Adam Savage: Build a Hovercraft With Your Kids

When Jamie Hyneman and I built hovercrafts for Mythbusters, I realized that these floating-on-air vehicles were easy to make, not too expensive, and fun. So I built one with my kids.

Materials:
1 sheet of ¾-inch plywood
(get the cheapest you can find; quality is not an issue)
1 leaf blower (gas or electric)
1 heavy-duty shower curtain
2 rolls of duct tape
1 lid from a gallon paint can
Foam pipe insulation
Assorted screws

Procedure:
Cut a 4-foot-diameter circle from the plywood. Put your leaf blower in the center and figure out where the nozzle ends up on the circle—trace around the nozzle and cut a hole to match so it will fit tightly.

Next make the skirt. Lay your shower curtain down flat and place the plywood circle on top. Fold the shower curtain up and around the edges of the plywood and use a staple gun to secure it all along the perimeter of the circle. Cut off the excess curtain and seal the edge, all the way around, with duct tape. Make it airtight. Don’t skimp.

On the underside of the plywood circle, nail a gallon paint can lid in the center to hold down the shower curtain. Cut a ring of six 2-inch holes in the curtain, all a couple of inches from the lid. The air escaping from the shower curtain “pillow” will be the cushion that puts the hover in your craft.

Next, secure the leaf blower with screws and connect its nozzle to the hole you cut. Use duct tape to hold it in and seal it up. We also stuck pipe insulation, which has its own adhesive, around the edge of the plywood to protect our hovercraft—and innocent bystanders.

Now you’re ready to fire it up. You can screw a chair onto the disc for seating, using wooden risers under the legs if the leaf blower needs more clearance. (That’ll depend on the leaf blower—and chair—you use.) In any case, keep your center of gravity as low as you can—the lack of friction can make the hovercaft slip out from under you quite fast. I know this from experience.