RC India

Finally, this baby was ready for a maiden test run. Rudder assembly is being fabricated now. She should be ready in all aspects by Christmas Day.

Lift motor 4900 KV, Thrust motor 3000 KV, Props 6 X 4. Construction Styrofoam, Coroplast, Aluminium spars and Brass rods. Skirt made out of Ripstop material. 2 X 3S LiPo batteries rated at 2500mAh each. ESC's - 30 Amp and 60 Amp Reversible. Glues used Fevitie Rapid, Araldite epoxies. AUW approximately 3 Kgs.

In this video, all components have been loosely placed to observe the hovering effect. Lots of raw power in this baby. She is going to be fast, very fast! Zipping at a quarter throttle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koKdZJGCtJo

Wow this is awesome. {:)} :thumbsup:

Awesome VC. The noise the thing makes!!! :) Can you put up some close up pics? of the lift system?

Thanks Guys. Just hold on for a few days, let her get painted and detailed - she will be totally different then!

Cool..Will it go on water too?

Yes, obviously! She has been designed for amphibian use.

Post a video of that going in and out of water too...want to see how fast it can go in water :)

Great VC. Very unique and different. Great effort. Waitng to see further videos.
best regards
ashta

Awesome VC sir!!! The lift motor sounds cool! :thumbsup: Been thinking of building a hovercraft myself.. Could you please give details of the skirt design and also how the lift motor thrust is ducted into the skirt? Thanks :)

Amazing VC looks cool, sounds fabulous.  {:)}  {:)} {:)}

 The way the ripstop skirts fills up looks absolutely realistic. The height of air cushion is also too good. It is going to have a smooth ride over varried surfaces. Congrads VC  :thumbsup:

Excellent built VC.  :thumbsup: Waiting for the action video.  :)

gr8 vc, i am singing like a canary ;D

Brilliant work VC! waiting to see some pics of the lifting system!

Ashta sir, I'm sure you'll start building one soon :)
Wow, i'll get to see one in bangalore also:)

skanda

wow wow wow :bow:

simply amazing!!!!!!!!!!

that skirt lift is pretty real!!!!!!! great machine!!!!!

i would love to know more abt how u built that skirt and how did u keep it in one place around craft!!! pretty delicate thing!!!!

want to see it in action on water!!!!!

Ashish

 (:|~ (:|~ (:|~ DROOLING all over my laptop  :salute:

Solution to the roads we have here. Who cares for a "little" extra dust in the air with these. And no worry of scratches etc!! Excellent. Pls. post some close ups of the craft to detail the construction.

Hey everybody, thanks a ton! Yes, it has been a labour of love and I am really sad that she will have to go away. Mr. Mustafa and I made this for a client and she will be delivered to him on 26th Dec. Before that I will post the completed build pictures and videos, that's a promise!

I have taken detailed photos of the build process and I would love to post them here. It will, I am very certain, be the most detailed build photos for a RC Hovercraft anywhere on the net. However, I need my clients permission before I do that. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I accept your best wishes and congratulatory messages and will pass them on to Mr. Mustafa as well. He was in charge of replicating the skirt from Mark Porters plans and the assembly of the electronics and radio equipment. My responsibilities were negotiating the contract, scratch building the entire craft and detailing it (still working on that!), procuring all material and spending many many sleepless nights!

I think Mr. Mustafa has done a splendid job on the skirt {:)}. Without his efforts this model wouldn't have been possible. Just one niggle remains, we need to adjust the reversing mechanism and then it is all systems go!

She is, at the moment at the paint shop and is due back on 24th Dec. I am working on the details and embellishments as I wait for her to come home.

Thanks again, everyone, for your support.

P.s. I am not at liberty to answer any questions about the identity of the client.

Labour of Love has paid rich dividends. Its a pity that I shall not be seeing her again. She was delivered to the client a short while ago. Will be posting the pictures after a while. Hope you all like the video.

Thanks a ton for all your support and good wishes.....................


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds7Sf9SlU9g

Great VC... {:)} :salute:

The team that built her.

Left to Right : Mr. Nandeswar who did all the running around procuring materials. VC in charge of the model superstructure and painting / detailing. Mr. Mustafa who created the skirt and got the entire electronics to work.

Wow.. glides well on the water.. :thumbsup: Congratulations on the completion of your project VC sir! Wish there was a video of it coming out of the water and climbing onto land.. VC sir could you share the skirt design with us? This is the only thing keeping me from making a hovercraft of my own..

Anta, Medicineman thanks a ton! Skirt design was adapted from Mark Porter's plans.

http://www.model-hovercraft.com/2000tdx/2000tdxskirtplan1.html

Awesome VC. Even im inspired to build one for myself. :)

Thanks Rajath!

Surface test (in a confined space :banghead:) to give you some indication of the speed of the model on land. Throttle was never increased beyond the half way mark.

To meet the deadline, I had been working for nearly 18 hours, for the last two days, at a stretch on the model. Now that she has been delivered, I just can't seem to go to sleep! 1:32am  ???


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ezCWQ4y9dA

Fast and LOUD!!

Brilliant VC Bhaiya, absolutely fantabulous. {:)} :salute: :bow:

VC sir, you are a RC Legend....that Hovercraft is a true piece of art....  :bow:

VC Sir..She is a beast...:salute:

Great work..Absolute master piece..

Atul, Choxxi - thanks a ton! We have started work on the Griffon 8000 and the LCAC 1 Assault Hovercraft. Hope these turn out better.

I am looking for a dummy tank to go with the LCAC 1/10 or 1/15 scale. Does anyone have an old Funskool GI JOE Tank lying around somewhere? That would be the approximate scale. Pl PM me urgently. Even if it is not working or has been damaged / broken, I would love to have it.

about tanks
i think the best till date is here :thumbsup:  :bow:  >:D

http://www.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl=http://www.inetres.com/gp/military/cv/tank/M1/M1.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.inetres.com/gp/military/cv/tank/M1.html&h=475&w=800&sz=53&tbnid=pJbVgD09QckM4M:&tbnh=85&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dm1%2Babrams&zoom=1&q=m1+abrams&hl=en&usg=__k1ua5GBQzG2jkdNeR8CNSWtQ49A=&sa=X&ei=LMokTZ2WHcOxrAeyx5SADQ&ved=0CDkQ9QEwBQ (http://www.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl=http://www.inetres.com/gp/military/cv/tank/M1/M1.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.inetres.com/gp/military/cv/tank/M1.html&h=475&w=800&sz=53&tbnid=pJbVgD09QckM4M:&tbnh=85&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dm1%2Babrams&zoom=1&q=m1+abrams&hl=en&usg=__k1ua5GBQzG2jkdNeR8CNSWtQ49A=&sa=X&ei=LMokTZ2WHcOxrAeyx5SADQ&ved=0CDkQ9QEwBQ)

just in case  ;)  ;D   :o

Congrats VC Sir for such great achievements.

Could you please post the pictures of motor mounting and other placement of electronics used...? It would be of great help..

Thankyou..!

Will do soon. My PC is recovering from a crash. Send me your email id and I will mail bigger pictures to you. Just give me some time to locate them.

I also noticed a query from you about brass pipes. You will find them at any shop that sells refrigerator or air conditioner parts and gas.

At your ease Sir,

Thankyou...

Sir from where did u get reversible ESCs ?

Well done hovers great

only thing I would have done different is used a lower kv motor for lift I use 1700kv on 3 cell but only need 1/2 throttle to get lift so makes it a lot more quiet

 {:)}

Thanks. Learning curve. I have travelled some distance since then.

That's the great thing about RC hobbies you can always learn something new

There are so many different models to be built one day I plan on building the ZUBR Russian hovercraft

Awesome! Could you please detail how the skirt was made?

This site gives you plans for the skirt
all you need is some sewing skills and it's easy
 there are many ways to seal the skirt I find screwing it down with thin bits of plastic the best as you can remove easy


http://www.model-hovercraft.com/2000tdx/2000tdxskirtplan1.html

This is my griffon going up a boat ramp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCdhIazpY4w

This one is cam inside hovercraft on the water


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqE3Jf5ggb0

Thanks Stuart, I downloaded the skirt plan from the same site. We got hold of a car cover and that turned out to be the perfect substitute for 'ripstop' material.

Your Griffon 2000 is beautiful!

If you add more segments to the corners it works better so you decrease the curves on the edges and make 4 for each corner instead of 2

I wanted to know how exactly you attach the skirt to the body. That's one thing I still can't quite understand.

Hang on let me try and draw a sketch for you.

Posted a few pictures for you. Hope it helps. Please follow this link:

http://www.rcindia.org/boats/griffon-8100-td-hovercraft-scratchbuilt/new/#new

Sorry for bothering you so much, but how is it attached to the bottom? Thank you so much!

I screw my skirt to the base and under the hull

Alright. Thank you so much! Cleared up everything!

Happy for you. Start building! Let me know if I can assist you in any way.

If you need any help on the way just ask between use we should be able to sort any problem you have

Happy building

You will have lots of fun with your hovercraft