Building your Hovercraft

Preparing the air box walls….

Using a ruler, fold along the creases of both side flaps of the air box wall,

making sure the shiny side of the air box is facing up when folding. The

middle section needs to be folded inwards.

Attaching the air box wall to the air box floor….

Using the paper fasteners, attach one side of the air box wall to the air

box floor, making sure the shiny side of the air box floor is facing

upwards. (TIP: Push the paper fasteners into place, but don’t push the

pins apart yet.)

Folding the air box into shape….

Fold the air box wall around the edge of the air box floor, making sure the middle flap of the wall is folded inwards. Then fold the remaining side round and fix into place with 2 paper fasteners. (Again, don’t push the pins apart yet.)

Attaching the air box to the base….

Attach the air box over the hole in the base of the Hovercraft using the 4

paper fasteners in the air box. Spread the pins to secure into place.

Adding the rudder assembly….

Fold the top two flaps of the air box inwards and attach the rudder

assembly with 2 paper fasteners, spreading the pins underneath to make

it secure.

Folding the rudder assembly….

Fold both legs of the rudder assembly over and fasten at the top and

bottom with a couple of paper fasteners. (Refer to instruction book page

8.)

Finishing the air box….

Turn the hovercraft over and push in the floor of the air box, turn back

over and make sure the flap is touching the rudders.

The air box is complete….

Attaching the cabin….

Holding the cabin so that the shiny side is facing downwards, attach the cabin

to the tray, there are 3 dimpled holes marked where the cabin should be, fix

together with paper fasteners, spreading the pins on the underside.

Attaching the cabin….

Fold the cabin back towards the air box and attached with 3 paper

fasteners on each side, spreading the pins underneath. (Dimples are

marked in the base tray where the pins should go)

Fixing the fan into place….

Mount the fan on to the air box with a paper fastener in each of the 2

flaps, and another in the hole situated on the bottom section of the air

box. Part the pins on the back to secure in place.

Your hovercraft should look something like this….

Preparing the battery box….

Find the battery box and install 4 x AAA batteries into the battery

compartment. Attach the battery box lid and screw closed.

Connecting the fan wires….

Insert the fan electrical connector into the socket on the battery box.

Make sure the on/off switch is in the off position.

Adding the battery box to your Hovercraft….

Attach the battery box with the adhesive ‘hook and loop’ fasteners.

Positioning the battery box is important as the weight can effect it’s

hovering. Position so that the battery box is as central as possible.

The battery box is now in position….

Adding the foam strip….

Start peeling the backing tape from the self-adhesive foam strip and starting from the rear of the hovercraft, carefully stick the foam strip to the outer perimeter of the tray. This will act as a impact-absorbing bumper. Do not let the foam strip overlap the edge of the tray as this could prevent the hovercraft from performing correctly.

Finishing the foam strip….

The foam strip is supplied so that it’s slightly longer than it needs to be,

therefore just cut away any unwanted foam. At this stage you can try

out your hovercraft to make sure it works.

Fitting a skirt to your hovercraft….

Find the black polythene tube, take one end and fold back 30mm, so that it looks like a roll-neck jumper. The polythene tube has a seem down the sides which need to be positioned in the centre. (Note: Do NOT cut any of the polythene tube until you have fixed it onto the base)

Attaching the skirt to your hovercraft….

Turn the hovercraft upside down, be careful not to damage the air box. Position the end of the polythene tube as shown, and fix into place with a paper fastener in the centre of the rear edge of the tray. The paper fastener should go through just the left edge of the polythene tube. (Note: Try to keep the paper fastener as near to the edge of the tube as possible or this could prohibit the skirt from inflating.)

The skirt….

Working carefully not to get any kinks, fix the edge of the polythene tube

to the underside of the tray using a paper fastener in each corner and

then another in the middle of each long side of the tray.

The skirt….

When you get all the way round the tray, fix the right edge of the tube to the

same paper fastener used to start with. Carefully trim the excess tube/skirt

making sure to leave enough to roll back 30mm in the same manner as before.

Finishing the skirt….

The two ends of the skirt should be fixed with the a paper fastener to the dimpled hole in the centre of the air box. Make sure that both ends of the tube are completely open so that the air from the fan can blow into them and inflate the tube.

Your hovercraft is complete….

When you switch on your hovercraft the skirt should inflate. This will help the hovercraft to pass over obstacles. The hovercraft will normally go fastest with out a skirt on smooth surfaces but by adding the skirt your hovercraft will pass over a much wider range of surfaces!

There is a piece of string included with your hovercraft so that you are

able to control it with out having to pick it up.