Sienna Kirk's 8th grade project
Transcript of Sienna Kirk's 8th grade project
Building a
HovercraftSienna Kirk’s
8th grade project
4 Types of Hovercraft
Type 1 hovercraft
Sport hovercraft
Industrial or
commercial
hovercraft
Flight-capable
hovercraft
Why Do Hovercrafts Float?
Building Materials 4 foot diameter plywood
Powerful leaf blower
Heavy duty shower curtain
Plastic garden chair
Foam tubing
Paint can lid
Skill saw & jig saw
Drill
Heavy duty staple gun
Duct tape
Compass
Straps
Exacto knife
Wood glue
Screw driver
Nuts and bolts
Making Hovercraft Platform
Drew outline of 4 foot
diameter circle
Used skill saw to cut
out circle (with help of
friends Rudy and
Sergio)
Sanded down the
edges after cutting out
the hovercraft body
Performing Balance Test We placed a baseball under the hovercraft body to help locate the
center. This helped to determine where to place the chair/human and
leaf blower so that the weight would be distributed evenly.
Learning and having
fun with my mentor
Mike Campos
Figuring It Out & Getting Started
After finding the weight
center, we:
Fiddled around with
the leaf blower to
find the best
placement
Did the same with
the plastic garden
chair
Used a drill and jigsaw
to cut a hole for the leaf
blower nozzle
Used duct tape to create
a tighter fit
Inserted leaf blower in hole
Attaching Shower Curtain
Stapled the heavy duty shower curtain to the plywood body
Hammered
down the
staples for safety
Cut the
extra plastic
off
Glued the
plastic to the
body for
extra
strength
Secured the shower curtain edge with
duct tape
Creating Vast Air Bubble
Bolted on a
paint lid to form
a donut-
shaped air
bubble so
shower curtain
wouldn’t drag
Used a compass to determine where to place 6 holes on the heavy duty shower curtain where the air will escape equally
Drew outlines of circles and used exacto knife to cut them out
Attached foam piping for a bumper
Taking Safety Precautions
Drilled in an
eye hook
Attached a
rope to hold so
I don’t fly away
Bolting Everything Together
Screwed down straps that hold down the leaf blower so it doesn’t go any where
Screwed down
the chair, that
way when you
fly you don’t fall
off
It is now ready to FLY!
Houston We Have a Problem
From all the air pressure,
shower curtain tore
Failure is Not an Option
Reinforced shower
curtain and new
paint can lid with
more duct
tape, staples, and
nuts and bolts
What an Adventure!