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<HTML> <BODY BGCOLOR="FFFFFF" TEXT="000000" LINK="0000ff" ALINK="ff0000" VLINK="ff0000"> <HEAD><TITLE> A different skirt arrangement </TITLE></HEAD> <font size="3" face= "arial, sans-serif"> <h3> A Skirt That Resists Plowing-In</h3> <img src="nested-trays-smaller.jpg"><br><br> The instruction manual explains how to attach a skirt to a foam tray, and then nest the tray underneath the hovercraft hull. A problem with this approach is that the skirt will sometimes "plow in" when it encounters an obstacle at speed, and on water, surface tension can drag the skirt down and even under the craft. All hovercraft of all sizes can experience plow-in, but with the GH nested skirt system, the skirt can even tuck underneath the craft, and not come out again, leaving the hovercraft temporarily leaning over to one side. <br><br> One quick solution to plow-in is to move the battery holder back so that the craft rides nose-up, but this slows down the craft, as it causes the tail to drag. Another solution is to try to increase the skirt pressure, by bringing the ends of the skirt tubes closer to the fan. Increasing the skirt pressure will make the craft more resistant to plowing in but it will also be more resistant to obstacles. Also, by bringing the skirt tube ends closer, you'll block more of the air from getting under the craft and creating an air cushion. Both solutions - changing the craft's trim and changing the skirt's pressure - may be worth pursuing, but neither is ideal. <br><br> Here is a better way to stop the skirt from plowing in: <br><br> <img src="anti-plow-trays-smaller.jpg"><br><br> Instead of nesting the skirt tray under the hull of the hovercraft, the skirt tray can be attached so it faces the other way. When the inflated skirt starts to tuck under, the angled sides of the skirt tray will push back against the skirt, and keep it in the correct position. Using this skirt system, both the GH-1 and the GH-2 will work much better on water, and will climb over obstacles without becoming bogged down. <br><br> To try this alternative method, start by attaching the skirt tubing to a foam tray. Attach the skirt tubing to the outside of the tray just as in the instructions so that the skirt will hang down from the craft. (Note that you'll have to start from scratch - there isn't a way to convert from a skirt built to be nested to one intended to face the other way.) <br> <br> Once the skirt tubing is attached to the skirt tray, attach the two trays together. Use bumper tape, or if you've used up your bumber tape, use ordinary tape. <br><br> After the two trays are attached, complete the skirt by attaching the ends of the skirt tubes to the hovercraft itself. <br><br><hr><br> <img src="anti-plow-skirt-GH-1-smaller.jpg" height=250><br><br> For the GH-1, attaching the ends of the skirt tubes to the hovercraft is very simple - the only difference from the nested method is that the skirt tubes will have to reach a bit higher, past the gap between the skirt tray and the hovercraft hull. <br><br><hr><br> <img src="aaP1010002-smaller.jpg" height=250> <img src="aaP1010003.jpg" height=250> <img src="aaP1010004-smaller.jpg" height=250> <img src="antiplow-skirt-GH-2-smaller.jpg" height=250> <br><br>For the GH-2, to attach the ends of the skirt tubes to the hovercraft, you'll want to break off the part of the irregular part of the skirt tray that will interfere with the tubes (as shown above). Once the part is broken away, the skirt attaches to the upper hovercraft hull tray as before. (By the way, have you figured out what this part of the tray does? Try building a skirtless GH-2 with and without the irregularly shaped part of the foam tray, and you'll see the difference right away.)<br><br> This skirt system has two disadvantages over the nested system. The first is that the hovercraft will have less clearance than before -- the skirt tray will extend downward and use up some of the skirt's height. The second disadvantage, as mentioned above, is that the skirt can not be attached and detached nearly as easily as with the nested system. You might decide that these disadvantages are outweighed by the improved performance. <br><br> <br><hr> <hr> <br> To go back to the main page, click here for the <a href="../MainPage.html">Goldstein Hovercraft</a> main page. <br><br> If you do not see a table of contents on the left side of your screen, click here for the <a href="../index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href,'newWindow'); return false;"> Goldstein Hovercraft</a> web site. <hr> © Goldstein Hovercraft, LLC