The HULL IS COMPLETE!!! 

    Yep! As far as I can go until I get my engine and drive train fitted. No paint or finish until everything else  is fitted first! I taped the wood hatches  and dash board temporally in place and then weighed the completed hull... Twice... the second time without "help".....  217 lbs.....  By the time it's done I should still be well under 400 lbs complete! Here's some pictures of the completed hull-

    While working on the motor I discovered that I was missing a few critical screws. The screws I needed hold the air cleaner assembly to the carburetor plate. Odd little screws.... 8 of the little suckers.... No problem... The local shop is near by I'll just go get some. Hehehehe.... $4.20....... EACH!!!! Plus I had to wait for a week to get them!!  For those kind of prices they should have been titanium!!

$4.20 screw times 8

    The Viper requires 68 finger skirts of 2 different types. Sometime ago I started checking other hovercraft manufacturer's skirts hoping that something would be close enough fit that I could just buy them,  put them on the Viper, and be done with it.... No such luck! 

    Now I'm in the sewing business. I decided to do not only the skirts, but the seat upholstery too! After getting prices on having the upholstery done, and the skirts sewed I found out that it would cost about the same to just buy a  commercial machine and do it myself...( of course there IS my time involved...) The bonus is I end up with a good machine... There's custom covers  and bimini tops out there just waiting to be made.... 

    I made skirt templates from 1/4" Baltic Birch plywood. The templates are laid on the material and then I use a soapstone "pencil" to trace around the templates. I cut the material with a "Hot Knife" which seals the edges as I cut the material. I'm trying a new material at the suggestion of the supplier (Mauritzon.. in Chicago, Illinois). I was a little skeptical with the material at first, but after sewing a few skirts together it seems to be really nice stuff! We'll have to see how they wear. Worst comes to worst I know someone with a good sewing machine..... 

Skirt material marked up and cut. Skirt templates are shown too!

    After 3 days of cutting skirt parts with a hot knife I ended up with enough parts for 93 skirts! I only need 68 for the craft - The craft uses two types of skirts. Both types are basically the same with exception of drag flaps being added to the 12 skirts at the rear of the craft. At any rate it looks like I'll have a good supply of spares!- Hopefully I won't need to replace any for a while.... Now all I need to do is sew them.

93 sets of skirt parts waiting to be sewed

    While on the subject of skirts I've decided to stray from the plans a bit after testing a new product that was brought to my attention by Mr. Harold Carter. Instead of using  "skirt battens" - which are held in place with 2 sheet metal screws each into the hull- I have decided to use "Poly- Fastener 800". Poly- Fastener is used by the greenhouse industry to attach fabric and plastic materials to the outsides of greenhouses, and is made by Curry Industries in Canada. It comes in two colors- White and Black, and 4 different sizes. Curry Industries  sent me a note and said that sales to the US would be handled by :

Bob Davis

Northern Greenhouse

P.O. Box 1450

Altona, MB,Canada R0G 0B0

Phone: 204 - 327 - 5540

Fax: 204 - 327 - 5527

    OK... Why after manufacturing 70 some odd skirt battens would I change my mind? Well? I don't like the idea of opening an avenue for moisture to enter the sub-structure of the wood by means of 136 screws that hold the skirt battens in place. By their very nature you will eventually be changing skirts, and every time you remove a screw and put it back in the hole gets just a little bit bigger.... Eventually the holes will strip.... UGH! Us "Northerners" have another little problem..... We fly during the winter. I can only imagine the effect of water soaked composite freezing and re-freezing around the screws... UGH times 2.

Plans type "Skirt Batten"

    So what is Poly- Fastener? It's a two part plastic extrusion which consists of a "channel" and an "insert strip". The sides of the channel have two flanges, which the insert strip fits into. The insert strip has beaded edges on the underside. The design of the strip and locks flexible materials into the channel.

Sample of Poly-Fastener 800

Sample with finger skirt material inserted. 

Go To Viper Build Page

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8  10 11 12 13