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Rideable Hovercraft

2 hours

Ages 14+

What Will You Make?

A leaf blower powered hovercraft that you can ride on. This is a more difficult project for the more experienced makers in your Camp.

What Will You Learn?

You’ll learn basic woodworking skills and how to use a power drill.

Build Your Hovercraft

Find the center

Find the center of the sheet of plywood. This should be 2 feet from the edges for a 4×4 sheet.

Draw a circle

Drive a screw into the center of the circle, about halfway in. Tie a string to it and measure a 2-foot length of string. Tie a pencil to the string there. Pull the string taught and use it to draw a 2-foot radius circle around the center of the sheet.

Trace the leaf blower

Place the output nozzle of the leaf blower against your circle about halfway between the center and the outer edge of your circle. Trace around the leaf blower with a pencil.

Drill and cut

Raise your sheet up off the ground (I used a trashcan) and get a friend to help you hold the sheet to keep it stable. Drill a hole slightly larger than your jigsaw blade in the center of the shape you traced from the leaf blower. Now use your jigsaw to cut out the shape.

Cut the outer circle

Use the jigsaw to cut the outer circle from the sheet. Make sure to hold it down to keep it from jumping around.

Add the lid

Put your tarp down on top of your cut circle, covering it evenly. Find the center again and place the bucket lid in the center of the circle. Screw down the bucket lid with the 1/2 inch screws in a circular pattern about halfway between the center of the lid and its outer edge.

Secure the tarp

Trim away the extra tarp, leaving about an inch between your cut and the staples so the tarp wont rip out.

Trim the tarp

Trim away the extra tarp, leaving about an inch between your cut and the staples so the tarp wont rip out.

Tape down the edges

Tape down the edges of the tarp to seal them tightly. Don’t spare the tape, I made two rings around to ensure it was down tightly.

Cut air escapes

Cut six Xs evenly spaced around the center of the tarp. They should be about 3 inches away from the edge of the bucket lid.

Secure the blower

Place the leaf blower in the hole that you’ve cut for it. Use tape to secure it in place and seal it so air cannot escape.

Go for a ride

Sit in the center of the disk and turn on the leaf blower. The tarp should inflate with air, raising up off the ground with the escaping air from the cuts creating a thin layer of air below you. Have a friend push you and you will go flying away!

What Is Happening Here?

How does a hovercraft work?

Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the hull, or air cushion, that is slightly above atmospheric pressure. The pressure difference between the higher pressure air below the hull and lower pressure ambient air above it produces lift, which causes the hull to float above the running surface.

What Is Next?

Hovercraft Bowling

Try stacking up plastic cups in a pyramid and have a friend push you into them. Now you’re playing hovercraft bowling!

Materials:

  • 1 4 foot x 4 foot sheet of 1/2 inch plywood
  • 1 heavy duty tarp larger than 4x4
  • 1 leaf blower
  • 1 bucket lid
  • Heavy duty duct tape
  • 1/2 inch long screws
  • Drill
  • Jigsaw
  • Scissors
  • Yard stick
  • String

See More Projects in these topics:

Engineering Fabrication Woodworking

See More Projects from these themes:

Carnival/Theme Park Construction Site The Depot (Airport/Space Station/ Racetrack) The Shop (Makerspace)
Maker Camp
Maker Camp is a do-it-yourself online resource to help leaders like you organize a summer camp that engages children in making. Our goal is to provide you and your campers with the inspiration and the helpful resources, along with many possible projects to fit a wide range of interests and abilities. The idea is to focus on making as a playful, social activity. Maker Camp provides enough support for anyone to get started. Making provides experiences that help children become self-directed learners and good problem-solvers.
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Maker Camp Project Standards

Based on NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards)

CCSS (Common Core State Standards)

The Common Core is a set of high-quality academic standards in mathematics and English language arts/literacy (ELA).

Measurement & Data

  • Grades K-2
    • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.MD.A.1 Describe measurable attributes of objects, such as length or weight. Describe several measurable attributes of a single object.
    • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.MD.A.1 Order three objects by length; compare the lengths of two objects indirectly by using a third object.
    • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.MD.A.2 Express the length of an object as a whole number of length units, by laying multiple copies of a shorter object (the length unit) end to end; understand that the length measurement of an object is the number of same-size length units that span it with no gaps or overlaps.
    • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.MD.A.1 Measure the length of an object by selecting and using appropriate tools such as rulers, yardsticks, meter sticks, and measuring tapes.
    • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.MD.A.2 Measure the length of an object twice, using length units of different lengths for the two measurements; describe how the two measurements relate to the size of the unit chosen.
    • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.MD.A.3 Estimate lengths using units of inches, feet, centimeters, and meters.
    • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.MD.A.4 Measure to determine how much longer one object is than another, expressing the length difference in terms of a standard length unit.
  • Grades 3-5
    • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.MD.B.3 Draw a scaled picture graph and a scaled bar graph to represent a data set with several categories. Solve one- and two-step "how many more" and "how many less" problems using information presented in scaled bar graphs.
    • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.MD.A.1 Know relative sizes of measurement units within one system of units including km, m, cm; kg, g; lb, oz.; l, ml; hr, min, sec. Within a single system of measurement, express measurements in a larger unit in terms of a smaller unit.
    • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.MD.C.5 Recognize angles as geometric shapes that are formed wherever two rays share a common endpoint, and understand concepts of angle measurement.
    • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.MD.A.1 Convert among different-sized standard measurement units within a given measurement system (e.g., convert 5 cm to 0.05 m), and use these conversions in solving multi-step, real world problems.
    • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.MD.C.3 Recognize volume as an attribute of solid figures and understand concepts of volume measurement.

Ratios & Proportional Relationships

  • Middle School
    • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.RP.A.1 Understand the concept of a ratio and use ratio language to describe a ratio relationship between two quantities.
    • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.RP.A.3 Use ratio and rate reasoning to solve real-world and mathematical problems, e.g., by reasoning about tables of equivalent ratios, tape diagrams, double number line diagrams, or equations.
    • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.7.RP.A.1 Compute unit rates associated with ratios of fractions, including ratios of lengths, areas and other quantities measured in like or different units.
    • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.7.RP.A.2 Recognize and represent proportional relationships between quantities.

CCSS (Common Core State Standards)

The Common Core is a set of high-quality academic standards in mathematics and English language arts/literacy (ELA).

Geometry

  • Grades K-2
    • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.G.A.1 Describe objects in the environment using names of shapes, and describe the relative positions of these objects using terms such as above, below, beside, in front of, behind, and next to.
    • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.G.A.2 Correctly name shapes regardless of their orientations or overall size.
    • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.G.A.3 Identify shapes as two-dimensional (lying in a plane, "flat") or three-dimensional ("solid").
    • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.G.B.5 Model shapes in the world by building shapes from components (e.g., sticks and clay balls) and drawing shapes.
    • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.G.B.6 Compose simple shapes to form larger shapes.
    • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.G.A.1 Distinguish between defining attributes (e.g., triangles are closed and three-sided) versus non-defining attributes (e.g., color, orientation, overall size); build and draw shapes to possess defining attributes.
    • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.G.A.2 Compose two-dimensional shapes (rectangles, squares, trapezoids, triangles, half-circles, and quarter-circles) or three-dimensional shapes (cubes, right rectangular prisms, right circular cones, and right circular cylinders) to create a composite shape, and compose new shapes from the composite shape.
  • Grades 3-5
    • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.G.A.3 Recognize a line of symmetry for a two-dimensional figure as a line across the figure such that the figure can be folded along the line into matching parts. Identify line-symmetric figures and draw lines of symmetry.
  • Middle School
    • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.G.A.4 Represent three-dimensional figures using nets made up of rectangles and triangles, and use the nets to find the surface area of these figures. Apply these techniques in the context of solving real-world and mathematical problems.
    • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.7.G.A.1 Solve problems involving scale drawings of geometric figures, including computing actual lengths and areas from a scale drawing and reproducing a scale drawing at a different scale.
    • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.7.G.A.2 Draw (freehand, with ruler and protractor, and with technology) geometric shapes with given conditions. Focus on constructing triangles from three measures of angles or sides, noticing when the conditions determine a unique triangle, more than one triangle, or no triangle.
    • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.7.G.A.3 Describe the two-dimensional figures that result from slicing three-dimensional figures, as in plane sections of right rectangular prisms and right rectangular pyramids.
    • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.8.G.A.1 Verify experimentally the properties of rotations, reflections, and translations.
    • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.8.G.A.3 Describe the effect of dilations, translations, rotations, and reflections on two-dimensional figures using coordinates.
    • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.8.G.A.4 Understand that a two-dimensional figure is similar to another if the second can be obtained from the first by a sequence of rotations, reflections, translations, and dilations; given two similar two-dimensional figures, describe a sequence that exhibits the similarity between them.

NGSS HS.Engineering Design

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are K–12 science content standards.
  • HS-ETS1-1. Analyze a major global challenge to specify qualitative and quantitative criteria and constraints for solutions that account for societal needs and wants.
  • HS-ETS1-2. Design a solution to a complex real-world problem by breaking it down into smaller, more manageable problems that can be solved through engineering.
  • HS-ETS1-3. Evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem based on prioritized criteria and trade-offs that account for a range of constraints, including cost, safety, reliability, and aesthetics as well as possible social, cultural, and environmental impacts.
  • HS-ETS1-4. Use a computer simulation to model the impact of proposed solutions to a complex real-world problem with numerous criteria and constraints on interactions within and between systems relevant to the problem.
For additional information on using content standards with our projects please visit the Maker Camp Playbook.
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