Human Powered Hovercraft :: Steam Boat Willy

news.

Freshwater Opportunities

Forward progress over land seems a lot easier with the new fingers.
We did a few more tests in the street, but after a while we thought that we were ready to test it, with the new fingers, on water.
So, today, Sunday 29th June, Paul and Damien and Geoffrey and Simon and Chris loaded the craft onto the van and we set off for Stoke Newington reservoir.
We are getting quicker at rigging and derigging and we had it all set up, but the wind was gusting in a rather threatening way, and we opted to stay on the bank.
However, Paul was able to make his first static hover. It always good to see someone new becoming airborne just by pedalling.
Let us know if you want to be involved.

Have you seen the latest additions to the Gallery on this site and to the Technical section where we show the weight of the craft and of its various components. By comparison our close namesake Steamboat Willie is 80 feet long with a 16-foot beam and weighs approximately 70000 pounds.

Posted on [29th Jun 2008]

 

Airborne again !

O.K., so its only been three months since we were last hovering. And the new orange fingers that we have added are the same shape as the old plastic ones that they replaced.
So, this afternoon when the new fingers worked just fine, then I suppose it would have been reasonable to say, "Well , so they should, what's the big deal".
But it was a thrill. I, Chris, was first up and I couldn't wait to get out of the craft so that I could see them working from outside.
Margaret Barnes, Simon Ward and myself had nearly finished fitting the skirt back on when we were joined by Etienne Gilfillan.
Etienne helped us put the last few sealing tapes on and then made a movie,
see "Orange Fingers Test " in "Gallery".
Plans now are to finish testing out the various modifications that we have made. This will be done on land and on a North London reservoir. Then in August we will be at the IHPVA World Championships ( see events).

Posted on [14th Jun 2008]

 

Modifications Progress

We can now begin to see the end of the series of repairs and modifications.
A whole new set of fingers have been made and sewn on, same shape as before but made of a tougher material.
We discovered several damaged areas in the panelling of the perimeter frame. This panelling has a weight of 0.006 pounds per square inch, about 1 ounce per square foot or 4 grams per square decimeter or the weight of five sheets of paper. So, considering it gets bashed by waves while helping support a person's weight, it has stood up pretty well. There was one set of three dents which we reckon are the "fingerprints" of three pebbles caused by a rough beach landing. These have now been patched.
Also several other small modifications are underway, including splash-guards to protect the chain and sprockets from spray and waves. ( We had some trouble from corrosion last summer.)
Hopefully we will be re-fitting the bag in a week or two. Then we will be hovering again.

Posted on [25th May 2008]

 

Spring Clean

We are in the process of giving the hovercraft a jolly good spring clean.
The transmission has been completely stripped down. The chains have been soaked in oil. We are cleaning bearings and any moving part. We have tipped quite a lot of sand out of corners where it has lodged.
Also the fingers , the lower decimeter (4 inches) of the skirt, is being completely renewed with a tougher material than before.
We are taking the opportunity of weighing all the components and the ensuing data will soon be up on the technical section of this site.
We are looking forward to having it all back together again and hovering.

Posted on [27th Apr 2008]

 

One World , One Dream, Free Tibet

To bag the Olympics Beijing promised there would be press freedom 'all over China'. The gullible International Olympic Committee believed them but, for many, the outcome was never in doubt. The Olympic press freedoms will never apply in Tibet - unless we continue to take action now.
An atmosphere of repression and censorship continues to surround the media and free-flow of information in China. Local Chinese journalists remain under constant threat. Even the global cyber players caved in. Try googling in China for Taiwan, Tiananmen or Tibet.
The opportunity that the Olympics brings to foreign journalists to interview individuals freely all over China has been denied in Tibet. Again the Tibetans have been betrayed with another promise broken in the full sight of the international community. Why does Beijing want to hide Tibet from the world?
http://www.freetibet.org/campaigns/olympics/

You can help by putting something like this on YOUR site. Beijing can't censor us all. Some of the truth will get through.

Posted on [11th Apr 2008]

 

Climbing Out of the Sea.

We had been waiting for a day which had calm winds. The other requirement
was that enough of us would be free from our other engagements to be able to
operate SBW. Wednesday the 20th of Feb was such a day.
After adding some bottom flaps to the aft fingers, Malcolm, Chris and Simon
took SBW across the road onto the beach. The tide was out and a glorious
stretch of smooth sand was available to hover over on this fine windless
day, with the sea as smooth as glass.
We carried SBW over the pebbles onto the sand with high hopes that now it
would really show what it could do. At last we would really pedal down the
beach, (rather than a slipway), and onto the surface of the water.
(Slipways we can do, see video)
Even though it was February, a cold month in this country, there were a couple of dozen beach-strollers who stopped to watch as we set the pedal powered
hovercraft down pointing boldly out towards the ocean.
How far would we get ?
We didn't even get up off the sand.
Not properly. That craft with those fingers just couldn't cope with wet
sand. Simon as pilot was only just hovering and Malcolm and Chris gave the craft
some assistance tugging it forward. Reluctantly it proceeded onto the water.
When Simon returned back onto the beach, fairly soon, we could see that
most of the fingers had been ripped to shreds.
There are some surfaces that SBW likes, some it can cope with and the
others. Wet sand, we discovered, was one of the others.
However we took the opportunity to test out what would happen if you
stopped pedalling when at sea. This could happen if you ran out of puff, or
if part of the mechanism were to malfunction.
So with the propeller removed, Simon climbed aboard and hovered, and Chris
pushed SBW out onto the water, until with SBW hovering above, Chris was up
to his knees. The Simon stopped pedalling. Water was seen to seep up near
the keel. But the perimeter float kept the craft bouyant as intended. Simon
started pedalling again. To our amazement and delight it went up to hovering
as quickly and easily as at anytime. We didn't believe it. "It can't really
have got any water in the bag", we thought. So we did it again. This time
Malcolm timed us, and it was floating for over a minute. Again, it readily
climbed up out of the water just as before. Chris could see through the fan
inlet that there was still a little water in the bag, but this was soon
expelled through the vents.
We continue to be surprised by what SBW can do and what it can't do.
The day's findings :-
We can climb out of the sea, but we can't climb off wet sand.
Tests and development continue.

Posted on [22nd Feb 2008]

 

Second Passenger, & Tarpaulin tested.

Michael Milburn, seen watching in earlier pictures, had his chance to climb aboard
on Sunday 3rd Feb 2008. Chris found that Michael is appreciably heavier than
Ethan and was just about at his physical limit on a third take-off. We were
helping to make a TV documentary and the producer said "Just one more time".
Chris needed to take a few deep breaths before he could oblige. Michael
stayed steady, and performed well, climbing in and out carefully with help
from his father Ian Milburn. Ethan has to stretch to reach the pilot's shoulders.
The two lads represent the limits of size for a passenger, (on a craft that
was designed for only one).
Even without a passenger, hovering SBW over grass is also hard work. This
is compared with water or a smooth surface. We had been thinking that maybe
pegging a tarpaulin down like a big groundsheet might produce a surface over
which we could hover. We tested this, in quite a strong wind, and found that
the system works. We will now be acquiring a bigger, or several, tarpaulins
ready to give displays at festivals.

Posted on [6th Feb 2008]

 

Automatic Pitch Control development crisis.

Controlling the pitch of the propeller adds to the work-load of the pilot
and we have been considering adding an automatic pitch control system. On
the SBW, the fan revs must not drop below a required minimum to keep the
craft hovering. Any power you produce in excess of this can be used to drive
the propeller. Ideally, you will keep pedalling at the same speed, harder,
but not faster, and definitely not slower. At the moment, this is arranged
by you operating the pitch control with your left-hand. But, if this is made
automatic, then you will be able to just pedal, and if you pedal harder then
pitch will be increased, (by the system), and you will go forward. We
assumed that if the pitch is too high such that effort required from pilot
becomes too high then the revs become low, and the pressure in the bag will
drop, ( and vice-versa). So, we started to design a device that would
measure the pressure in the bag and, through a linkage, pull on the pitch
control cable until the pressure was nominal. We even started to make a
mock-up, (full-size-model), of the linkage mechanism. There would be a
"trim" control that the pilot could use to effectively decide what the
current "nominal" is.
Then Geoffrey, Simon and Chris did some tests on how much the bag-pressure
varies with pedalling rate. The results indicated that the device would
probably not work, at least not as currently envisaged.
Is there anyone out there who can advise us ?
Do you know of an effective, practical way of arranging a
constant-speed-propellor ?
Have you any ideas for a totally different way of doing it ?
Or, maybe, just a simple tweak which would make our current design work ?
Forget those big Sudokus, this is a real problem. One we don't know the
answer to.

Posted on [6th Feb 2008]

 

Sudoku Winner

Kenny Bradley of California has sent us a solution to the 36 by 36 Sudoku.
He thereby becomes the winner.
If anyone else had nearly solved it, send us your solution by 17th Jan, and
we will acknowledge you as a runner-up. Then we will publish the solution.

Posted on [3rd Jan 2008]

 

What else do we do ?

Seeing this site, you may get the impression that we are all complete human
powered hovercraft maniacs with no other interests.
This is far from the truth.
Martin Pfeiffer is currently involved with development work on a vehicle
aimed at cutting pollution and enabling more efficient urban transport.
Simon Ward is the proud owner of a pogofoil. Describable as a hydrofoil
vehicle powered by the vertical oscillation of its occupant or alternatively
as the craziest way of getting across the water yet.
Chris Roper is being consulted on the construction of a novel human powered
aircraft. The aim of the project being to bring this activity within the
reach of those other than athletes and millionaires.
And Ethan George has just returned from Tenerife where he has been with a
bunch of guys kayaking alongside and riding on dolphins.
But, despite these distractions, our relatively routine and mundane
activity of hovering by human leg power alone continues.
On 10th November 2007, we made what we reckon is our final tests with the
new skirt extensions. These included replacing some of the existing fingers
with fingers of a different design. Then we hovered and saw the effect.
Working in a museum, we are on view to the public. On one occasion, a group
of visitors were particularly keen to see our craft hover. We were at the
stage where we had taken off the old finger but not replaced it with the new
one, but we didn't want to disapoint them so we had a go anyway. Simon
managed to get it airborne with one finger missing.
The new design fingers seem to be performing well. So, now we will take the
complete skirt off, and replace them all.

Posted on [12th Nov 2007]

 

Static Thrust 90N ( 20 pounds )

So we thought,"We've carried a passenger, we've been on the sea, what other challenges are there ? Are there any quoted figures by other pedal powered hovercraft that we could try to beat ? ". Then we noticed that hoverfiets claimed a static thrust of 27 Newtons ( 6 pounds ). And we had never even measured ours. Thrust is the force from the propeller pushing you forward. Static thrust is the thrust when you first start, ie when you are static. So, we tied the back of the craft to the front of a spring-balance, and we tied the back of the spring-balance to the wall, and we got in and pedalled. Simon pedalled first while I read the balance. "Just give it a bit of thrust to test the spring-balance system. Not too hard." I said. So, Simon hovered up, then gave the prop a little pitch. The balance read 8 pounds. This is 36 Newtons in continental measure. So we had beaten them without trying, while checking the measuring system. "I don't believe it," said Simon, "you pedal, I'll read the balance." I managed about 12 pounds. Then Simon sat in again, and pedalled his hardest and turned up the pitch on the prop. The thrust averaged 20 pounds (90 Newtons), varying between about 18 and 22.The reading on the spring-balance was not steady, peaking with each pedal stroke. All the tests showed this unsteadiness. Any attempt to get more than this seemed to stall the propeller rather than exhaust the pilot. Simon reported that it felt "as though something was slipping". We discussed this effect and reckon that probably it is the extent of the stalled area on the propeller varying. However, we do not intend to pursue investigation into this, since it will only occur momentarily until you get under way. At any reasonable forward speed, none of the propeller is stalled. Development Continues We have added some pieces to the aft fingers, effectively turning them into jupes.(A finger has a footprint like a "C", see the pictures. A jupe has a footprint like an "O".) This improves things all round, making static hover easier, and helping stability. Seawater problems The bearings of both the sprockets at the base of the pylon near the stern have siezed up since the HoverShow. We think we are so clever, but we should have realised what a splash of seawater would do to them. After making a special extractor, we managed to get them off and get things turning again. We will be adding a protective spray-guard in this area.

Posted on [24th Oct 2007]

 

Report in THE INDEPENDENT Saturday 8th Sept 2007

Page 15 of this UK national shows a striking colour picture by Roger Bamber.
The new finger extensions to the skirt really working properly for the first time,
after our recent adjusments. You can see daylight right through underneath.

Posted on [10th Sep 2007]

 

HoverShow 2007

Chris Roper reports :
We went. We hovered.
During this two-day show, we hovered indoors, we hovered outdoors, we hovered on the sea and we hovered on a paddling pool. We had our allotted pitch in one of the hangars and for most of the time we were giving demonstrations to the show-goers. Every time there was a new lot of people we showed that hovering, by pedal-power alone, is possible. Getting "up on cushion" on SBW is as much a knack as an effort. I would climb in, and say
"Look one pedal stroke to fill the bag with air, then one, two, three four pedal-strokes to be up hovering", talking and pedalling at the same time. Trying to show off how effortless it is. Its about the same effort as climbing a flight of stairs. After I had been doing it all day, I began to feel it in my legs.
PASSENGER
Ethan George, ( See Wednesday's News ) was able to delight the onlookers on four occasions during the show by again climbing aboard and becoming my passenger. This is a tricky operation since SBW is strictly a single-seater. I have to balance the craft and he has to balance himself. It had all been planned very thoroughly with the help of his father, Terry George, one of the show organisers.
TO SEA
On the second day, the conditions of wind and tide seemed fair enough for us to try a sea-trip. This was the first time on water at all with the new fingers, and we did it with crowds watching. We have given ourselves a Mickey Mouse name and we are always ready to be laughed at if anything goes wrong. From the sea-front it looked as if everything went right. Simon launched off the beach, went out onto the Solent, did a turn and hovered back up onto the beach - like hovercraft do. But everything hadn't gone right. They didn`t see that we lost a propeller tip and that many of the fingers got ripped as we beached onto the sharp shingle. So, back to the hangar, and we took the propeller off ready to be shipped to the workshop to be repaired, and Simon quickly did some makeshift patching to the fingers so that we could do some more indoor hovers.
POOL
One of the other features of the Show was a shallow pool for model hovercraft organised by Larry Hodgson. Yes, we hovered on that too.
The visitors to the Show all seemed amazed that one could hover just by pedalling. Not least a one-time pilot of the cross-channel SRN4 craft. We would have liked to give him the opportunity to pedal SBW. As it was, we did everything we had planned, and more. An eventful couple of days.
Watch this site for where you can see us next.
Maybe next years HoverShow, Lee-on-the-Solent.

Posted on [10th Sep 2007]

 

Passenger aboard Steam Boat Willy

From the Daedalus slipway, Ethan George, aged 6, became the first passenger of a human powered hovercraft today. Chris Roper, aged 70, was pilot,(and engine). There is only one seat on SBW, and young Ethan had to perch on the central frame, keep very still and hang onto Chris's shoulders. A couple of days ago when the idea was first mooted and Ethan was being told that he would need to practice balancing on a narrow plank at home, he pointed to the hovercraft and said "I want to practice on that".
This afternnon, at 3pm, Ethan's father, Terry George, helped young Ethan aboard.
Chris pedalled slightly harder than usual and fast enough to lift the two of them. The craft withstood the extra weight and the fan managed to produce enough lift air, and up and away she hovered.
The flight was witnessed by Warwick Jacobs of the Hovercraft Museum Trust.
Chris said later "I nearly decided to cancel the 'service' because of high winds, then I thought 'Let's go for it !'"
Later Warwick himself hovered. ( No, Chris didn't carry Warwick, he had to do his own pedalling ! ).
Watch this site for pictures, soon, of the passenger flight.

Posted on [5th Sep 2007]

 

Malcolm Airborne

More adjusting and testing at Lee on Solent. After some work on the skirt
extension fingers, on Monday, we were honoured to be able give Malcolm
Whapshott, authority on human powered flight, the opportunity to become
airborne under his own leg power in the hovercraft. Malcolm has a different
physique from Alexi for whom the craft was designed, and so the fore and aft
balance was all wrong on his first attempt. The bow lifted but not the stern.
Chris said to Malcolm "You're not the first person to not do it on
your first attempt, but you're not going to be the first to not manage it at
all. Lean forward, and pedal just a little harder." Malcolm did just that
and the craft lifted into a steady hover. One more human hovercraft engine.
Malcolm weighs 86 Kg, is fifty and hasn't cycled for quite a while.
Adjustments and practice continue, preparing for the Show on Sept 8 and 9.

Posted on [28th Aug 2007]

 

Testing Continues

Testing of our hovercraft with the new extended skirt is continuing.
I feel that, for the first time, I can dare to call it an "improved skirt".
The lurking fear was that we might have made it worse.
There was some damage to the fingers after our test on Tuesday when we hovered over a gravel surface in a gusty wind. These are being repaired. On Saturday 25th Aug we hope to have it outside again, but we will keep off the gravel.
The Hovercraft Show is on Sept 8th and 9th and we want it to be in peak condition to put on a good demonstration.

Posted on [23rd Aug 2007]

 

Fingers move forward

We adjusted the vents, and did one or two other adjustments, then tested it
inside the hangar. It seemed to ride better, and it was easier to pedal.
Josh pedalled off the ground with it, the first time for him.
We think we have the vents right now.
So we put the propeller on and took it outside. There was a lot of wind blowing off the sea, but we went ahead anyway.
We found it a much livelier beast than before. It moves forward and can be manoeuvered even in those gusty conditions. Steering and even some reverse motion all Ok.

Posted on [22nd Aug 2007]

 

Fingers Test

On 5th August 2007, we first tested the craft with fingers. We were delighted that it lifted and the fingers filled out well to the expected shape. Pilots found it different and we are still getting used to it. Don't know quite why yet. Same old story. Is it me or is it it ?

We will try adjusting the vents to the fingers, and see what difference that makes to how it hovers.

Watch video of the fingers test here...

Posted on [5th Aug 2007]