NOT a Pool Toy: Manned Boat-Towed Ekranoplan (Build Part 3)

We are going big around here! Getting my full scale building feet wet with something safe (ish). Turns out it is a lot like building a model, just easier.
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[@gonun69]

I'm glad you used air with greatly elevated temperature instead of a heatgun. Who knows what could have happened!

[@ned338]

😂

[@1islam1]

@@ned338 ⚠️ God has said in the Quran: 🔵 { O mankind, worship your Lord, who created you and those before you, that you may become righteous - ( 2:21 ) 🔴 [He] who made for you the earth a bed [spread out] and the sky a ceiling and sent down from the sky, rain and brought forth thereby fruits as provision for you. So do not attribute to Allah equals while you know [that there is nothing similar to Him]. ( 2:22 ) 🔵 And if you are in doubt about what We have sent down upon Our Servant [Muhammad], then produce a surah the like thereof and call upon your witnesses other than Allah, if you should be truthful. ( 2:23 ) 🔴 But if you do not - and you will never be able to - then fear the Fire, whose fuel is men and stones, prepared for the disbelievers.( 2:24 ) 🔵 And give good tidings to those who believe and do righteous deeds that they will have gardens [in Paradise] beneath which rivers flow. Whenever they are provided with a provision of fruit therefrom, they will say, "This is what we were provided with before." And it is given to them in likeness. And they will have therein purified spouses, and they will abide therein eternally. ( 2:25 ) ⚠️ Quran

[@sovereignfalcon1119]

I concur. The heat gun would have been disastrous!

[@dudenamedchris3325]

@@1islam1 Sorry, not interested in mistreating women today thank you

[@JamesCarter-nf1dy]

@@dudenamedchris3325 based

[@ThereAreNoHandlesLeft]

This is one of those projects I never considered. I still wouldn't consider. And I have been happily following ever step of the way. Thanks for including the mistakes, that's such a part of projects it's always reassuring to see that it's not just me.

[@mp6756]

I have changed my predictions for a successful outcome. For a while I thought no way it's just to much of a seat of the pants design and had around a 10 to 15% chance of flight. Then I dropped the chances down to about 5 to 7% because I predicted complete structural failure before reaching the speed necessary for liftoff. As you added supports along the way with more seat of the pants calculations I began to improve the odds and now I can't wait to see the first flight I'm up to a 75% chance of flight and 100% chance of getting a great laugh eather way. I wish you the very best of luck it has turned out nicely

[@Bigalinjapan]

You're building my 20-year-old dream here... I cannot wait to see it flying!

[@billdavis9350]

Very neat project!! Don’t forget PPE; sanding fiberglass and carbon fiber is very bad for your health without a respirator

[@bena2293]

Great Build and Great Comments, as a Hot Rod Builder since 14, all the Safety Things we Omit can come back to bite us with age, the Damages are Cumulative and can lead to Serious Problems . Those Darn Air Purifying Cartridges , Only last a matter of so many Hours, and must be But Back in the Bag and Sealed and they have become Disposable. Eye Protection, Hearing, Lungs, every day is a must . Also, as a Surfer, water skier, your standing Area might need to be enlarged so you can move your Weight around , drop a back foot to pickup that nose like a Surfer Does. They make Great Stomp Pad, rail grabs, all kinds of stuff in the Skate board, SUP, and Surfing World. Keep you on that thing, and not Slipping off. Now a Great Chase Boat is an old Hobie Cat 16, stripped of sail crap, Hell we dropped a Redwood Gazebo Thatched Roof and all Strapped on a 16 Hobie cat with a 10hp outboard, fast ,stable, cheap, fun. We could load Beer coolers, barbecue, surfboards, 4 surfers and head out to the break, anchor out. and surf all day Damn good Fun God Bless the Builders , Never Stop Creating.

[@CesiumSalami]

Amazing! Can't wait to see it fly. Interestingly, I wonder if the smoothed planing hull ends up being the right choice. I definitely don't know, but I know that at least for a time, some white water play kayaks that had planing hulls were designed more like golf balls or with sort of a grid pattern to assist with breaking surface tension, so it was smoother/easier to repeatedly break and join back to water (to spin and skip/jump smoothly) - I wonder if, with a smooth surface, you'll end up "stuck" to the water and once you release you'll pop up quickly. But this craft is so much bigger, maybe it's a non-issue.

[@russelldesilva1560]

The Americas cup AC-75 foiling mono hulls looked very much like they had considered this stickiness problem and had what they called a skeg underneath a very flat V bottom. Not a yachtsman so forgive my use of terminology.

[@ConradBrander]

Loving this build!!! Can't wait to see the test flight!!!! 😁😃🎉🕊️

[@d4ro]

looks just like the project you've been preparing for. may the lift be with you

[@davidunderwood1907]

Can't believe how much you have done in so little time. I understand the workload of a project this in depth and size. Hats off. And thanks so much for sharing. Like you don't have ur hands on full already We love you're builds. Oh the colors look great. Nice choice.

[@maameloic7656]

so excited to see it in action.

[@ostidetabarnak]

awesome build, i love how you are making boat people and airplane people mad!

[@andrewstrongman305]

This is really inspirational! I live 25km from Lake Eildon, the 2nd largest fresh water lake in Victoria. I can envision a larger version, with either a long seat for a pillion rider, or perhaps in-line seating capacity for 2 plus the 'pilot'. I'd use some aluminium and plywood for strength, and add wingtip floats. Also, I'd want it powered by one large, or two smaller pusher propellers and motors, and twin rudders. A steering wheel or other rudder control mechanism would be required, along with a throttle. A basic instrument panel showing RPM, speed, and fuel, set forward of the controls would be easy to include. I'd also add a lightweight nacelle around the craft's nose to protect the pilot from wind and rain. The resulting craft would be far better than a speedboat, with no jolting from hitting waves or wakes. To begin with, I'd opt for a 500cc motorcycle engine, or two 250cc engines, depending on which configuration chosen. The fuel tank and batteries could easily be housed in the central fuselage.

[@MarkMcCluney]

My goodness, what an interesting idea. I'll look forward to seeing the first flight trial. God bless you all working on this and very best of luck.

[@SimonAmazingClarke]

Love it. Can't wait to see you testing it.

[@andymuzzo8568]

Man that looks awesome.

[@fonwoolridge]

Wow! Fab project.... Jealous! Awesome.... Got me wondering about bigger size models 🙂 And yeah full size... fair play!

[@diraziz396]

Much Respect here for the Hard work. you've made it look easy. Good luck "Mastering" that huge Lifter Body when it's up in the Air..

[@Dagreenberg68]

I cant wait, em' at the edge of my seat!

[@comfort_in_discomfort]

This will be fun to watch. The weight shift "steer" is a good idea, but I wonder if you'll need to adjust too many times. Time will tell, though secretly I hope you have to make control surfaces to fly it like a glider.

[@vibratingstring]

weight shift is a good idea?

[@comfort_in_discomfort]

@@vibratingstring I think you won't be able to adjust quickly enough with weight shifting? I can't really tell how responsive the airfoil will be.

[@topspeed250k5]

@@vibratingstring ever flown a hang-glider? Weight shift for its simplicity and effectiveness is a brilliant idea.

[@1981lowrider]

If you are not an aeronautical engineer you should be. Congratulations on building your dream. Well done Sir.

[@sleeplessstu]

Whether or not this thing ever gets above the waves, you have certainly made Günther Jörg proud ! I love your innovative “big box home center” building theme here. Your keen attention to aeronautical build detail is so fun to watch. Will you be adding side panels to join the wings (like the Flairboat) or leave the wingtips unencumbered ? I suppose there would be a small amount of wingtip bleed of air pressure but it might not matter so much for this test. I’m just wondering if it would help with longitudinal stability should one of your wingtips inadvertently dig into a wave or the wake of the tow boat. Thanks so much for posting this great project ! 👍🏼

[@Project-Air]

Really pleased to see you getting the views you deserve!

[@robertomcgrathtv]

Damn!!!! My best wishes on your Endeavour! (notice the "our" as in Space Shuttle, our street name in old Pratt & Whitney building in sunny Florida, in honor of the work they did for it. We were not that company, they had sold us the admin building to an investment advising company that I was working for. They had pulled some stakes and move back to Connecticut. But Sikorsky was still next door! and rocket vibration tests of Pratt too. What a fun time it was to see all that going on! Fighter planes flying overhead, Israeli copter pilots using our AV rooms to learn to fly the newly purchase copters. Anyway, just thought you would get a kick reading this while you get inspired on your next phase! Low surface flying from our old home down in Jupiter, FL to the Bahamas... That would be a trip!!!! I mean, have a great time with your bucket list! but really! the idea of flying low on decent weather is such a doable thing!! All you have to worry is jumping humpbacks. Other than that, pretty much nothing... maybe saucers coming out of their underwater base. But then, they would know how to evade us. Ha Ha!

[@VinceSamios]

Sooo sick! I love a good janky build, design by gut, love it! I'm going to make a prediction, it will work and you won't die. 🤟

[@yankey4]

46 Gorilla Glue! Love this been fun to see! Thanks for sharing. God Bless

[@funnerthanbefore4947]

Love it man!!!! Cant wait to see it fly!! 🙂👍

[@reinerh7777]

you are a friggin genius, very impressive :)

[@user-rl6gj1uh2m]

A very interesting channel and very original solutions to the tasks.

[@ghostindamachine]

Absolutely wonderful :)

[@mickeyg.c.1654]

Can't wait to see the second edition of this video! Bravo, you're the man now I can vicariously live my childhood dream through you

[@thinkflight]

Hahaha, glad I can be of value :)

[@morkovija]

Flying carpet made real. Going to be great!

[@skipwalker3269]

Alexander Lippish would be proud!

[@Fischertek]

Are you planning on using a sandbag at first test, or have your family been lucky to get you a good life insurance? You could off course combine a well tested paraglider with this stylish airborne surfboard.😁🤩

[@BazilRat]

I would never be able to do this. But I have enjoyed watching so far - can't wait to see it 'fly'

[@markoverton5858]

That is going to be real fun to use 👍

[@SyphenHouse]

That MEK will get ya every time.

[@UnendlicheWaren]

You are amazing! I am just building my own housevoat out of the same materials.

[@sgarza11401]

Can’t wait to see you on the lake brotha

[@TychoBrahe21]

Awesome project!

[@death_witch]

This would also look beautiful going downhill on fluffy snow

[@davidunderwood1907]

Nice. Great suggestion

[@doittoday1]

Can’t wait to see the flight😊

[@thomasaltruda]

Without rib stitches, the fabric could lift off the structure. There have been deaths from exactly this, as the epoxy cannot resist the tension of the fabric “lifting” off the upper surface, especially with the concave shape. Please don’t fly it higher or faster than you are willing to fall! Also I believe it will be negatively pitch stable.. planes have elevators that produce downforce for a reason. With the rear wing being the same as the front wing, it’s going to pitch up or down wildly. Before you fly it, put 200 pounds of sandbags on it and tow it around, or make control surfaces and fly it like a giant RC plane. If you jump on it manned, I hope your insurance is up to date!

[@vibratingstring]

^this

[@harrisonaero]

Basically assume you'll nose it in and go over the handlebars so adjust and pad the design accordingly for safety. $0.02

[@masboyrc]

This is so cool mannn

[@thekansan8683]

Pounds of duct tape, glue and foam later... looking amazing!

[@MrBigChris620]

Great video work 👏

[@jondoe79]

Impressive ambitious and success 👍

[@KasperLidegaard]

Great videos thanks

[@slugslikepie]

This is really neat

[@kimi01210]

Incredible!!

[@grimfpv292]

Niiice!! Making it proper!

[@vovanikotin]

Add small wingtips higher than root of wing to selfleveling in roll axis.

[@charlestaylor3195]

I am impressed.

[@1555yodude]

this might be the push i needed to finally build that hover craft i'v wanted to build since i was a kid, where did those plans go

[@MrCarlozan96]

It is going to be so cool

[@northernfpv9562]

This is epic! And super dangerous.

[@thinkflight]

I think the perceived danger is far higher than the actual danger. Perfect for KZbin!

[@northernfpv9562]

@@thinkflight oh it’ll make a great video that’s for sure! :D. Will you have any aileron or rudder control at all?

[@thinkflight]

@@northernfpv9562 Nope

[@northernfpv9562]

@@thinkflight uhhh. Maybe just a tiny bit of rudder might be nice. Attached to brake-style levers on your handlebars? That would be cool and not too much weight or work required. I’m just thinking of how to counter the lateral force in turns while towing.

[@thinkflight]

@@northernfpv9562 I'd rather give it a shot as is and only add it later if needed. Also, it just needs to work, it doesn't need to work well :). Not a product, just a youtube video.

[@rosco4659]

Exactly 8 bottles, precise.

[@MrRossi1805]

That’s cool!

[@TheNadOby]

Looks great! Are you going to make openings with some sort of hatches for fuselage and wings?

[@EJ-74]

Awesome 🔥👍✌️

[@gainerman]

This should be much better than the converted hang glider those boys tow around lake Travis with a parasailing rope

[@billmorris2613]

Good morning to all from SE Louisiana 21 Jul 22.

[@RoamingAdhocrat]

Dudes rock.

[@WindCatcherRC]

Wow! that looks amazing!! How will you find the correct CG? Looking forward to the next video.

[@davidunderwood1907]

Yes. How are going to locate cg Gavin?

[@gregorydahl]

I built a tandem wing plane and found that twisting of the fuselage caused front wingtips to wing - warp like ailerons the opposite wingwarp direction of the rear wings tips .

[@AerialWaviator]

The NAPT is looking great. The hydrodynamic centre looks spot on, sitting perfectly level in the water. Any considerations to applying a soft foot friendly rubber mat material to the piloting surface, like surfers use on hydrofoil boards? Love the confidence (3:33) in that the NAPT Manned Ekranoplan will have a lifecycle of sufficient length that UV protection was a significant consideration in coating choice. ♥👍

[@vibratingstring]

sitting still is not hydrodynamic...

[@dillpickle7633]

I guessed 8 bottles of Gorilla glue, and I got it right!

[@cornrichard]

How is all that fiberglass working out for your skin? I can't even be in the same room with the stuff anymore after working in the HVAC trade. I know you can't get an allergy to something like fiberglass but I think my body decided that it doesn't follow the rules.

[@thinkflight]

Not too bad so far, I can definitely see it being a long term problem for many.

[@GudieveNing]

Awesome! Can't wait to see the test 'flight'. Does an Ekranoplan 'fly'?

[@margentaus]

Hi! I'm anxiously waiting to see the flight tests!!!!!

[@azeche592]

Congratulation 👌 l learned a lot of stuff from your project. I have only one remark concerning the attachment of the nut for the wing attachment bolts. As I saw the nut are attached using Epoxy as an adhesive. I expect that this attachment will be under multiaxial loads with a peeling component. Maybe it would be necessary to reenforce the nut with a cross beam structure to transfer this loads to the main supporting attachment structure

[@adzythepwcblokeinaustralia5467]

Yes I agree ,a larger flat clamping area will spread the load on the main spar . This is a high stress point and must be able to handle very high loads .

[@garrettbristol7027]

so cool

[@ShamblerDK]

I'm here for the E-poxy :P

[@boomshakalaka2034]

Electronics....thrust.... I can't wait to see how you are going to approach planeing. Flight computer? Sensor? Fly by wires

[@dronefootage2778]

your house looks so pimp and I was curious about it. I tired to use google earth to line up the mountains to figure out where this is and after about an hour I gave up. then just for fun I typed in your name and it took me right to your place... I should have started with that LOL. NICE place you got! It says its worth more than a mil... DUDE thats awesome because you deserve it with the work you do helping people! on a side note. why even bother paying legal zoom for a virtual address then..... oh well

[@aleksjenner677]

So when are you adding the electric paramotor?

[@topspeed250k5]

I guess you've worked out that for Weight shift control it's the opposite to what you might instinctively do with the"yoke" i.e. to go up, lean back (push the stick forward) To go left, lean left (push stick to the right) Hang gliding would help 😁

[@alexanderfaucher1619]

So excited to see the flight!?

[@leeross7896]

how do you plan to control pitch, yaw and roll?

[@arturocrespo9473]

Hi, it turned out great. What kind of resin do you use?

[@robertmurray8815]

Please tell us all where did you get that pair of socks. Paint your econoglider the same style.

[@johankotze42]

Amazing project. I am just wondering, if you are going to be on top of the craft, your body is going to disrupt the rudder airflow?

[@Andreas-gh6is]

I think the issue will be rather whether this thing has enough lift for a low enough speed so none of that matters all that much. There is no control on the rudder, it's purely for some stabilization. In the test flight, he will want to go straight into the wind anyway to get airborne at the lowest ground speed possible.

[@AerialWaviator]

Rudder is more a secondary yaw stabilizer for most of early flight plans. The tow rope attached to the front will provide plenty of yaw stabilization when under tension Effectiveness of rudder will be more important if/when the tow rope become slack while airborne.

[@ingridschellhaas7041]

I really would like to see a ground effect flight with your project. Is there anything available?

[@Flame-Bright-Cheer]

You make being smart look CøøL. 🤘🏻🧠🤓👏🏻🕉

[@boombeesharkful]

Cool build! However, the angle of attack of rear wing appears greater than angle of attack of front wing 😞.... pitch instability? Maybe that theory works slightly differently for Wing In Ground effect.

[@Helicopterpilot16]

This makes me want to build a primary glider using this method of fabrication.

[@therealdeal6846]

How did you measure centre of gravity?..in order to place the handle bar??

[@bowenbrown]

Can anyone else imagine a think flight podcast?

[@cbpuzzle]

A gas motorized RC jet board to pull you would be boss level leading you around the lake.

[@buckfiden2988]

Lets go!

[@TheTonester2312]

I really hope it works!

[@TROUROCKS]

have a quick release on ur end of the tow line

[@georgethompson8834]

Can you please post what airfoils you used for this project?

[@alfa168fan2]

What is the name of the purple color foam material? Where can we buy it form? Thanks

[@FPVREVIEWS]

looks cool and roughly looks like it should work.. not sure how hard it will be to keep it in ground effect. maybe that's okay. and also roll stability.. may not have much, and I think you may be kept busy trying to keep it from rolling left, or right.. but worth a try as-is before making mods. don't worry about using proper techniques for the shrinking, or attaching covering material. it's not like it's human rated or anything... Oh,, it is? um oh Well, never mind. :):) cool, lets' see it fly!! imagine you'll tow it behind a boat!

[@BPlus-oz7cm]

How do you know where to place the rope attachment point? Maybe I missed it in a previous vid.

[@thinkflight]

Its a guess based on prior experience. Subject to change :)

[@Nickle314]

@@thinkflight It interesting. On gliders (real not toys) you can successfully tow on a belly hook. So I suspect you have quite a lot of latitude.

[@evtromso458]

I am really impressed with the amounts of effort you are putting into it . How can I personally contact you

[@noName-vp6vu]

Epic

[@TienShanTaoistInternalArts]

The rider may blanket the tail. It may need twin tails.