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Plans for the trailer went ahead and, lo and behold, the damn thing actually worked as intended. I didn't get the opportunity to put down outdoor carpeting but we were gentle with the Hurricane...especially after having the fiberglass work done on the hull. In fact, we simply strapped it down on its dolly and wheeled the whole mess onto the trailer and strapped all that down. It made moving much easier but it not necessarily more convenient to work on. Details to follow. Regardless of how one was attached to the other, the Hurricane made its way from my parents home to ours. Yay! I have it here to work on! Boo! It's not an enclosed space and weather is uncooperative! *ugh* |
So, a new hovercrafter in the growing and winter in the blowing made sure exactly nothing got done on the Hurricane. Small procurements were made but nothing incredible. Measurements were taken and patterns were traced but nothing revolutionary performed. For the time the Hurricane was a dead duck. The fact we lived in metro Columbus didn't help because 1) the Hurricane is loud (I mentioned that earlier) and closer neighbours don't always mean better neighbours. Likewise, 2) metro Columbus doesn't have much space and even though the Hurricane was on its dolly, moving the sucker on and off a lip of only a couple inches is not an easy feat.
| Still, one thing did get done (at some point, though don't ask me which year) - the skirt was unfurled as best it could be then butchered. I knew from the initial flight after getting the engine running the skirt was inflexible and full of holes and a situation which would need to be remedied. You can see in the photo the condition it was in even after letting it sit out in the sun to relax a little. It made a champion tarp for however many years it sat on the ground before I got it but it could stand up on its own. It truly had as much movement as I do on a cold February day. | 
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What to do? It wasn't as if I could run to the nearest hovercraft store and buy a premade skirt. Sure, if it was a Scat or Universal I could be in business. The fact that Windcraft was long since gone and whichever previous owner decided to attach the skirt with (seemingly) buckshot didn't help matters. This only left me one thing to do - make a copy of a copy - and hope for the best.
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The seams of the panels were numbered on each side and each panel was given its own letter designation to prevent mix-up upon assembly. I knew the Hurricane was not front-to-back symmetrical but why tempt fate? With some trepidation, the skirt met a sharp, simple slicing machine and was rendered into eight panels. I recall at the time I wondered why so many. I recall now I was a dumbass. The Hurricane is an elongated octagon and to allow air into the cushion, it needed to be the shape of a torus, albeit a bit blocky. The cuts were along the seams but each piece has a curve along the edge to allow the skirt to billow and the hovercraft to levitate and contain the air within. If you're having a hard time visualizing this, take a donut and set it on the table. Understand? If not, take an air compressor and blow down through the center and see what happens. I don't take responsibility if you actually do this, especially if the donut is of the especially tasty jelly-filled variety. |
What next? Ah, yes. To build the skirt. Build the skirt. Build. Hmm. Seems I'd forgotten the material I needed to build the skirt with. (Not actually true but it does make for a better story.) There are many things a skirt can be made out of. Simple, homemade, one-time-use craft have utilized a garbage bag. Others, simple sheet plastic. More, commonplace tarps cut to shape. As I didn't want to have to replace the thing every season, I chose the slightly more expensive, and robust, route of 18 oz vinyl coated polyester. After research, this seemed to be a standard go-to material for hovercraft, combining weight, durability, and cost. I purchased a roll through MyTarp.com, along with a can of cement, and away I went. Well...not really.
| See, this thing called life intervened again and as our future hovercrafter was getting older, it was decided metro Columbus wasn't the best place to be. Too many people too close, too many schools too large, and a crime rate which was only rising all conspired to make us find a different place to live. Again, referencing the Beverly Hillbillies, we loaded up the Hurricane and moved. I'm not going to tell you how long it's been since I last did work on the Hurricane *cough* years *cough* but it did come with us. The sole photo I have of that time makes it appear rather ominous. See for yourself. | 
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Does this mean I've given up on the Hurricane and hovercraft? Far from it. In fact, I've fed my addiction with the addition of another hovercraft which I affectionately call the Bathtub (a link will be posted for its own pages when I get them written). Additionally, I have a search going on eBay for any Hurricane hovercraft which might pop-up. To date I've managed to capture six across the nation: Washington (2008), Connecticut (2009), Iowa (2016), Oregon (2016), Illinois (2018), and Ohio (2018). I may or may not be attempting to procure that last one. Time will tell.
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