Stefano's Hovercraft Page

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Stefano's Hovercraft Page

This page will be dedicated to hovercraft related information. These machines have always fascinated me from my early childhood. At age 16 I built an 8ft diameter circular hovercraft powered by a Briggs and Stratton 3.5hp lawnmower engine with my brother Matteo. You might recognize the craft as the Pegasus. The original base plans were obtained through Popular Mechanics magazine and is a design by Robert Q. Riley. We were not satisfied by the "lean to steer" propulsion technique of the standard plans and I designed a thrust propulsion system using a ducted chainsaw motor graciously loaned to me by Dr. Paul Moller. The ducted motor fan was built up from 6 modified nylon 12 x 6 model engine propellers. The vehicle was tremendous fun and a great educational experience. Click on the image below to view a front page newspaper article about the hovercraft that appeared in the Davis Enterprise on Monday, October 19, 1987. Eventually I will update the scan below although it is remarkably good for an image obtained by faxing my computer the article.