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Technology|Car Parts, Fiberglass and a Dream: How a Teacher Built a Hovercraft
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/21/technology/diy-hovercraft-alberta-canada.html
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Robert Tymofichuk, a teacher in Alberta, Canada, spent nearly 2,000 hours building an operational hovercraft from salvaged car parts and with no blueprint.
Sept. 21, 2024, 5:40 a.m. ET
On a cold spring day in a small garage in Alberta, Canada, an engine revved up and an improbable machine — fabricated from auto parts, a hand-sewn rubber skirt and an abandoned fiberglass hull — came to life.
A homemade hovercraft began to rise off the ground with a small crew standing by.
The successful liftoff was the culmination of a lifelong fascination of Robert Tymofichuk, 55, who spent about 1,800 hours over a year working on it.
And, to the gratitude of passengers, it comes with heated seats.
“If you’re going through all that hassle, you might as well make yourself comfortable,” Mr. Tymofichuk said. He repurposed the seats from a Volkswagen, so the heating coils were already installed.
Mr. Tymofichuk’s hovercraft now sails above land and water, a bright red gem coasting over the Saskatchewan River. With speeds that can reach around 40 m.p.h. over water — faster on ice — it might be hard to catch the ingenuity in its Frankenstein design.
The cab was cut from a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee; the engine once revved up a 1985 Toyota Celica; and 107 hand-sewn rubber segments, courtesy of Mr. Tymofichuk’s wife, help to direct low-pressure air beneath the craft so that it rises eight inches above the ground.
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