Helpful info

About Center of Gravity

All Terrain Vehicle Performance Chart

Corsair, getting a complete make over

Looking forward to the madien voyage!

There is a lot of work into this Corsair

Help in Repairing Your Hovercraft

This area will suggest some new applications that have been learned from experiences in the field.  They pertain to all makes of hovercraft.  Many of these items are based on other Alaska hovernoughts’ personal experiences as well as our own. There will be some recognized and proven methods, along with new ideas for keeping wear and tear to a minimum, allowing more time to enjoy flying time.

Ask questions, or go back into the archived messages on the most commonly used messageboards for hovercraft, you might get your question answered doing a little research!

The Hovercraft Cruising Club

HoverLovers

Sevtalk

Hovercraft Recreational

Alternative Rec. Hovercraft

Tips/Tricks

In ice operations, its best to use plastic bolts to cut down on skirt wear; the old way was with metal bolts. The nylon wears faster, but not as fast as the fabric and is lighter weight. Add one or two bolts to each fingertip at the wear point; this breaks the friction of the fabric and allows it to glide better, even in low bag operations.

On a full bag, the bolts need to be attached in a shoe-lacing pattern. Plastic or nylon bolts are being replaced now with plastic or nylon screws with a round head, which is less apt to grab grass or rough ice. A flat washer, the same size, on the inside of the finger or bag will not allow the bolt head to snag. Locking nuts for the nylon or plastic are available and should be used.

When operating in freezing temperatures, it is vital to keep the rime ice off and keep it from growing on the skirt or bag.  As with aircraft, if very much is allowed to grow, the airworthiness of the craft will fail, and it will not operate even on its own plane. When traveling across country, snow will accumulate first, in the rear skirt, and then move forward as the craft slows down in a straight line. The operator will begin to notice a performance drop; then, will need to occasionally do several 360's at a comfortable speed in both directions to remove the build up of rime ice.

This same scenario occurs quickly in another situation, i.e., when traversing from water to snow or ice and visa versa. The temperature of each commodity is different and the occurrence of rime ice is immediate. The 360-degree agitation scenario (described above) will need to be performed immediately, and possibly again within minutes after the first sequence. This will stabilize the temperature and the accumulated moisture will evaporate. Only the operator can determine if his craft is operating close to its best performance or is showing a decrease of power.

Snow and/or water spray accumulate on the leading edge of the propeller and the performance of the engine will show a loss in power. It will seem to run as if the choke was on “full” at a full power setting, but the engine will die with just a little throttling back. Ice will need to be removed manually from the multi-wing or propeller. This usually occurs when power settings are too low for extended periods of time.

In the winter, two-cycle engines often experience carb icing and fuel-line freeze up; this occurs even in snowmobiles. The use of de-icer is not recommended for this reason: The anti-freeze base is of ethylene glycol; it has an affect on the engine similar to sliding down a water chute without water.

On the other hand, we, as well as others we know, have been using a diesel-type Heet or de-icer in our snowmobiles in Southeast Alaska, where moisture occurs daily. These products are designed for lubrication of the engine, and have worked well for many years in our snowmobiles.

Parts and Service

Scat Hovercraft - Find the parts by picture you need!
or you can click here for another site to get parts

St Louis Hovercraft - More Scat parts.

Air Commander Hovercraft Inc. - GPL Hovercraft , Scat

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