Hovercraft models

When I started research the various hovercraft models available on the market, I found many manufacturers, and different design approaches. Model hovercraft can suffer the same design problems that affect commercial or leisure hovercraft.

Many model hovercraft tend to resemble older military style hovercraft. Latest hovercraft developments include mini hovercraft that are purchased for leisure or racing activities. Hovercraft models might include hovercraft with bag skirts or segmented skirts - most mini hovercraft have segmented skirts to minimise damage, so that in the event of a tear to the skirt fabric, damage is restricted to just one section, rather than the whole skirt. 

Some mini hovercraft have two engines, or one engine with air split to provide lift and thrust. Hovercraft with 2 engines are heavier and more complicated to control, and the front lift engine is usually exposed to the water spray - waves can stop this lift engine causing the hovercraft to plough in and cartwheel or jettison the passengers forward - ploughing-in also occurs when the nose of a hovercraft is too heavy.

As with real leisure hovercraft, models may find starting on water to require maximum power - on a leisure hovercraft, smaller engine hovercraft versions find it difficult to get started from an on-water start. The problem is due to the pressure wave that all hovercraft create when starting on-water - this pressure wave is known as The Hump, and if insufficient power is available for the passenger weight carried, the hovercraft finds it difficult to get airborne, and just generates a lot of spray - this is potentially dangerous if no other power source can get the hovercraft back to dry land. 

Some hovercraft are so lightweight that they lack durability, and some sink through water ingression - as with leisure hovercraft, model hovercraft have a number of operational problems to overcome.