

Rudy: I'm a Tesla Sr. Staff engineer and I live on a houseboat 9 miles from my lab over water. This is a 60-90 minute drive. I LOVE this highly functional design and I'm interested in building an EV variant and a tesla motor is about 220kw, about double your Subaru 1.8. Reply here if you're interested in helping me solve this transport problem.

[@Daolight]

I'm trying to find the creator of this beautiful experimental hovercraft! I want to build one, buy one, or experiment with these things. it is very strange that there is so little activity around this project and it is impossible to contact the author. if you manage to contact him, please let me know in the comments below

[@fboomerang]

If you're listening to us Mr. Heeman please reply. Me and@@Daolightwould love to speak with you. I'm starting this project in May!

[@NikolGerasimov-ce6rk]

Hello, I have a lot of material on this topic. Including a project for a more advanced design based on the same principles. Including the creation of a flying model of the device

[@TROUROCKS]

the mud skipper on you tube

[@dynomania]

Great concept looks like a heap of fun

[@easemailboxes]

Is this still flying? How has it progressed as a project? How is the fuel consumption? Thanks a lot.

[@CrocPSL]

This is the best video of one of the flying hovercraft I have ever seen.. nice job folks... I have been wanting to build me one of these.. any blue prints available of this hovercraft...

[@sciencetvfan]

This is so cool

[@martinrochejocquelein1772]

I always wondered if they would use a longer or larger wing span if they could go higher in the air...if you could shut off the lift underneath the hovercraft I wonder if it would still fly since it's already flying.

[@SkyRiver1]

You are correct the wing span determines the height at with ground effect can be used. It also adds loads of resistance to forward motion. of course while in ground effect the skirt would not need to be pressurized so if you had a separate engine for the hover mode you could turn it off, or with a gate of some kind that would divert a protion of the air to inflate the skirt while in hover mode that could be closed on a one engine hovercraft. Though the underside of the hover part is flat and actually acts as a wing so the extra pressure from inflating it may aid the ground effect a bit by supplying additional pressure,

[@TankAce69]

They can go very high with the short wing span, but the fuel efficency is always close to the ground. It is also more safe to fly close to the ground.

[@rudy103069]

how would dyneema fabric and aluminum foam for the wing would cut down the weight?check them out both are ultra light weight and strong?

[@seegte1704]

Genial saludos cordiales desde Patagonia Chile

[@KILLOSAA]

genius inventor !!!!

[@willamking3218]

Wow that's amazing I just saw it on you have been warned and then it said nelson New Zealand. Hahah small world because I live in Nelson NZ too haha

[@dumpling7]

Are you not going into production with these??

[@kokhowe]

Looking at how high it can fly, I am having a hard time deciding whether it is a plane or a ground effect vehicle...

[@edwardfletcher7790]

It's ground effect mate. Ît can't go higher than about 10m (33ft). It hasn't got the power, wing surface or aerodynamics to do much more than it's already doing.

[@mecanicodejetski]

@@edwardfletcher7790 after look the hover wing fron united states, and the lippish wig, how well will work a inverted delta instead of the courrent wings? thanks

[@edwardfletcher7790]

@@mecanicodejetski The Airfish series from Singapore are by far the most sophisticated small WIG vehicles currently in use.

[@mecanicodejetski]

@@edwardfletcher7790 Agree, thank you

[@edwardfletcher7790]

@@mecanicodejetski This is the most detailed video I've found. (It's old) kzbin.info/www/bejne/mJ7cZWmufch0aa8 The two person early development model interests me. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iKiZaoKVdraIZ6M

[@Kebekwoodcraft7375]

Wonder if been try with gyrocopter style ?

[@changdiy7661]

love it

[@edwinchavez3461]

Excelente

[@littlelegendsstorybuilder1828]

Hi Rudy, what's the latest on your hovercraft? I'm keen to film with one for a new TV series?

[@roilhead]

He sold it to someone in Chch.

[@edwardfletcher7790]

@@roilhead Christchurch ? Do you agree the efficiency could be improved with large wing edges on the lower side to help direct captured air ? Like all the Ekranoplans have.

[@roilhead]

@@edwardfletcher7790 Yes he sold it to a guy in Christchurch. I don't know who. I don't know much about flight but I am sure there are improvements that can be made. This is the best example of one that is a bit more than just a WIG. The idea of redirecting the air flow once you are in flight is a good one. If you need help tracking down the maker or who it's been sold to I could help since I'm in NZ.

[@jialingluo7024]

Hello there! I am from China, I would like to ask, how many horsepower engines the aircraft needs to make a single person.

[@roilhead]

You will need to look at flight calculators. Depends on wing size and weight. With standard wings it's around one hp to 5 kg's. i'e 200 kg's requires 40hp. BUT I'm guessing you would want an extra 20hp because you don't want to be traveling at a speed just on the limit. One thing goes wrong and you drop out of the sky ='s possibly a very bad day.

[@TankAce69]

Venon Webber built a 1 person hovercraft with 25hp for pushing and 5hp for lift. It use a canard wing configuration. It was feature on "popular mechanic" magazine like 25 years ago.

[@safaribastard1]

Want to try it!

[@whirledpeas3477]

How bad do I want one? Yes

[@JustAskingAndCurios]

Absolutely cool. Is this being produced and sold?

[@roilhead]

No Rudy sold his on trademe. and went onto another project.

[@SkyRiver1]

nope, Oh you can buy one from Universal Hovercraft, but it will cost you over a hundred k and not work as good as this one. This one was sold at auction. The bidding started at 20k. I would buy five of them at that price tomorrow.

[@Kezza-od7pu]

@@SkyRiver1 if everything goes to plan I'll be I'm building one the next couple of years.

[@Kezza-od7pu]

@@SkyRiver1 Not that hard to build once you get you head around it. 1 hp per 5 Kg's, keep the weight down as much as possible and Rudy gave away some great little inventions in one of his videos. Retractable skirt on springs and the duct at the back to redirect air from skirt.

[@SkyRiver1]

@@Kezza-od7pu Good luck with that. I like the idea of a retractable skirt. Using the flat bottom of the hovercraft as a continuation of the wings only makes sense. It may be less aerodynamic than something with a long thin hull like a wingfish, but it gives it more intense ground effect than a boatlike hull. I wouldn't expect the same kind of energy efficiency as a dedicated WIG but it is much more versatile, and you can actually hover with it and pull it home behind your car. I would think that balsa and carbon fiber would be the way to go. Maybe kevlar and carbon with some titanium or aluminum skids on the bottom. This is the kind of thing that it may be worth learning about the engineering properties of composites. I read a great book called Composites for Non-engineers or something close to that a few years ago and I highly recommend it.

[@tonydelgado2551]

great job building it 1 i bet it costs...money !!!

[@BruceSpedding]

Very cool, nice innovations - however, since it must obey navigation rules he should be observing the speed restrictions that apply ;-)

[@hiflyer39]

Caught speeding by Mr Spedding! Well spotted. Any watercraft in NZ ''must not exceed 5 knots within 200meters from the shore'' In this case permission was granted for the perpuse of Filming for the day, by the authority's.

[@BruceSpedding]

HEEMAN HOVERCRAFT All good then, looks exciting!

[@rudy103069]

2 joints high.

[@rudy103069]

dyneema fabric for wing cover and aluminum foam for wing structure?