hovercraft

Regretfully, Your Hoverbike Has No Place in Her Majesty’s Secret Service

Regretfully, Your Hoverbike Has No Place in Her Majesty’s Secret Service

See attached: a letter regarding your application to Her Majesty’s secret service for the position of “Lead Inventor”

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These Engineering Students Put a T-Shirt Launcher on Their Hovercraft

These Engineering Students Put a T-Shirt Launcher on Their Hovercraft

In an effort to get more engineering students to attend college sporting events, these engineers are building a t-shirt launching hovercraft.

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Six Lessons on Thinking Like a Maker

Six Lessons on Thinking Like a Maker

Justin Beckerman’s inquisitive mind has led him to explore art and technology. Learn to think like a maker.

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Homebuilt RC Hovercraft

Homebuilt RC Hovercraft

With parts that could have been used to build a remote control jet, ScratchBuiltAircraft on Instructables managed to make something even cooler: a remote-controlled hovercraft.

The body of the hovercraft is made of foam board, while the plastic ‘skirt’ around the bottom is just a simple heavy-duty garbage bag. Where the build gets really interesting is in the electronics. The thrust for the hovercraft is provided by an electric ducted fan powered by a LiPo battery. This fan also pushes air into the skirt of the hovercraft thanks to a duct located directly behind the fan.

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Some Assembly Required – Leaf Blower Hovercraft

If you’re looking for a bare-bones hovercraft build, this one from ENGINEERING.com’s Some Assembly Required is about as minimal as it gets: A leaf blower, a couple circles of plywood, a lawn chair, and a shower curtain for the skirt. [Thanks, Dad!]

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Real-life “landspeeder” prototype

Real-life “landspeeder” prototype

Noah Shactman just brought Israeli defense contractor Urban Aeronautics’ AirMule VTOL UAV project to my attention. The photo released by Urban Aeronautics, shown above, purports to show the first successful hovering flight of an AirMule prototype, secured against wandering off by guy-wires. Video would’ve been more persuasive. The design goal of the AirMule project is to produce an unmanned vehicle that can be used to ferry supplies into, or wounder soldiers out of, a hostile, closely-packed urban combat environment. [via Danger Room]

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