I have built a 3' by 4' hovercraft (with rounded corners) out of plywood with a pond liner bag skirt. it it powered by either 2 battery operated leaf blowers or 1 plug in electric leaf blower. I have encountered a problem with both power sources. The hovercraft makes a loud vibrating noise when I stand/sit on it. It sounds like when you vibrate your lips together but much louder. With nobody on the craft there is a very small noise and with somebody on it its much louder. On the bottom there is a rectangular piece of plastic in the middle (16" by 4") positioned so that is 16 inches to every side (a little longer to the corners). There are 6 approx 2" holes around the middle (2 on each long side and 1 on each short side). Any suggestions of how to get rid of the noise? I assume its from not enough holes/bad positioning of the holes but i don't know.

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The first thought is classic skirt bounce which is a characteristic of bag skirts. Solutions are suggested in our publication "Light hovercraft Design" which can be purchased from us see part number 0004. Cost is $40.53.

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I am on a budget so buying a $40 book is a little out of my range. The skirt does seem to bounce/flap/vibrate. Can you tell me any more? Is it due to the holes or what do you think?

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Bouncing skirts is complicated. Suggest you place some weights on strings and hang them over the edge or side of the skirt, this can damp out the oscillations in the Bag. You can also put diaphragms inside the bag.

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