Hovercraft Project
Indiana State University's Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) and Society of Automotive Engineer (SAE) have teamed up to build a hovercraft. With encouragement from Chris Fitzgerald , founder of the World Hovercraft Organization and president of Neoteric Hovercraft, Inc., in Terre Haute, the ISU team spent long hours planning , designing and building their hovercraft from a material kit purchased from Universal Hovercraft in Harvard, Ill. The materials kit the ISU team is using consists of plywood, foam, fiberglass, epoxy, contact cement, PVC-coated nylon, a propeller, an aluminum hub, a 10 horsepower Tecumseh engine, and screws and pulleys. The purchase of the kit was made possible by a donation of $1,060 from the local parent chapter of SME 275. The local chapter 275 has been a big supporter of the ISU student chapter 089.
A team of 15 ISU students began working on the Hovercraft project in January, 2004. “A lot of SME guys were graduating and were really wanted to do something before they left ISU.” The students downloaded a set of hovercraft blueprints from www.DiscoverHover.org, the website of the World Hovercraft Organization’s International School Hovercraft Program, which provides hovercraft plans and instructions at no charge to students, schools and youth organizations. The ISU team then began a redesign of the original blueprints. According to Dave Oelschlager, a senior from Columbia City, Ind., who was also heavily involved in the project, the redesigning of the blueprints took well over 70 hours of volunteer work. Through the use of AutoCAD and Pro-E, junior high and high school students can easily understand the new blueprints. Rob Wilson, Neoteric Hovercraft’s Technical Director in Australia, is currently reviewing the new plans for accuracy. “ISU played a key role in taking the Discover Hover Build-a-Hovercraft School Project to schools and students throughout the world by creating a prototype project for the program and improving the original plans,” said Sharolyn Herring, marketing director for Neoteric Hovercraft and the World Hovercraft Organization. James Smallwood, chairperson and professor of manufacturing/construction technology and Mike Hayden, professor of industrial/mechanical technology, served as advisers to the students.
"When an organization does a project like this, it gives students additional real-life, problem-solving skills,” Smallwood said. “They are not only doing the work, they are managing a project. We’ve learned that, all else being equal, a manager who has experience in the technology behind a project is a better manager than one who does not have that experience, we’re preparing managers.” Hovercraft operates by floating on a cushion of air over land, water, ice and mud. “They’re very environment friendly, with little impact,” Herring continued. “A hovercraft can be flown over a nest of bird’s eggs without harming them.
The pictures below were taken at the end of spring semester, 2004. Students were able to get the craft running around Campus before they finally had an opportunity to race their hovercraft. On October 16, 2004 several students took the craft to the Lazy L Lake in West Terre Haute, IN to compete in the 2004 Hoosier Championship competition sponsored by the World Hovercraft Organization. Fred Simmons, Jr., a seasoned race car driver drove the craft in two races. In the Novice race, which included five hovercrafts, the ISU hovercraft finished last but the students were able to complete all the laps in the race over land and water. Determined to do better, students further fine tuned the hovercraft and were set for the next race, in which the ISU hovercraft did do very well. Overall, it was a great day and students enjoyed the day and had a great time. Since, Spring of 2005, SME students are continuing the work on the Hovercraft trying to improve its power, performance and handling capability.
Hovercraft Project photos