The 2001 RC Geeks Hovercraft Race!

June 15th, 2001

On June 15th, 2001, the RC Geeks gathered in the back parking lot of Internet Broadcasting Systems (where most of us work) to see if the Hovercrafts that we had built were any good. Four of us brought craft: Tim Foreman (me), Ed Smith, Paul Trandem and Jeremy Swinborne (the originator of the RC Geeks.)

Here are a couple of group shots of the gang:
(as with all other images on this page, click on them for a larger version)

Here are closeups of the four Hovercraft:

	This is Ed Smith's design. Single motor. Single battery. A duct below the motor to fill the skirt and provide lift. Skirt made out of a garbage bag. Very minimal design, and it worked.
	Jeremy Swinbourne's design. Two motors. One battery. Nice carved foam ducting and a nylon skirt. Unfortunately, the skirt design was flawed and tended to fold under the front of the craft under travel.
	Paul Trandem's design. Two motors. Two batteries. A poly-foam base with wood glued to it. A 6 channel radio. A nylon skirt. Paul's 'craft had a couple of flaws: The skirt has the same design flaw as Jeremy's and the glue joints failed between the wood and the foam.
	Tim Foreman's design. Two motors. Two batteries. A ducted fan for propulsion. A nylon skirt. It's also twice as big as all the others!

So, Jeremy set up a road course using one gallon water jugs and had us try to drive our 'craft through it.

Here is Ed Smith's run:

Here is Paul Trandem's run:

Here is Jeremy Swinborne's run:

Here is Tim Foreman's run:

Results: Out of the four 'craft, only two actually made it around the course - Tim's and Ed's. Out of those two, Ed's 'craft took the least amount of time, so it was the winner. (I don't remember the times.)

That's all I feel like putting on this page right now. Come back later.

last updated: 3 September, 2001
URL: http://www.anansi-web.com/~timf/rec/rc/hovercraft/race/race.html