I know hovercraft struggle to get up hills, but what if they were faster?

 

And if so, how would we be able to make hovercraft faster? Could we build one with jet turbines instead of the traditional gas turbine system?

A hovercraft struggles with hills because of balance not speed, besides why would you want to go any faster than they do now?

There not easy to control and the brakes are a little iffy.

I thought hovercraft racing would be more fun to watch if the craft were faster.

430km/h, both with turbofans and turboprops

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%C3%A9rotrain

on a special track. A bumpy terrain wouldn't be the same game.

 

400km/h makes turboprops an obvious choice, as they're more efficient at this low speed. Commuter aircraft prefer them.

So even one with turbofans couldn't take hills?

Ok, first, a hovercraft with sufficient power will climb hills - they just aren't very good at it, especially with steep hills.

 

See the following video showing a demonstration of a hovercraft climbing hills (the whole thing is only about a minute long)

 

Neoteric Hovercraft Inc, has this to say on the subject¹

 

What slope can a hovercraft climb?
The Hovertrek™ will accommodate a gradient of 1 in 6 (16.7%) [Note: a 45° slope = 100%], standing start, smooth surface, 400 lb (181 kg) payload. It can climb much more easily when the slope is approached at a running start than if standing still. Generally it is easier to ascend than to descend.

 

1: http://neoterichovercraft.com/general_info/questions_and_answers.htm

Okay, but what if I wanted to make my craft go through one of these?

 

Physics will probably say no. Hovercraft don't follow terrain in the same way a car does because of the skirt. If you gave it enough power to actually climb that steep of a hill, it would probably just shoot through the track - or explode on impact.

 

What you have to keep in mind is that a hovercraft interacts with the world around it in a fundamentally different way than a wheeled or tracked vehicle. Even if you could get it to the top of the loop, the downward thrust into the skirt would blow it right off the track.

Edited December 5, 201411 yr by Greg H.

Yeah, I was wondering about that myself. That's why I was thinking of the craft being supported by quantum levitation instead if it was going to race on a Hotwheels-style track.