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Faster hovercraft?


TransformerRobot

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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

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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 by Greg H.
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