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1. What is hovercraft?
2.Brief history
3.Principle of working
4.Types
5.Parts
6.Applications
 

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t is a craft capable of moving

over water or land on a cushion
of air created by jet engines.
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The first design was put forward by Swedish designer and
philosopher Emmanuel Swedenborg in 1716.
The project was short-lived because it was never built.
t was then in 1956 that a brilliant British radio engineer
Christopher Cockerell and French engineer John Bertin who
invented it.
The first working example was
shown in public in June 1959.
t was called the Saunders Roe
Nautical One or SRN1 .
 h    
 Ýift the craft by a cushion
of air to propel it using
propellers.
 Ýarge lifting fans suck in air through a port which is
pushed to the under side of craft.
 At the point when the pressure equals the weight of
the craft, the craft lifts up and air is escaped around
the edges of the skirt.
 Therefore a constant feed of air is needed to lift
the craft.
 Thus craft is lifted up.
 Once the craft is lifted up, the air from the
propellers are passed over rudders, which are used
to steer the craft similar to an aircraft.
 Hovercraft is thus propelled and controlled and its
powerful engine makes it to move.
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¯ These can be divided into three types:

1.Twin fan

2.Integrated

3.Twin engine
   
t has 2 fans : a small fan and a large fan.
Small fan provides the lift air to the cushion.
Ýarge fan or aircraft propeller provides
thrust air, to move in a particular direction.
Powered by single engine.
Are more efficient and quieter then
integrated craft.
 ð     
¯ ts design consists of 1 engine and 1 fan.
¯ A single fan lifts the craft and also makes to
move.
¯ t is the most simplest craft.
¯ They are cheap and easy to fly.
 þ   
The twin engine is similar to the twin fan .
Each fan has its own engine.
Both fans require separate engine for its
motion.
The transmission is simpler than the twin fan
type.
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þ.Engine

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1.Fan 2.Skirt
 


 
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These propel air parallel to their axis.
 9
ted fans
~ utilize several blades that are generally wide
at the tip and taper towards the base.
~ contain 3-12 blades or even more.
~ generally of a smaller diameter than propellers.
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hropellers
~ have 2-5 blades that are
longer than those used on
ducted fans.
~ are generally noisier than
ducted fans.
~ generally more efficient and safe.
 m    
propel air perpendicular to their axis.
they draw air in the center and throw it out
to the side (similar to the type used in hair
dryers).
generally used as a lift fan.
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h 
  
 Úore thrust  Ýess thrust
 Ýess costly  Úore costly
 Noisy  Quiet
 Rotate fast  Rotate slow
 Ýarge Diameter  Smaller diameter
 ð    
  
 6ive adequate stability.
 Offer little resistance to passage of obstacles
beneath.
 Have the ability to absorb a large proportion of the
energy.
 Contains the cushion of air beneath the craft at
the required hover height.
 Have the ability to keep loss of cushion air
minimum.
 Return to its original shape after having been
deformed.
÷ irt y s
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The bag is inflated which serves to lift the
craft off the ground and to contain the air
cushion.
Two methods of inflating the bag skirt are:
~ Serial Feed: requires that air be directed
from the lift fan through the skirt and then
out into the cushion.
~ harallel Feed: requires that a certain amount
of air be split off of the lift fan into the
skirt and the rest into the cushionr
   
  
consists of several separate nylon segments
that, when inflated, press together to form
a shape that looks like fingers of a hand.
offers much less resistance to obstacles.
are less stable.
ease of repair when damaged since only one
or two damaged fingers need to be replaced
instead of an entire skirt.
 c)The Juped skirt
(cell skirt)
 consists of several cells that look like cones with
their tops cut off .
 have their bases attached to the bottom of the
craft.
 When inflated, these cones readily support the
weight of the craft upon a stable cushion.
 utilizes a minimum of 2 or 3 cells surrounded by a
large jupe & encompasses perimeter of craft.
 tend to scoop water in rough conditions and drag on
grass.
þ   
a hovercraft needs
at least one engine.
Ýarger, commercial
craft may use as many
as 6-8.
Engines types are
diesel , gasoline and
jet t rbine.
     
Have low noise.
Ýow specific fuel consumption.
Ýow maintenance.
High safety and dependability.
Highly economic.
Have tremendous weight.
Power to weight ratio being 0.1.
   
1. Two-

le gasoline engine
 Úostly used by small hovercraft.
 Weight to power ratio is high.
 Have twice the specific fuel consumption as
compared to 4-cycle engine.
 Are small and compact.
 Has ample power over about 2600 fan rpm
to push the fan to full power revolutions.
 Power to weight ratio is 0.8 .
2. Fo r-

le gasoline engine
Úore reliable than 2-cycle engines.
Have low noise and less vibration.
Has 4-8 cylinders producing about 250 hp
output.
Power to weight ratio is 0.36 .
   

  
Power to weight ratio is 0.5.
Used basically by military commercial craft
put out thousands of horse power .
t mainly has more hp than the other two.

hhm
 
 Rescue work on swift
water, ice, mud, deserts,
wetlands, marshes, snow
and floodwaters.
 Finding vast number of
narrow waterways that
cannot be reached by boat.
 Border Patrol and
Homeland Security.

hhm
  
 Traveling from land to water where there is no
boat dock.
 Úilitary services:
Assault vehicles
and transporting troops.
 Transport in environmentally sensitive areas where
habitat and erosion are a concern.
 Oil spill clean up.
 Cruising purpose.