   I want a hovercraft!
  I want a hovercraft.  But, all the kits/things I''ve seen online are for hovercrafts that go like 8 inches above the ground, that''s not good enough.  I want something that hovers at least 3 feet up.  Is it even possible to get that kind of upward thrust without huge fuel consumption or anything like that?Please, lets have a nerdy discussion on possible methods to make things hover. 
  The whole idea of a hovercraft is that it needs to stay close to the ground. A hovercraft operates by increasing the pressure of the air under it, which then pushes back and generates lift. As a hovercraft gets further from the ground, it becomes much, much harder to maintain that pressure.It sounds like what you really want is a helicopter, which just pushes air down, and as an equal and opposite reaction, gets pushed up.   "Sneftel is correct, if rather vulgar." --Flarelocke   [edited by - sneftel on December 8, 2003 5:46:00 PM];  Searching the web find you can get them in the year 2015. All that is necessary is a delorian and a flux capacitor.(On topic for a nanosecond)Yeah, a helicopter is what you want--you can find those in kits too. at  ;quote:Original post by Sneftel  The whole idea of a hovercraft is that it needs to stay close to the ground. A hovercraft operates by increasing the pressure of the air under it, which then pushes back and generates lift. As a hovercraft gets further from the ground, it becomes much, much harder to maintain that pressure.It sounds like what you really want is a helicopter, which just pushes air down, and as an equal and opposite reaction, gets pushed up.   "Sneftel is correct, if rather vulgar." --Flarelocke   [edited by - sneftel on December 8, 2003 5:46:00 PM]I''ve thought about that, the only way to make a hovercraft like what I want would probably need to be like some kind of weak helicopter.  But, I also want it to be easy to manuever.A design that seems to make sense, seems to be kind of like the futuristic helicopters you see in videogames and such, instead of having one big blade on top, it''s got two smaller ones on the side and another one in the back, but is it even possible to make something like this, only (relatively small, I''m talking like a one seater type of thing.)  The only problem is how you are going to get an engine strong enough to give the power you need, too bad that''s a huge problem. ;  I have a design I want to play around with, that involves casing the rotors inside a safety casing, and puting them underneight the car.Remember, the rotors do not push on the ground, they cause a vortex in the air to pull them up ;  Does anyone remember that spy helicopter drone from a few years back? It was about 6 feet in diameter, with a circular, somewhat donut-shaped body. Two counter-rotating rotors were housed in the center of the donut for propulsion. I can''t find any images or links, google as I may. Helps?   "Sneftel is correct, if rather vulgar." --Flarelocke ;quote:Original post by Daytanea  I have a design I want to play around with, that involves casing the rotors inside a safety casing, and puting them underneight the car.Remember, the rotors do not push on the ground, they cause a vortex in the air to pull them up   If they were under the car, their intake air would be blocked off so it wouldn''t be pulled up very well.  That''s why they need to be on the side or something.  If my hovercraft is only going to hover 3 feet in the air, then it would have the rotors pulling it up, and the air below pushing it up at the same time.  It might kind of work. ;  My hoverboard utilizes magnetic opposites. I stand on a board with a magnet fixed underneath it, and below the board on the ground is another magnet with the same polarity facing upward. I have a little fat boy pushing the ground magnet around - but hey, at least one of us is hovering, and that''s what counts. ;quote:Original post by Sneftel  Does anyone remember that spy helicopter drone from a few years back? It was about 6 feet in diameter, with a circular, somewhat donut-shaped body. Two counter-rotating rotors were housed in the center of the donut for propulsion. I can''t find any images or links, google as I may. Helps?Just play the various Metal Gear Solid 2 games--they are all over the place on the Plant. ;quote:Original post by Salsa  My hoverboard utilizes magnetic opposites. I stand on a board with a magnet fixed underneath it, and below the board on the ground is another magnet with the same polarity facing upward. I have a little fat boy pushing the ground magnet around - but hey, at least one of us is hovering, and that''s what counts.   Strangely enough, that is the idea behind the hover boards already created--though instead of a fat kid, you could only use them in special magnetised skate parks.Wonder why the deal never hit on? 