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This is the hovercraft web site for Howard Boyle |
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JUNE 2003. I made a deal with Rob Tilton and he is taking over the 15T project. In return, he is making the lift and thrust props, the thrust duct and rudders for 18SPW I am making. The 15T4 hull is not that much smaller than the 18SPW hull and is a lot lighter. The 15T should be a kick a-- hovercraft when he finishes it. Rob will also be using the 1.3L Geo I was going to use for the project which should give it lots of power. He better give me a ride in it when it is done!!! Click Here for the link to Rob's 15S site.
May 10, 2003. (15T Hull Top) Moved the HC hull outside to round over the foam & FG and cut off the bolt stubs on the engine mt. boards. What a mess it made - glad it was outside. April 20, 2003. (15T Lift and Hull Top) Cut the lift duct for the engine mounts and worked on the thrust engine mounting area. Also, rewired the Aircommander ignition with new wires and plugs, new carbs, new gas tubing (old tubing was cracked) and other misc items to get the AC-3 back in flying condition. April 13, 2003. (15T Lift & Thrust) Went to Rob Tilton's house and picked up the lift prop and balanced the prop. March 29-30, 2003. (15T Lift) Cut the lift duct to size and shaped it +- to what it needs to be. See Lift pictures. March 25, 2003. (15T Hull Top) The Hover-in was great. Had a good time but wish my Scat had behaved better. Pictures in the Lake Somerville section on the left. Well, the last engine mount board was foamed in last night. Now need to smooth out the area and cut the lift duct to size. See Hull Top pictures. I also traded in the SCAT II for a Aircommander AC3-T. Feb 17, 2003. Lake Somerville Hover-in. Pictures of the hover-in site added. Look at pictures in the Lake Somerville section. Hover-in will be held March 14-16 2003 at Nails Creek State Park on Lake Somerville. It is located off Hwy 290 between Houston and Austin. Feb 7-9, 2003. Hull Flipped. IT is finally flipped!!!! I am now working on the top. I am also beginning to think about a name for the craft. See 15T Hull Top pictures. Jan 4-5, 2003. (15T Hull Back Again). Back to working on the 15T4. The three skim coats of epoxy have been put on and the landing feet have been attached. I am now working on the Kevlar skirt attach strips. I also have been working on the SCAT to fix the skirt attach P clips that broke at the Hover-in. Also working on Mike's 6F to replace the engine and I need to make a new skirt for it. Never ending.... Aug 9-11,2002. (15T working on the hull) The back now has a layer of FG over the attach strip and a full layer over all the back. The front now has at least two layers of FG. The bottom of the duct area has been glassed using carbon and tight weave FG. I will foam in the engine support boards this weekend also. Given the difficulty in wetting out the carbon and tight weave FG, I am moving to a vacuum bag set up. Was a pain to get working but I did the first FG layup with it tonight. We will see what it looks like tomorrow. July 24-25,2002. (15T working on the hull) Working on the side attach strips and starting to glass parts of the bottom of the hull. We had a surprise visit by Mark's grandmother who was kind enough to help out. See the hull pictures for the action shots. July 20-21,2002. 15T - Still working on the hull bottom. Added a layer of FG tape over the upper attach strips. Also, added FG over the bottom edges of the lift duct and air ramp. I hope to be able to start vacuum bagging the FG next wk. That will hopefully permit fiberglassing a larger section of the bottom at a time and keep bubbles from forming. We will see. Would like to have the bottom complete by the 1st weekend in Aug. I also received an email from Marquis Songer the president of Universal Hovercraft. He suggested I put five (5) rudders on the HC for safety and control reasons. More work - UGH! Well, he has made many HCs and has hundreds of hours flying and racing them. I have 0 HCs and 0 hrs to my credit at this point. I think I will do what he suggests.... July 4th, 2002. 15T Working on the rear section of the hull. It is now cut to shape and the slots for the engine mount boards have been cut into it. All the attach strip slots are now cut in the hull. Progress continues. June 29-30, 2002. 15T Joined the hull halfs together and added the rear 2' section - major event! Now it is really a hull. Added the upper side attach strips also. It is big looking. My partner thinks it will take another 4 mos. But, that cannot be as the Lone Star Hover-in is in October.... Sept 7-8,2002. (15T Engine) Went to Rob Tilton's house with the engine and got it mounted onto the engine stand. Glad that is done as I do not know how to weld. Not much other progress as I am still laying the floor in the game room (honey-do trumps hobby....) Aug 31-Sept 2,2002. (15T Hull) Added the Kevlar layer to the bottom. Aug 24-25,2002. (15T yep still hull) The bottom now has a layer of carbon fiber and an over layer of tight weave FG. One layer of Kevlar to go and it is ready to "flip". Aug 17-18,2002. (15T Still working on the hull) Installed the bottom 1x8 boards in the hull and used an epoxy mix to glue in the bolts. Getting ready to vacuum bag the other side. I am getting very close to finishing the bottom of the HC. Aug 12-13,2002. (15T working on the hull) I now have used the vacuum bag system twice to cover the right side with two layers of FG. It looks very flat. However, the release film is good only once so I am waiting for more to come. Rob has also made good progress on the engine mount and sent me a few pictures (in the engine section). The bottom engine mount support boards are also now foamed in. June 22, 2002. 15T Still working on the front bow section of the hull and honestly did not get much done. But the front skirt attach strips are glassed in which is something.... To go much further, I need to attach the two hull halfs together and I will need help to do that. Maybe next weekend. Still shooting for the Lone Star Hover-in in October. June 16, 2002. 15T Lately I have been working on the bottom of the hull trying to get the lift duct in place and the attach strips in place. There is still work to go before I glass the bottom of the bow. It should have it done by this Sunday if all goes well. See the "hull" and "lift" sections. I have not decided whether I should put a piece of wood over the front edge or just glass it. It would seem that the front would take a fair beating over time and the wood would protect the foam better. Still considering the matter. I have decided to make it 15' long instead of 14' to allow for the engine weight. The extra 6.5 sq/ft is worth about 65 lbs of payload. May 2002, I decided to build a Universal Hovercraft UH-12T4 style hovercraft. It is all the fault of Harold Carter. His 12T4 is one of the finest crafts I have seen and an award winner. I loved the look of it (you can see it on the Universal Hovercraft site). Of course, my mileage may vary as Harold is quite the craftsman. Anyway, the craft will be capable of carrying 2+ people. I hope it will be able to carry my wife and I plus our two man-cubs. The normal 12T4 is 12’ by 6’ and uses a 42” thrust prop and the construction is wood frame with 1/8 wood decking. Mine is slightly larger at 14’ by 6.5’ and is constructed (mostly) of foam. It will use a 54” duct and 54” two blade propeller for thrust which should be more efficient than a 42” setup. I will also be using a GEO engine for thrust. Well, I got a good price on a new engine and it did not weigh ALL that much more than the Kohler I was planning to use. Ok, it is twice as heavy, but it has 80 HP vs. 25 HP for the Kohler. The issue will be keeping the hovercraft balanced with the heaver engine in the rear – I mean stern. On the plus side, my lift engine is slightly heavier 10 HP (57 lbs) than a 5 Hp (30 lbs) that is in most 12T4 hovercrafts. Not that being heavier is a plus for a hovercraft but it does help the balance problem. By adjusting the seating in the cockpit, I should be able to maintain a reasonable balance by using the driver/passenger to add weight where needed. I seem to be able to add more “balance” the older I get…. It should work. I have had many email conversations with other HC builders and really appreciate the great support they have offered. Also, this is my first web site so it may really be all it can be – with me. Rob gave me a ride in his 12T4 at the Austin hover-in and it was great fun. He also made the prop I am going to use. Rob traded the prop and “stuff” to someone for some engines and “stuff” and I traded some foam and “stuff” and ended up with the prop. Seems like this is the way of life in the Hovercraft world. “Stuff” just moves around until someone uses it – even then it get traded…. |