Sunday, December 28, 2014

an NZ homemade flying hovercraft



Hovercraft first appeared in 1958 in Britain and work by a fan creating a cushion of air under a rubber skirt which the craft floats on while a conventional propeller provides horizontal thrust.  At around 70 km/h the wings enable this one to take off as the proximity of the ground (water) provides more lift than higher up and the turbulent eddies at the wings' extremities which create drag don't exist close to the ground like they do higher up.

It's probably not a suitable commuting vehicle though, as it would not be a good idea to fly it along a road.

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