My son is building a small hovercraft for his science project this year, and the plans from
http://rqriley.com/free-hover.html call for 6 to 12 mil vinyl sheet for the skirt. Are they talking plastic sheeting like a drop cloth, tarp, or something else?
This project works in my favor ... it gets me a leaf blower so I can deal with leaves easier next fall.
Thanks in advance.
I would think it would be much tougher than tarp or visqueen. A pond liner would probably be ideal though. It's thick and tough. We started to build a hovercraft while I was in school but it never was completed. It could be a fun project though. The plans we had used a briggs motor and we had to build a prop for it out of mahogany. It was about 8 feet across and was supposed to lift an average sized person. It may be a good thing we never got the prop onto a motor, can you imagine if it were to break up? Yikes
Keith
Pond liners are generally in the 30 mil range, if you go that route buy rubber roll roofing (same thing just alot cheaper). 6 mil plastic is not thick at all.... look in the lawn and garden section of a big box store the plastic will be graded by mil. If you don't find any heavy enough, try a greenhouse supply place. Good luck, sounds fun.
Drop cloth type plastic sheeting (visqueen) is usually polystyrene or polyethylene. These are also generally pretty thin from 2 -3 mils to 9. Pond liners are mostly PVC, which is likely easier to find. Sheet floor covering is also vinyl, often with a backer of some sort. The Lowes/Depot or local hardware store may have something that will work just fine, possibly quite stylish too. I'd error on the heavy end of the scale for your hovercraft skirt, 10 to 12 mils.
Thanks for the responses. Devon's getting geeked about it. Of course, since this is his Science project, I'll have a hard time not helping too much, since it does look kinda cool.
I'm just glad that it doesn't look expensive.
No Stuart, they are talking about Vinyl sheeting. Not polyethelene or tarp type sheeting.
Vinyl is clear, although it doesn't have to be, far tougher than polyethelene or other plastic sheet goods. It will withstand impacts far better than other materials for its thickness and weight. The reason it is specified for this particular use is because it will hold up where the poly or plastic tarp materials will not. Polystyrene is an entirely different product, it is stiff and brittle in thin sheet goods. Think of the most common use for polystyrene in the rigid expanded foam for decorations or floral use.
Think about the clear strips that hang in doorways in industrial locations so that they keep heat, dirt and dust out but allow you to see moving things behind them. Tough stuff although in that application it is 30 -60 mil material.
12 mil is .012 in thickness, the typical plastic tarp material is 4 to 6 mil, or .004 to .006 thick. The heavy duty ground cover that contractors put down is generally 6 mil material. It punctures easily, tears and doesn't withstand impacts well at all. It won't hold up well for a hovercraft or other ground effects use.
This is a link to get the materials you are looking for.
http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=248
You will also find it at upholstery shops in rolls. In lighter weights it is made into see thru covers for furniture. Some of the shops carry the heavier guage material.
Should be priced about $3.35 per yard in approx 54" widths.
Stuart,
My son made one of these for his 5th grade science experiment using thin plastic (in the 6 mil range). It worked just fine on a smooth gym floor with an electric leaf blower. - nothing too rough there to tear it up - it was just showing it could lift and drift easily, though in a parking lot or driveway it wouldnt have laster more than about 5 seconds. For the Mark II version for use on the driveway we used a couple layers of 12 mil, a huge gas leaf blower and lots of duct tape - half the fun for the kids was repairing it after trips drifting down to the street - ended up being more tape than plastic in the end.
John k
Thanks for the heads up. Good to hear that the plans work.
Good to know where to get the vinyl as well. Thanks much to everyone.
Here's just one more idea for you plastic that I saw used on a bimini to close it off from the cold. He made the entire thing and used clear shower curtains for the windows. It seemed fairly resistant to tearing and I'm sure it was cheap. Who knows, you might have enough left overs for your own bimini project
Keith