June 2013 by 'Sarah Gill

HOVERCRAFT Light

The official magazine of the

Hovercraft Club of Great Britain www.hovercraft.org.uk

June 2013

The Hov Pod is a 3-seat factory assembled personal leisure cruising hovercraft No kits available, sorry. Commercial craft available.

For further details Web-site www.hovpod.com Email sales@hovpod.com

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inside

June 13

Well it would be extremely difficult for me to start my editorial piece without mentioning the Hackett Lakes meeting. As its close to my heart being a part of Keith Rhodes organising Team, a Midlands Branch member and a good old Nottingham boy, I have to say hand on heart say I’m proud to have helped out and proud to have raced the event. Speaking with Keith it appears the event has been a resounding success, the vision he had some years back when he first contacted David Hackett and asked the un-ask-able question, “can we race hovercraft on your lake David?” At this point we should pay tribute to David Hackett and his family for having us on his land and property, which I may add we have left as we found it, to those attended I doth my helmet with thanks! My somewhat dodgy math calculated 80 craft in the pits, which is a fantastic result, with congratulations to everyone for making the effort to come to ‘our patch’. I think a special and huge thanks should go out to the European Teams and drivers for joining us…. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts! And as Keith mentioned on Sunday evening, you are all welcome same time same place next year, and we’ll do it all again!!!!! Spread the word!!!! Yes he is my Father in-law and I’m biased, but Keith does a majority of the organising and arranging on his lonesome, not due to the lack of helpers. Keith takes the burden on his shoulders and makes it happen for you, for us… this isn’t done for reward or credence but for the love of it, people like Keith and the arrangers of the other National meetings shouldn’t be taken for granted. A high

05 Chairman’s Desk The latest update from our chairman

08 Through my eyes Darren Clarke

The racing calendar moves to Cholmondely Castle, and the Pageant of Power. A lot of prise for this goes to the tenacity and work of Tony Broad for never giving up!!! We have a prime position on the Mere and this is fantastic opportunity to display our talents to a huge petrol head audience. Reading between the lines some 70,000 persons visited last year. This is great event for us to try and attract new members. Please remember, if the general public approach you, we are all salespersons for the HCGB and hovercraft, team do your best!!! The season then heads to the familiar and friendly territory of Claydon House. One of the season highlights for club members, where the Chiltons Branch, and Lord Verney and family

10 Wanted Driver for F3

04 Diary It’s a date

06 Race Report Hacketts Lake

percentage of club members turn up race and go home, to make these events work and run take a lot of effort and organisation, always with an eye on finance. These nameless faces that never broadcast their names or contributions for reward or gain deserve our wholehearted thanks. At this point I will name names, we the Midlands Branch have a great bunch of people, lead by Daniel Turnbull, Lee Willars, Chris Daly and Keith, ably supported by Catherine Lucas, Rebecca Taylor, Carl Smith, Andy Folland, Ray Folland… if I’ve missed you I apologise, but your assistances is well received and greatly appreciated. The fact of the matter is that all the other active branches arranging race meetings, hoverins, and cruises have the same hardworking individuals working in the same vein as we in the Midlands are, my thanks is extended to you all!!

Hello ECH 2013 Club Anjou Aéroglisseurs 11 You can race this Daniel Turnbull Sale Razor Racing

welcome us. I will now apologise to Alison Wallace for missing the advert for this event in last month’s magazine, sorry Alison!! The theme for the Saturday night party is the letter ‘P’!!! So Go forth and organise your ‘P’ based costumes now people!! Whilst on corrections and making things right, Jos Vanderhoven contacted me to have his name corrected from last months issue. I think Russ Pullen was still on a high from belting around in the GSXR600 when naming the exBelgium F1 GP race driver Jos Verstappen, instead of own Jos. A wrong is ‘righted’!!! We are still on the lookout for race meeting reporters to come forward and give their own take on the weekends events. You can use your own creative style, and talents and let the juices flow, but keep it clean, and printable please. However if we can’t find that someone, we are happy to keep the theme going where you can give an overview of your weekend in a few sentences, if enough members can scribble an email, a Forum or FB message or whatever we can piece these threads together and make an interesting feature out of it!! Come on members help us out and join in!!!! And on that note, I’ve got some television to watch before packing up and making the trip up to Cholmondley on Thursday to help the Northwest Branch set up for the weekend…. the TV and cider beckons! Enjoy the read!! D&S

12 Round Four Claydon House

18 Prudomat 2012 Conrad Beale

13 Party time Claydon House

19 MHA Model of the Month

14 7% Peter Symes-Thompson

20 Merchandise Jo Discoll

16 Forty years ago Granville Spedding

21 Hovercraft for sale www.hovercraft.org.uk

Cover Pic: Run away Craft Photo taken by: Sarah Gill www.hovercraft.org.uk

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Diary 2013 JUNE 15-16

AUGUST 17-24

JUNE 29-30

AUGUST 24-26

JULY 13-14

AUGUST 31-1

JULY 20-21

SEPTEMBER 7-8

JULY 26-5

SEPTEMBER 21-22

JULY 27-28

OCTOBER 5-6

National Race Meeting Cholmondeley Castle, Malpas www.hovercraft.org.uk

North West Highland Cruise Lochcarron, Isle of Skye www.hovercraft.org.uk

Cruise Morecombe Bay www.hovercraft.org.uk

National Race Meeting Gang Warily, Fawley www.hovercraft.org.uk

Cruise TBA www.hovercraft.org.uk

EHF Race Meeting Flottsboro, Sweden www.hovercraft.org.uk

National Race Meeting Claydon, Aylesbury www.hovercraft.org.uk

National Race Meeting Rother Valley, Sheffield www.hovercraft.org.uk

Cruise Irish Raid www.hovercraft.org.uk

National Race Meeting Towcester Racecourse www.hovercraft.org.uk

EHF Race Meeting Prudhomat, France www.hovercraft.org.uk

Possible Race Meeting TBA www.hovercraft.org.uk

AUGUST 5-11

Proposed Internationl Championship Antalya/Turkey - Europe www.hovercraft.org.uk

Whilst every attempt is made to keep calender items up to date, some calender items may alter after print or the Editor is not made aware of changes-please check relevant UK or European websites for most up to date calenders. If you know of any changes or updates, or wish an event to be listed, then please contact the Editor at magazine@hovercraft.org.uk

LightHovercraft Published by The hovercraft Club of Great Britain Ltd www.hovercraft.org.uk Editors Darren Clarke Sarah Gill

Advertising Rates Issues 1 3 Size 1/4 pg £9 £26 1/2 pg £17 £49 Full pg £33 £95

Distribution Roger Allman Tel: 07765 303755 Contributions Last date for contributions is the a month. LightHovercraft 04

Printed by ADH printing 2 Boyne Rise Kingsworthy Winchester Hants SO23 7RE

20th of

12 £95 £184 £357

Contact the Editor for details at magazine@hovercraft.org.uk

Small adverts are free to HCGB members and run for three issues unless reqested otherwise. The opinions expressed in any item or article in this magazine are those of the contributor. They do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions or policies of the Hovercraft Club of Great Britain Ltd. The entire contents of Light Hovercraft are copyright and permission to reproduce any part must be sought from the Editor. While we make every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information in this publication, we do not accept any responsibility for any inaccuracy.

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The Chairman’s Desk

Chapter

Chapter Twenty-four, enterprising Returning from a fantastic weekend at Cholmondley Castle, I look back and thank Tony Broad for his effort and enterprise in negotiating his way through a difficult maze and giving the club a great event. I believe there were many times, which the members never knew about, where this round of the National Championships could have been cancelled. Please, Tony, can you arrange such excellent catering for all the other race meetings? Robin (he presented the prizes) was blown away by our club. He praised the family atmosphere, the friendliness, the professionalism and flexibility as well as the amazing driving feats over the weekend. Devon is rapidly becoming the county to build hovercraft. Jim Waddell at Cullompton Community College is hosting a meeting of five other teachers from Devon schools who have shown an interest in hovercraft builds. I would encourage members in the South West to contact Jim and support him in these projects. Bicton College have already indicated that they would offer the use of their grounds for a race venue and it would be ideal to hold a hover-in there later this year to iron out the details. Martin, a scout leader near Hornchurch had contacted Russ Pullen about hovercraft building. Russ suggested that their scout group might be an ideal recipient of one of the seven free hulls from the club so that they might build a craft. Once their scout troop are Group members of the HCGB, Martin will collect a hull from Jake’s Place. Duncan, the Scout District Commissioner at Ashby De la Zouch in Leicestershire, was really impressed when I taught the local pack to fly a craft on the rugby pitch. We had a great discussion about hovercraft and it turns out that they had a very old BBV with a Rotax engine in a storage shed. Dave Allery, scout leader, will take the idea of a hovercraft youth team to their AGM at the end of the month. If you know of a group who would be ideal recipients of a free hull, please ask them to contact me. At the end of July an intrepid few of us will set off for ten days of fun and hovercraft flying along some of the most picturesque settings. For the fifth consecutive year I will be going to Ireland to meet up with Philip Blennerhasset and enjoy some 800 km of really great cruising territory. Each year we come back with more tales. Last year, with Jake Cooper at the controls we jumped up and down the weir at Athlone. He gave a local farmer a trip around an island while I had to babysit the farmer’s Rottweiler. We were made lifelong friends with a gypsy woman after the police very politely asked us not to fly the hovercraft on the road. She said that they always had trouble with the law as well. If anyone wants to come along with a craft, there is still room for another craft. Morecombe Bay is the great setting for the next UK cruise event. It is a whole weekend that has been set up by Russ Pullen. Much as I would like to go, I have other hovercraft duties to attend to. Please can any interested members contact Russ for details and also write an article for the next magazine. Sarah Gill and Darren Clarke create each month a wonderful snapshot of our club’s activities. They rely on us, the members, to send in reports and written contributions. Please can you supply these? Between now and the end of September, I only have one weekend that is not occupied with hovercraft because Diane and I are on holiday. Diane may not have the same level of enthusiasm for hovercraft but I thank her for her patience and understanding. If you wish to discuss anything, my contact details are at the back of the magazine. Chris

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The hell support.

RO MA

Marshal

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the hardest race job the

I had a blast !! Thanks all

and see you soon.

Wouter l medication

Ps I’m back on my norma

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as ng in Juniors w ci ra e th , n ai ag Once I've ul. I don't think extremely eventf e 'mishaps' in on y an m so en ever se cing! my experience ra l al in d en k ee w s was h the European The racing wit gh and gave tou n fu ly al ci espe the Monday we had I competition. On cident, which in ' ft ra C ay 'Runaw laugh ite a few people u q e ad m k in th ). One grid marshalls (especially the f the kend on and of ee w st be e th of a long time course I've had in Christian Broad

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OUND TWO AY 25-27 Hackett Lake This was my first visit to Hackettâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lake so I was not sure what sort of course it was. Having now seen it I knew it would be a good weekend and the combined European Championships too made for lots of craft on site. What was interesting from a non-racer point of view was the different types of craft the Europeanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s seemed to favour. This included a more pointed bow whereas the UK craft seemed to be more curved at the front. The view from the start grid was quite a steep hill and a quite a drop so I did not envy the drivers of that, as for the actual course it was mainly water- based with the DEATH WALL a very tight corner including a short distance of land and then back to water. This tested a few of the younger drivers and made for great viewing. I spent Saturday and Sunday watching and trying to take pictures of the craft. On Monday I was asked to fill in to man a camera for the live filming of the racing. I was a bit nervous about messing it up but I was assured what I got would be better than nothing. I was given some lessons and signed up to make it official. In the first race there were only a few craft to film so this was ideal practice but later on there were more and more craft getting quicker so it was a real challenge trying to pan and follow the craft, especially the F1. The other challenge was trying not to kick the tripod with my boots and I was following the craft but I was given clear instructions on what to film and I was reassured that what I was doing was good. Once relieved of my post I went back to watch the rest of the racing which included a runaway hovercraft and more brilliant racing. All in all I had a great weekend; more sun cream is required next time though! I was very impressed with the organisation of the meeting and the marshals and everyone else that did their bit. As for the racers I have a lot of respect for them all. I have only tried hovering in a simple cyclone, it was loads of fun but nowhere near the speeds those guys do. So hats off to you all! Tim

the last race in FS at hackets Had that last chat with Ricky just before the race, quote "I'm going to take I steady dad in this last race just out for a cruise" I thought great the wind was blowing really strong now and racing had been very serious , for the last race I could relax, the crafts lined up, Ricky in pole and Jamie hot on his heels in second, I confidently chatted to people " Ricky was taking it easy as he had the points he needed no problem, the 2 minute board was up and engines where warming up, them the 1 minute board was shown, the revs begin to build with all the crafts, I felt quite calm as As ricky said he wasn't going to push it, the flag was raised and there off, a great site as they all get away the dash to the first corner, ricky and Jamie go off like scaled cats , so I'm thinking back to our little chat , wheres taking it easy gone, I know, straight out the window , he just can't help him self, a racer at hart, Jamie was pushing so hard and ricky knows he can't give an inch, battle to the end and on the last corner heading for the small land section ricky pushing way to hard, a little gust of wind puts hike into the edges under the branches of a tree, I'm sure he hit a branch as his head when back, Ricky recovers but not in time Jamie's there waiting to steal the win, my son safely back in the pits, father son chat " what happened to taking it steady them " with Ricky's cheaky little grin and says " just sort of happened could help my self" . What a fantastical week end of racing and especially being joined with all our friends from across the pond well done all drivers.

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I spent most of the Hackett's lake week end in race control....in fact I didn't get a bre ak on Sunday at all...t hings did not run en tirely smoothly, there were a few comp uter problems, to make sure race control iss ues didn't hold the racing up we decided to ed it and sort stuff durin g the break (hence why Louise Beale and I didn't get one) Than k you to Claire Keates for doing a bugger van run, so that we would be refuelled and ready for the second session ....On Monday I ac tually watched 2 whole rac es...and very good they were too....I was ho wever lucky enough to be standing in the pu blic area watching wh en Christian Broad's cra ft decided to get a he ad start in the race by itself...it even seem ed to know where to go...v ery amusing... overa ll I had a fantastic week end..great hospitality in the French tent on Saturday evening, with Denis Ragot apolo gising for about the 100th time that day for an earlier problem wh ich had occurred durin g the morning with lots of red wine....and I won the Official of the weekend trophy....w oohoo!!!! Catherine

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Hackett Lakes 2013 through my eyes ...

The ‘excitement’ builds…. Until three years ago, I was one of those club members whom rocked up on Friday night, chucked the craft off the trailer, moaned waiting for a Scrutineer to get to our pitch, banged some fuel in raced, repaired, waited for beer o’clock then promptly socialised. However as Team Nationwide (well Keith… lol!!) had grander plans of bringing hovercraft racing back to Nottingham, last seen at Colwick Park some twenty years previous (Hhhmmmm…. Colwick Park that is even closer to home than Hackett Lakes, and we could literally jump in the craft, hover across the A612 and we would be there!!) the ‘janitor’ role we had adopted began to change. Keith had been looking out for potential sites and identifying landowners whom could be ‘gently persuaded’ into letting us use their land for quite a few years. With the full support and backing of the ever hard

working Midlands Branch, 2011 saw the inaugural trip to Hackett Lakes, 2012 then saw the ambitious plan of The Big Lake, National, European and Endurance events somewhat ‘dented’ by the appalling weather, followed by a second trip to Hackett Lakes. Being a regular attendee of the Midlands Branch meetings, the Branch have been brilliant in the support, whilst also bearing in mind we had, in 2011, Jakes Place and Rother Valley, and Rother Valley again in 2012 and 2013. So a lot was being asked, to which the few own, and other, branch members responded valiantly. As planned the setting up of Hackett Lake 2013, was planned to commence in earnest at 10.00am on Friday morning, in the driving wind and rain. Not a good omen, but our ‘friends’ from the BBC weather department gave us reasons to be positive for Saturday, however this was Friday. On setting off from home on Friday morning, some 5miles from the site, the car informed me the outside temperature was 12’C, on arriving it had dropped to the dizzy heights of 7’C. Caravan unhooked and a warm brew in hand, my eldest son Charlie (on yet another inset day!!!) decided he was staying in the RV as it was too cold! Cheers son!! However a high priority first mission came to the fore that was to rescue the awning on the RV, which had decided to unravel itself in the high wind!! In fact it took a team effort of Keith Rhodes, Chris Daly, Daniel Turnbull and myself to grab and control the giant awning shaped windsock!!! Two ratchet straps later the awning was saved, and course erection could commence!! With Dan at the helm the team were briefed and worked commenced at the Wall of Death!! The team consisted of Dan T, Chris Daly, Catherine Lucas, Ricky Goosey, Jess Lucas, Gill Crane, Andy Collins and myself, with greatly appreciated assistance from nonmidlands branch members Roger Morton and Bernie Hook. Everyone had judged the weather well, with big coats, hats and gloves, with the exception of Bernie, whom must have missed the forecast and was fully kitted out in designer trainers, skinny jeans, a tee shirt and a lightweight summer coat. After around an hour of knocking

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posts in, including many references to Sam Tudor’s previous attempts to single-handedly modify and adjust the catch netting in previous seasons (sorry Sam), Dan ordered Bernie back to his camper, as Bernie was now in danger of getting pneumonia!!!! The post thumping and net erecting carried on in the wind and rain, however a problem was beginning to arise. Now, this problem has been discussed at the previous 18 months worth of Midland Branch meetings, the olde chestnut which is the wooden post saga!!! Yep the redesigned course required more posts. This subject has to be the most talked about subject at our meetings, and at last it came back to haunt us! However, with Jake Cooper only an hour away, Chris made the call and reinforcements were summoned!!! As lunchtime beckoned, and Jake was on route we broke for lunch, after firstly moving Race Control numerous times, knowing that it would still be in the wrong place!!! Lunch came and went, and Jake arrived, a little like Vincent Tracy in Thunderbird 2, well Jake in his MPV complete with horsebox!! However the horsebox was like Thunderbird 2, timber posts as requested and a Quad! With the weather still playing its part, and the team starting to feel a little weary we began again. Mention has to be paid to the posts Jake had bought with him, some of these appeared to have been bourn from a californian red wood, and were quite substantial to say the least!!! Ricky and Jess departed the team to check if Bernie was still alive but reinforcements arrived in the shape of Sophie and Natalie Kemp. As we closed in on finishing the start grid, it would be rude not to mention the contribution of the sisters Kemp, when it came to knocking the steel stakes into the ground. I have never seen such brutality with a lump hammer (sarcasm is the lowest form of wit). Seriously the girls mucked in with everyone else, but if they were left to put the stakes in we would still be there now!!! Note for the future ladies “GIVE IT SOME STICK”!! ;-) With the end in sight, and some carefully positioned signs, the course, pits and paddock were complete, and for good measure we moved Race Control once more for good luck, then the team called it a day!!! During the afternoon and evening a steady train of competitors, officials and club members began to fill the paddock and pits. Keith and Andy Hook had spent the afternoon arranging the bouys in the lake, so we were all good to go! Friday night saw the steady flow of traffic and alcohol continue, with the Logistics Division of Team Nationwide contacting the late arrivals. Thanks goes out to those whom had taken the time and effort to contact us to inform of there potential late arrival, ensuring everyone got in before the gates were finally locked! Around midnight, a somewhat wind swept, tired and drunk team settled down for bed!!! We awoke early Saturday with baby Dylan informing us it was 6.30am and time to get up. Against the odds the forecasters were right, no rain, no wind, was it a cruel dream? Was it the Tiger beer and white wine from Friday eve taunting my senses….? NO THE SUN WAS OUT! As we had spent most of Friday sorting the course we had yet to unload the worlds www.hovercraft.org.uk

The sisters Kemp hard at it!!! solo, fortunately the ‘ghost’ craft decided to hang a right off the start line and head for the Wall of Death, finally coming to a halt in a reed bed. It can’t only be me that has watched the video footage on Facebook in hysterics!! On the completion of the rerun, the task of dismantling the course began. Watching so many club members pitch in to help erases the memory of standing in the driving wind and rain some 72 hours previous. Once again, organised by Dan the dismantling and collection of the course was undertaken with speed, but in an orderly fashion. I think the course, which had taken so long to build, was disassembled and packed away in around an hour, all neat and ready for the Northwest Branch at Cholomondley Castle. The bouys were fetched and the once proud racing course returned to a tranquil and quiet haven for wildlife once again. Even the ducks came back out and I’m certain they were waving us a fond farewell and good-bye!!!

largest trailer. Saturday saw Team Nationwide slowly but surely break all four hovercrafts. Me, Damian and Keith had arrived good to go, Tristan was finishing his late Friday and early Saturday, but by mid afternoon, everything was either in bits, broken or binned! With half an eye on the running of the event, the other half on racing and the other half on kids and dogs, we found (as others do) time was against us! However Keith’s event was finished in the blink of an eye in first practise in a water collision with Les Bran, just off the start line. At this point I will have mention that someone informed me that Christian Broads pilot-less craft went further than Keith did!!! Tristan’s teething problems with Raider F1 continued, with lift engine problems, and Damian had an unfortunate coming together with Gregory Lellmonde, again at the start, ripping the underside of Evo 2 to shreds! As for me, a small spec of dirt in the main jet of the front carburettor (thanks to Jonathon Spedding for the help!!) and some magically self-moving fan blades, that was a perfectly good Saturday ruined! The BBQ was lit and the beers opened and it was time to relax and to forget about a thoroughly awful day. Between trying to fix everything and get back out on track on Saturday, Charlie and I walked the pits and counted 80 craft in total, which was a truly great sight to behold, with the pits swelling to bursting point! Sunday arrived we started again, well Tris and me did! Damo spent the day fibre glassing, whilst demolishing a crate of beer. And Keith had calmed his frustrations of Saturday and was zipping around on the quad checking all was good with the event. The crowd on Saturday wasn’t too bad, but Sunday was more impressive, the sun again joined us and off we went again. Between constantly refitting skirts due to a dodgy batch of cable ties and refilling the toilets with loo roll the day disappeared in a flash. By the end of the day, Damo had the Evo 2 just about back together, Tris had a hit and miss day again, but we were beginning to see the full potential of his winter efforts with the Raider F1, and I was just happy to be clinging onto the handle bars of the Venom, and not getting wet!!! The weather dictated a BBQ was again on the cards. A couple of things I must mention, on the evenings of Saturday and Sunday, the entertainment was provided by the www.hovercraft.org.uk

‘big kids’. Jake Cooper and Clive Mason. Jake on his jet ski and Clive with his Paramotor. Jake and Clive have more big boys toys than you can wave a stick at. Charlie and Keris, along with Keith, distributed the medals to the worthy

Clive ‘Crazy’ Mason pretending to be a Red Arrow!! Hours of fun were had with Jake towing various club members around the lake on the kneeboard, the canoe or just blindly holding on to the tow cable (well, ratchet strap!!!). The weather makes these evening more memorable! The other highlight on Saturday was Gaynor Goosey and Keith going for an evening swim in the lake! We were banned from taking photos of this event, (even though Catherine Lucas does have one, but we value our lives, plus Gaynor makes my skirts ) but again just another fun memory we will take away with us. Sunday night also saw a vast majority of our European family depart, and make the dash for the ferry and Eurostar. I’m certain everyone will join me in thanking them for taking the time and effort and of joining us in little old Nottingham.

It was a lovely tribute by Dan to present Keith and Kristina a bottle of wine and a box of chocolate, which were fully deserved. But I can for one say, Keith and Kristina take greater pleasure in seeing so many enjoy the event. I was the second to last to leave on Monday night, the campsite and pits were left as they were found, and whole place just seemed too empty and too quiet without you boys and girls. I dragged the caravan home, shattered, broken and achey, but happy and proud in the thought I’d done my little bit to help out my family… well families, obviously Team Rhodes, Team Nationwide, and the family which are the HCGB and its members. Without you these things just wouldn’t work or happen.

Hey maybe, just maybe, same time same place next year… any takers? The words and views of Darren Clarke with photos (kindly borrowed and Stolen) from; Enrico Badelt, Christian Broad, Catherine Lucas, Team Nationwide Fire Sprinklers

Monday arrives, with that feeling of dread, even though it’s another day of racing, the packing up and going home spectre looms large. The racing fields had thinned a little, with the European drivers leaving, but we still showed a healthy number of British drivers. Another day, and another healthy dose of general public, backed by some competitive racing in all formulae, made a little more difficult/fun with the increase in wind speed, which always makes the fast circuit a touch move demanding! The day finished with a rerun of the junior race, which was highlighted by the ‘run away craft’ of Christian Broad. A stuck throttle saw the blue and black Venom disappear off the line – without Christian, hell bent on going LightHovercraft 09

Driver for F3

Wanted

Having built a new craft last year with the intention of lending it out to new racers on a weekend by weekend basis (see separate ad in the magazine), the plan was to retire the original ’Little Scrapper’ in 2012. However, one of our new members who first got a taste for racing in the new scrapper ended up taking the original away to have a play with. Justin has done fantastic job of recommissioning the old warhorse, treating the engine to a top end rebuild and the hull to a thorough going over and re-spray and it’s now too good to pension off. This year Justin has upgraded to an F2 but did most of his Novice races in Scrapper 1, and Sam Tudor used it in the Opens at Fawley and Claydon. Whilst it’s not super fast, it has proven reliable and a good machine to learn the varied skills involved in driving and running a race hovercraft over more than just the one weekend. As such we have decided to make it available on a semi-permanent loan to any new member(s) who would like to use it for a whole, or large part of a race season. The craft is a TZR250 powered Eagle, and comes with its own trailer and kit of spares. It’s heavy but stable (maybe too heavy for a younger Junior to hustle), but as proven by Justin, it would make a reasonable craft with which new racers can cut their teeth before making the move into whichever formula you then choose. The only condition is that you are primarily responsible for the upkeep of the craft for the loan period (developing yet further useful skills) but plentiful support and advice are of course available from within the club. Any interested parties should contact Dan Turnbull on 01332 700658

For your information our Member Country Delegates are: Australia (2) Austria (1) Belgium (2) Canada (2) Denmark (1) France (2) Germany (2) Great Britain (2) Indonesia (1) Ireland (2) Italy (2) Japan (1) Japan (1) Lebanon (1) Mauritius (1) Netherlands (2) Norway (1) Poland (2) J Portugal (1) Slovakia (2) Slovenia (0) Turkey (0) South Africa (1) Sweden (2) USA (2)

Peter Streader Andrew Stelzhammer Jos Vanderhoven Bob Rennick Uffe Andersen Denis Ragot Michael Rausch Chris Barlow Soegiarto Soejatono David Ryan Michele Scanavino Kazutoyo Matsuda Japan Hovercraft Houssam Chamseddine Siegi Scherrer Christel Martens Ornulf Ostbye akub Furmanski Mario Gonzaga Ribeira Jaroslav Balaz Alex Muha Tayfun Sert Francois Malan Magnus Ivanoff Kent Gano

peter.streader@thomson.net andrew.stelzhammer@gmx.at jos.vanderhoven@gmail.com bob.rennick@gmail.com uffeandersen@hovercraftclub.dk rpm@wanadoo.fr rausch@luftkissen.de chrisbarlow@vfast.co.uk soejatono@yahoo.com hoverireland@yahoo.ie mikiscanavino@libero.it matsuda7@mb.infoweb.ne.jp Ass. jhover@hovercraft.or.jp calaw@cyberia.net.lb hovercraft@intnet.mu martens.hovercraft.nl@wxs.nl hovercraftunion@bluezone.no biuro@pudoszkowce.pl fpm@fpmmotonautica.org info@vznasadla.com info@hovercraft-club.si tayfun@tic.at malan1968@gmail.com magnus@hovercraft.se kentgano@bellsouth.net

(*) number of votes each country has. Please inform our Secretary, Christel Martens, if your country has made any changes. Franciscusstraat 41 6681 VP Bemmel The Netherlands Tel: +31 481-450471 worldhovercraftfederation@planet.nl Hello! Club Anjou together with the Festival Committee of Grez-Neuville will organize the second round of the EHC 2013 on the 8th and 9th June. Grez-Neuville is near Le Lion d'Angers (the home of the Club Anjou). This event will take place as part of the Grez-Neuville Town Festival with fireworks on the Saturday evening. The course, the paddock and the camp site will be similar to the previous races, but this time, we've focused on improving the general organization in order to better meet the drivers', supporters' and spectators' needs. Therefore, we hope to welcome as many drivers as possible. Please, do not hesitate to pass on these infomation to any person who may be interested. Additional Information: - Registration: http://grez2013.anjou-aeroglisseur.com/registration.php Sign-up deadline: 20th, May 2013 - Location: http://grez2013.anjou-aeroglisseur.com/localisation.php - Accommodation : http://grez2013.anjou-aeroglisseur.com/hebergement.php - Nearest shops: Restaurant, bar and sandwiches available on the spot. Shops and petrol station in an area of a few km (at Le Lion d’Angers). - Saturday dinner (Paella Party) : 15€ for adults / 8€ for children less than 12. -

Contact : anjouaero@wanadoo.fr

Club Anjou Aéroglisseurs.

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www.hovercraft.org.uk

YOU CAN RACE THIS HOVERCRAFT This could be you! Learn to drive, compete, and gain that crucial experience of racing before you purchase your own machine. A craft is available that has been specifically built for new members to have a go at racing. It is a simple single engined craft suitable for new Novices and Juniors, and is available at most race meetings. The skill and insight you gain will be valuable in deciding what type of craft you may wish to build or buy in future. This craft comes with its own trailer, and has a race kit of spares and consumables to see you through a race weekend. You will need to provide: • towbar and number-plate • helmet • buoyancy aid/life jacket • overalls and gloves • petrol • race entry fee • boundless enthusiasm!

For more information on hovercraft visit http://www.hovercraft.org.uk

Hot food and drink are often available on site. Warm waterproof clothing is recommended suitable for the British weather. At least one change of clothes is recommended, you may well get wet. A donation towards the upkeep of the craft is recommended at £50 for a 2 day race meeting. Club Membership and provisional Novice racing Licence will be required. Get membership at www.hovercraft.org.uk, you will need to register, and then add a paid subscription. Buy your Novice racing licence from the Racing Services area in the club shop, which can also be accessed from www.hovercraft.org.uk Any queries contact memberservices@hovercraft.org.uk You will also need to pass a manoeuvrability test before racing. If you would like a go or to find out more, contact Daniel Turnbull Tel 01332 700658 danielturnbull@btinternet.com Here we have for sale a new Razor (racing) Hull complete with buoyancy, which has never been raced, never had an engine nor fan frame fitted. It is a deep blue with white inner duct and orange base, it will come with (but not fitted) a white seat, white rudders and white flow straigtheners. We put this unit together to time the assembly process, note - there are a few small blemishes in the thin racing gell coat of the upper hull. Going at at special one off price of £875.00 Please contact John Scriven at johnscriven@msn.com www.hovercraft.org.uk

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ROUND FOUR JULY 20-21 Claydon House Set in the beautiful grounds of Claydon House, this race site is perfect for drivers and spectators alike. The river bank rising up towards the house lends itself superbly for spectator viewing, with a view the length of the water section, as well as both land/water transitions, and most of the land sections. From a drivers point of view, the undulating terrain and numerous obstacles require considerable skill, especially with the challenging land/ water transitions at either end of the water section.

Site & Facilities: • There will be toilets in the paddock, in the campsite & by the bar which will be monitored and emptied as necessary. There will also be an Elsan Point, for the emptying of your personal facilities. • A fresh water standpipe will be available to the left of the site entrance approx 100 yards. • A skip will be provided for all rubbish, please ensure that none is left behind – this will enable us to continue using Claydon for many years to come.

• Site fees are £5 per person per day for members and £7.50 for nonmembers. Paddock pass wristbands are only obtainable on receipt of site fee payment at Race Control. Please remember that everyone must pay this, not just racers and campers; you are only adding to next years fees if you try to get away with not paying for the facilities provided for all. Anyone not wearing paddock pass wristbands will be expelled from the paddock. • The Assistant to the Race Director will be Darren Wallace.

Claydon House Middle Claydon Buckinghamshire MK18 2EY

Saturday Night Party Food this year is again supplied by the superb Cuisine Excellence who have a proven track record of catering “In the Field” and do a superb job for us year after year. Please book online at www. hovercraft.org.uk to pay by card, in the Claydon Race Meeting section under Racing Services.

THRUST TEST AREA

PADDO

CAMPING AREA

Tickets will not be available on the day.

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www.hovercraft.org.uk

Claydon’s Party Night Saturday 20th July 2013 This year at Claydon we are giving you the chance to be creative with fancy dress theme being anything starting with the letter “P" i.e. Policemen/women, Penguins,Parrots,Pirates,Princess or even Playboy Bunnies - you get the picture. These are just a few ideas to get you all started but let your imagination run wild and see what you can come up with. On the Night there will be a competition and a Quiz with Prizes to be won followed by music later on. We are pleased to be able to offer meal deals for both events. We will be offering a 2-Course Meal as usual, so please join us, the menus are below. Claydon - BBQ - 20-07-13 Marinated Chicken Pieces with Spring Onion, Soy Sauce & Ginger Glazed Pork Butchers Sausages Or Vegetarian Selection (V). Both with Mixed Green Salad, Tomato & Cucumber ; Crunchy Coleslaw ; Pasta Salad ; Potato & Sweetcorn Salad ; French Bread & Butter. For Dessert a choice of Chocolate Mousse Or Tarte Au Citron. Towcester- 21-09-13 Chicken Chasseur & Rice Or Pork In Cider & Rice Or Stuffed Peppers (V). Both with a Selection of Vegetables ; French Bread & Butter. For Dessert a choice of Banoffee Gateaux Or Chocolate Mousse. Meal Tickets are Adult Claydon only £9.90. Claydon and Towcester £18.20 Child 11 and under for Claydon only £7.70. Claydon and Towcester £14.00 Please book and pay for your Tickets online at www.shop.hovercraft.org.uk look for Racing Services,Race Entry Fees then Claydon meeting. The last date for booking your meals is Saturday 13th July 2013. So Book NOW and join in the fun........... Thank you for your support.

www.hovercraft.org.uk

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Peter Symes-Thompson Fans, what’s wrong with what we have and what performance gains could you get with the hoverclub’s own blade design? The short answer is not much. The best improvement in thrust for a given power I’ve found so far is around 7%. These £15 lumps of plastic are actually pretty perfect for our needs! I set myself a threshold of 10% improvement to get me in the workshop making the moulds, but since that’s not looking likely I will share my design with anyone interested in making them. This is still a work in progress and there is (or will be) much more information on my website: www.camracing.co.uk. How did I come up with this? To arrive at this number I have chopped up multi-wing blades, made computer models of them, and run them through the fan design program which I talked about in an earlier article (Ducted Fan Design Code by Marc Drela, free online). This is the baseline fan, which produces X thrust for a given duct diameter, power and fan rpm. I then design a fan specific to a hovercraft’s needs, which produces Y thrust at the same duct diameter, power and fan rpm. Then I compare its results to the baseline in the same program, to find out the relative improvement (Y/X-1)%. I’m not writing any thrust values here because the model I am using does not take into account duct blockages from engines/ guards/the hull. It’s a waste of time comparing values from a real thrust test with numbers from a computer program which does not take important things like this into account. The important thing is the difference between two fan designs when compared on a level playing field.

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A few fans are shown in a Pintail duct below:

This is where some sort of practical experience is required; there are

Pros Cons 5Z (baseline design) Available now at good retailers! Designed to cool your office Prototype (5%) 5% more thrust. Fairly easy to Should have good make without CNC moulds off-design performance = less fan stall Optimum (7%) 7% more thrust, looks cool Difficult to make and may not work well off design point

What are the changes from the multiwing blade? To get the 7% improvement, there have been two main changes to get from the multi-wing to the new blade: 1. The airfoil section of the blade is changed to a much less draggy

one, giving about 5% improvement. Because the multi-wing is an injection moulded part, it has to have a fairly thick trailing edge which gives it pretty crap performance. Fortunately for multiwing, it turns out that the airfoil you use has surprisingly little effect on overall fan performance (1/2 of the airfoil drag does not equal double fan performance). 2. The twist and chord of the blade is altered so that every station along

the blade is working at its optimum angle of attack. This gives the extra 2%, and you only get the full benefit of this effect at one fan RPM and fan loading. If you start changing the pitch, diameter and number of blades to suit a different engine/ duct, you may lose some of this performance.

many combinations of twist and chord distribution that can give similar performance, but may give a fan with a stupid amount of twist or a foot long chord at the root. I have been reverse engineering as many different fans and propellers as I can lay my hands on, to understand how to make something that won’t just work on paper! For a shed builder it may be necessary to sacrifice a bit of performance to get to a blade without complex changing shapes like the optimum fan shown here:

F2 thrustfan model Most of the models I have been running are for the thrust fan on my new F2 GSXR 750 using the following design space: 2400 rpm, 229Nm torque, duct diameter 1100mm (Pintail section), 6 blades. I have also tried fans in the

Shape distributions of the three fan blades shown above

www.hovercraft.org.uk

Pintail duct cut open to show blades

formula 3/50 range and found similar results in terms of thrust improvement (but you only get all the benefits if you design for a specific set-up). Flow straightener angle is tailored for each case, but does not affect performance that much. What about fancy pictures from CFD? The methods I have been using so far do not take into account details like sweep, dihedral and wavy surfaces like you may have seen on some ‘revolutionary’ fan designs. For this you need to use CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics), which apart from giving you pretty pictures, is only really chasing the last 1 or 2 percent of performance. For a fan or propeller, simpler models which only require excel and patience capture the basic physics very well, CFD is really only the icing on the cake. I have some experience using CFD for a rotating fan and my opinion is that you can only go into this sort of detail if you have a few months spare and some very experienced friends to help you (not to mention a powerful computer with the software installed).

Looks good, but what does it all mean? Upshots: -My 7% result may be pessimistic due to the fact that the multi-wing blades deflect slightly in use. The model assumes the blades do not twist or bend like they do on the hovercraft. If the new blades were in a stiffer material and didn’t twist under load, they might perform better. The only way to know if this fo sho, is to make it and test it! -Increased thrust per horsepower may not be the only benefit to a redesigned blade; it may be possible to delay fan stall by operating at lower lift coefficients. Proof is in the pudding! -Because the airfoil shape does not have a massive effect on the overall www.hovercraft.org.uk

Optimum (+7%) Prototype (+5%)

Multiwing 5Z (Baseline)

fan performance, it may be possible to get good performance from a flat plate type fan, which would be much easier to make. -Noise: a more efficient fan may be quieter; again a case of actually measuring it to see if this is true. -Like any ‘system’ the performance depends on how everything works together. No matter if you have the best fan in the world, you won’t get much thrust if you obscure the inlet with a massive engine (why did you buy a GIXXER then!?!). Everything needs to be right including the duct and cover, hull shape, straighteners, centre cone.

I’ve spend the last 5 years getting to this stage so I probably will have to go ahead and make some prototypes to get some closure; does anyone fancy helping out? Next time: how to design prototype blades and make them without proper moulds.

Most of the models I have been running are for the thrust fan on my new F2 GSXR 750 using the following design space: 2400 rpm, 229Nm torque, duct diameter 1100mm (Pintail section), 6 blades. I have also tried fans in the formula 3/50 range and found similar results in terms of thrust improvement (but you only get all the benefits if you design for a specific set-up). Flow straightener angle is tailored for each case, but does not affect performance that much. LightHovercraft 15

GRANVILLE

spedding ...FORTY YEARS AGO

Hover Club Manual

A query was raised about how the production of the first Hover Club Manual was progressing. It was reported that the search for suitable chapters about engines, skirts, basic craft design were being sought from members. The cover design was ready, and publication date was expected very soon.

Open Loop segmented skirt

competitive and was used throughout the weekend as the rescue craft. Graham Porter brought his “Avenger “hovercraft – the first competitive outing after modifications were made from last year. There was plenty of power, but the craft suffered from steering problems, and also had two plough-ins which caused welds on the lift engine frame to fail, so he had to retire from racing.

The editor suggested that a very useful little book written and published by the Mission Aviation Fellowship (using mainly Cessna planes for mercy missions in more remote parts of the world) could be obtained from them. It was part of their hovercraft project. This work in now being undertaken by HoverAid, with one of their hovercraft from the Vortex stable doing great service in Madagascar.

Stanford Hall 1973

Sixteen craft were operational at the Stanford Hall Spring Bank Holiday on a weekend of exceptionally good weather. As always, bugs do invade a hovercraft event, and Graham and Jim’s saw such an invasion. The Rowena thrust unit of “Scarab” used last season had been replaced by a JLO 250cc. Problems started with belt slip on the thrust engine, then a clogged carburettor and finally a broken crank shaft on the Aspera lift motor. So sadly, Scarab was out of the running altogether almost from the beginning. Mike Pinder and Barry Oakley brought a “Skima 2” and “Skima 4” to the meeting. Both started with their standard single thrust and twin thrust units, but before the first day was out Mike and Barry had swapped them round and conceived a new craft – the “Skima 2S” (as above) This “new” craft finished the event in second position overall. The “Skima 4”, now with a single thrust unit was no longer LightHovercraft 16

The most reliable craft reported was that of Alan Bliault’s “Chinook” Again another craft powered by single Rowena for thrust. Alan took part in every race and finished 5th overall.

craft be pulled ashore.

Other craft included Malcolm Saunder’s ”Yellow Peril”; Greg Peck’s “Caspar”; Roy Barnes “Air Lubri-Cat”; Barry Wilkinson’s “Snoopy”; (below) Colin Knight’s “Ranger” and the Warriner School’s “Windmill” – all great names from the past, and all pioneers in their own right.

Safety First

A well organised meeting – though one or two snags did immerge including overhanging branches catching the thrust guards – potentially a threat to fan blades, and some extra ropes at the weir could have helped stranded

Lord Braye, the owner of Stanford Hall presented the prizes at the end of a very successful event.

In the May edition a photo of a craft called “The Loughborough Skimmer” showed its fuel tanks fitted to the side of the duct. A letter to the editor in the June 1973 edition queried what would have happened in an accident if the pieces of the propeller had penetrated the tank. No doubt this was something the scrutineers would have in mind in the future as construction regulations were being reviewed and improved.

www.hovercraft.org.uk

Finally

Keith Oakley had completed a fibreglass mould and it was available to members for a nominal fee of ÂŁ3. I wonder if Keith still has it? Farewell.

www.hovercraft.org.uk hovercraft.org.uk

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Prudomat 2012 As the international scene hots up I thought it might be worth revisiting an article that Jamie & Callum wrote last year but never got submitted. Prudhomat would be considered the Monaco of Hovercraft circuits, tight & technicial & overtaking is only for the brave (or stupid)! Jamies explanation below gives you a better idea. Numerous drivers have been heard to say it is one of the best circuits around, but if you really want to know why not join us there on 27-28 July 2013. The race circuit is about 20Km from the 2006 French WHC site. Anyway here are the scribbling’s from Jamie & Callum as we travel home from last years meeting. So here we are travelling home from Prudomat, as Conrad is driving, my job would be navigator, “If’ we had a map!! It has therefore been agreed it is my Job to write a race report, I delegated the junior report to Callum. I had already been considering going to the French EHF meeting, but after the big Lake it was a definite. I asked Conrad if he was going, and he said yes we’ll take Callum too, so that was settled 3 boys, 1 motorhome and a double trailer were going to France. The original Logistics plan was scrapped by the utter destruction handed out by the “new” Towcester transition and the rather generous destruction fairy, who had decided that the end of the crankshaft was best located, along with the flywheel in the bottom of the craft. 3 extremely long evenings (Thanks to Ryan Tingles and Kevin Eastwood, and Susan and Juliet Ives for skirt repairs) Engine and craft were rebuilt, and finally went on the trailer just before midnight on Wednesday evening. We rearranged to meet at Wayne Ravenhalls just outside Dover on Thursday evening at 7pm to swap trailers for a 9.15 boat. Conrad discovered what it was like to live in the south east, and spent 3 hours navigating the M25 resulting in missing the boat, the next one was 0030, after which we drove for a few hours and stopped for the night. Friday was a breeze on the French Autoroutes and we arrived after 600 miles late afternoon at Alain Larribes own private race track. We were summoned to “Drinks” at 8 oclock. This was a free drinks reception for all on site, where we were all welcomed and greeted by all the familiar EHF faces. Registration opened at 9am, and after paying absolutely nothing (except HCGB insurance paid before we left) we were all set. The craft were scrutineered, and country representatives were invited for the course inspection. The course was extremely technical, and although the site is small (Similar in size to Fawley) Alain has done a remarkable LightHovercraft 18

job carving out a course incorporating a large natural lake, and 2 man made pools, meaning 8 transitions in total. Off the grid and immediately onto the first 15m long paddling pool, smooth out and down a relatively steep slope down to the big lake, a short sharp straight blast takes you to a sideways transition out round a hairpin and back onto the lake, and back the way you came, through a chicane on the water to slow you down, and up a long smooth transition over a crest and drop onto the 2nd 10m paddling pool, no time for a breath before you are out over a small jump and down the back straight, which is quite long, but uneven, into a hairpin, which through a wide chicane takes you back to the start, and onto the paddling pool, the difference being the extra speed now means it is a jump into the pool.

race down the lake, and making it stick round the hairpin. He then set out to catch Michael Metzner. Conrad parked his craft in his favoured place on the back straight with a lift engine failure. Andreas hunted down Michael, and overtook him in his favoured drag race style, and capitalised on the backmarker in the transition/ hairpin, to come out in front.

Conrad instigated Team Castrols operation spanner, by only completing one lap in practice before suffering fuel starvation in the thrust engine, which kept going, followed half a lap later by the lift engine which didn’t, so he parked it on the back straight. This seemed to set the theme for the weekend.

F50 saw Sacha take a second win, In F2 Michael and Magnus continued their fight. FJ - Lucas fastest off the grid and stays in the lead with Sarah not far behind Callum seems to have trouble with his engine after the pouring rain and retires after 2 laps.

Racing was scheduled for a 2pm start with Novices. Next was F50, Sacha started how he meant to go on, and led from the start for a convincing win. FS saw me on pole after Nottingham, kept company by a selection of significantly more powerful craft, a good start meant I lead for 3or 4 laps before, the more powerful craft were able to find a way past on the water straight. I was more than happy with the 3rd place finish. With Patrick Godicheu and Francois Dupont (Both France) first and second. FJ - Lucas hall and Sarah foster battled their way round the first lap with Callum Beale behind and Leon Badelt having problems with his engine after practise. With Florian and new driver Mario in front of Leon it turned into quite a race. By half way Sarah was in front of Lucas and the leaders were lapping backmarkers Leon, Florian and Mario. At the end of the race results were 1st Sarah, 2nd Leon, 3rd Callum. In the F2 race Michael Metzner (Germany) and Magnus Ivanoff (Sweden) continued the battle they started in Nottingham. 10 laps with less than a craft length between them, finally finished with Michael in front. The F1 saw carnage on the first lap, when Miki Scanavino (Italy) got it all wrong in the first hairpin managing to avoid falling out twice, as the craft bounced from side to side. The entire pack then capitalised on Mikis mistake, with most of them giving him a smack as they went past, costing Miki a rudder and most of the steering movement. The rest of the race was packed with action Andreas Feulner overtook Conrad in a drag

Spanners were out in Team Castrol to change Conrads lift engine, and repair mikis steering and a broken lift frame, which meant I didn’t get to watch the second set of races. FS, again I had a really good start leading onto the water, but the pure grunt of Patrick Godicheus 809 saw him power past. Francois dropped out on the water, leaving Patrick an easy first, Me second, and Jaroslav Balaz (Slovakia) Third.

Race results 1st Lucas, 2nd Sarah, 3rd Florian. The F1’s lined up with Andreas and Michael occupying the first 2 places with Miki starting fifth. Conrad spent the race in the paddock trying to fix a timing problem with the spare lift engine. Andreas shot off the start chased closely by Michael, Miki was 3rd out of the hairpin, and the chase was on but a stray lift frame bolt led to lift fan failure leaving Michael and Andreas to fight for the win. Saturday evening was a busy evening mikis lift fan had broken the lift frame again, so the whole lot came out again. Conrads lift problems were finally tracked down to one of the magnets in the flywheel being reversed. We lost count of the number of times the flywheel had been on and off as the timing had been adjusted from extremely retarded to extremely advanced with no improvement. The rain returned early evening, and the paddock was thoroughly cleansed by the mother of all thunder storms, which was refreshing after a hot humid day. The Saturday meal was E15 each, but this was for a 4 course meal, of half a melon for starter, Roast Duck and Potatoes for main, a large wedge of Pecan tart, followed by bread and cheese. Ample Sangria, Wine and jugs of beer flowed from the bar for a few euros while the DJ supplied the entertainment. Sunday saw a 7am start, with a cloudless sky, the race was on to repair the floor of the Raptor before the sun came up to make working conditions unbearable, the previous nights rain making it impractical to previously attempt a repair. With 35 degree temperatures predicted, it was going to be a hot day. www.hovercraft.org.uk

Breifing was followed by the customary Alcohol testing, team Castrol 319 wisely put Klaus forward & Callum Beale was selected from the Junior line up, surprisingly Klaus passed! Session three eventually got underway, and Sacha secured his 3rd win in F50 FS again saw a good start, this time losing out slightly to Patrick who got a nose ahead, and the inside line as we approached the hairpin, I dropped back slightly, to attempt the undercut, but the bumpy transition claimed Patricks thrust Fan as he made the turn. A quick change in direction avoided a crash, I pushed on to pick up the win. FJ - In the first lap Lucas and Sarah are fastest off the line but Sarah goes too wide on the first corner causing a red flag. Sarah ends up going off to hospital. Sarah does not get out in the restart due to being in hospital. Mario gets of the line in front of Callum and Florian also gets of in front of him as well. Lucas pulls off into a streaking lead lapping most of the others. Callum manages to get in front of Mario and keeps up with Florian for the rest of the race. Race results 1st Lucas, 2nd Florian, 3rd Callum F2 started as Michael and Magnus show again, with Denis Ragot (France) and Renato Presotto (Italy) fighting for third, Michael developed a thrust engine problem, and dropped back elevating Denis and Renato to 2nd and 3rd. F1 saw Michael on pole with Gregory Lallemand (France), second and Patrick Third, second row was Andreas and Michael, with Conrad at the back. Miki had a good start and was second into the hairpin behind Michael. Andreas and Conrad battled it out with the two French drivers, to finish third and Fourth. For the last session, Sacha made it a clean sweep in F50. The FS grid was missing the two French Drivers, and saw me on Pole, with Jaroslav 3rd. Although I had a good start, Marc Ackerman seemed to be getting a grip of Allain Larribes sled, and shot past from the second row onto the water, launching a huge wave over me following close behind, which was repeated as we dropped back on the water after the hairpin. A mistake by Aravjo Lancaat the second hairpin allowed me to squeeze through and it was a drag race back to the start finish, with the Honda 250 unable to match the Rotax 809 power, he was back past as we jumped into the pond. I decided against a 3rd drenching, and tried a different line this time!! I chased until half way through when an awkward water landing on full power caused partial failure of the coupling. I nursed the craft around for the last 3 laps allowing Jaroslav to pass easily. As we rounded the last hairpin, Andrew Stelzhammer (Austria) was right on my tail, but with only 100m to the finish, I wasn’t giving away another place without a fight, so gave it as many revs www.hovercraft.org.uk hovercraft.org.uk

as I dared, and made the craft as wide as possible in the run down to the finish, and made it by a whisker to retain 3rd place. FJ - Sarah does not get out in this race due to still being in hospital. Lucas gets off into a fast lead and Callum goes wide meaning he loses places to Florian, Leon and Mario but soon Florian gets the same corner wrong and Leon follows him in allowing Callum to get past and overtake Mario soon after. Just after overtaking Mario, Callum ploughs but stays in the craft. Race results 1st Lucas, 2nd Callum, 3rd Mario. The F2 race proved eventful, Michael had changed his Thrust engine, and had obviously had not had a chance to run it before the race, as it was obviously fresh and oily. He had a terrible start, with a big cloud of smoke, which saw him well down the field with Magnus well ahead. The race was red flagged, as the Portuguese driver ploughed in spectacularly on the second pond, with Michael right behind him on a push, the craft stopped dead, in the water, where it was clipped by Michael, as he took evasive action, to avoid the driver who had completely cleared the pond and was rolling on the ground. The rerun after the F1 race allowed Michael to make a couple of tweeks, and he got a much better start allowing cat & mouse action with Magnus. The last F1 had a dramatic start as Michaels lift engine cut out, leaving him stranded

The Model Hovercraft Association was formed in 2004, with a view to bringing some organisation to the development of model hovercraft, which previously had been well served by relatively isolated pockets of interest. The Association’s activities include lectures and films, videos and other visual material on all aspects of model hovercraft from research, through construction and operating. Visits to locations and firms/ manufacturers of interest, and social events are also organised. The Association is run by a Management Committee consisting of those with experience in appropriate fields. Prior to September 19th 2004, when the MHA was formed, a group of hovercraft modellers had been meeting on a regular basis at the Hovercraft Museum at Lee on Solent, Hampshire, to discuss model hovercraft and run their models. This group, called the Model Hovercraft Group, formed after the successful International Model Hovercraft Seminar held on the 18th/19th October 2003.

on pole, as Conrad approached rapidly from behind, and needing to swerve wildly. Miki saw his chance for the championship rekindled and shot off after Andreas like a man possessed, Conrad passed Gregory, and set off after Miki and Andreas. Michael had started his lift engine, and had set off to catch the pack. Mikis bad luck returned, as he lost half his belt, and retired, Andreas backed off, allowing Conrad to close the gap, with Michael hot on his heals. This is how it finished, with Andreas only a short distance (30-40m) ahead, with Michael a similar distance behind. The course was then opened for a free for all, where numerous drivers exchanged craft for a few laps of fun. Prize giving happened in the early French Sunshine, with local dignitaries, and the local Miss “Lot” to present the trophies. We had planned to work out the finances in order to show a comparative cost with UK events, unfortunately this never happened, but I can say with free race entry, cheap ferries & sharing the costs with two craft (3 boys) it was not much more expensive than most UK events, it just took a bit longer to get there… Anyone wishing to experience the Sunshine, Wine, Great racing & superb hospitality you couldn’t do much better than a trip to Prudhomat…. Look forward to seeing you there…. 27-28 July 2013

Model of the month Model Name: BH7 MK5 Model Scale: 1/16 Model Size: 1492 mm Number of motors: Two Power source: one 6 cell NiMh for lift, 8 cell or greater for thrust Skirt Type: Bag and finger Materials: lite ply Interesting feature: the model will carry a small child Build time:2 years

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Prices of HCGB Logo Merchandise Soft shell jackets – black or navy £35.00 including embroidered club logo on breast & back Fleece zipped jackets – all colours £22.50 including embroidered club logo Hoodies – all colours (other than orange) - £ 20.00 including embroidered club logo Ladies fit short sleeve T shirt – all colours – £12.00 including embroidered club logo Ladies fit long sleeve T shirt – all colours - £15.00 including embroidered club logo Men’s short sleeve T shirt – all colours - £12.00 including embroidered club logo Men’s long sleeve T shirt – black only - £15.00 including embroidered club logo & printed logo down right sleeve Unisex short sleeve polo shirts – all colours - £15.00 including embroidered club logo Unisex long sleeve polo shirts – all colours - £17.00 including embroidered club logo Baseball Cap - £7.50 including printed club logo Woolly hat - £7.50 including embroidered club logo Fleece hat - £7.50 including embroidered club logo Kids Hoodies - £14.00 including embroidered club logo on breast Kids Zipped Fleece Jackets - £14.00 including embroidered club logo on breast Kids short sleeve T shirt - £6.50

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including embroidered club logo on breast Mouse Mat - £6.50 All-in-one race suits – navy – N/A Two piece water proof sets – black £25.00 Puncture repair kits - £1.50 Kids ear defenders - £7.50 Ear caps – £1.00 Lipsyl - £1.50 Sun cream - £3.50 The Hovercraft Story Book - £8.50 5 Postcards in frame - £22.50 4 Postcards in frame - £20.00 Powered Model Kit - £15.00 Combat force Hovercraft - £3.50 Logo Pens – 40p Thermal Mugs –£6.00 Mugs – £7.00 Key rings –TBA Wrist bands - £1.00 Umbrellas – £15.00 Cotton Shopping Bags – £5.00

Only available to HCGB members Hoodies – orange - £20.00 including embroidered club logo, own name printed on right breast (optional) and HCGB Marshall on back. Unisex short sleeve T shirts – orange - £7.00 including printed club logo Sweatshirt – orange - £17.50 including embroidered club logo, own name printed on right breast (optional) and HCGB Marshall on back

www.hovercraft.org.uk

Hovercraft for sale BBV F3 F3 shaft driven BBV Red and green hovercraft powered by a Yamaha Tzr 250 engine. Prefect beginner craft comes complete with a trailer to transport. This craft is ready to race. Grab a bargain for £1800 the lot. For any more info or questions please Contact Ricky Goosey on 07875335702

For Sale – Mr Bump Lee Willars built, modified Eagle Racing Hovercraft Elegantly finished as Mr Bump Built and raced in 2012, finishing 3rd Overall in F50 Hull, Engine Frame, Steering, Splitter Plate, Fuel Tank and Skirt only (No Engine) Two careful owners, c/w HCGB Log book and very minor ‘war wounds. Engine frame to suit Rotax 503 c/w Gearbox. Stick an Engine in and your ready to race!! Collection only - £1,500.00 Contact Clive Mason Mob – 0772 9783989 Email – clivemason33@yahoo.com

F3 Meteor Racing Craft Fully recondition hovercraft currently being carried out, available in any colour that the customer would like, integrated hull fitted with standard TZR 250 engine. Brand new set of skirts fitted. This can be built to any spec wanted. Price depends on spec wanted. From £1700 upwards Call Ricky Goosey: 07875335702

Need to sell our VENOM F50 built 2012 with Rotax 503 FAC , due to my cousin Kim stopping racing. Nearly NEW craft , three laps in Nottingham & four heats at Worlds; fantastic craft even out for it first time at Worlds & doiing 4 of 6 heats still 11 th place. Comes with moveable splitter a airguide box under it. Think £3,500.00 would be a fair price? Contact tel. 0032 497899829 Jos in Belgium or here. Tony Broad & Conrad know the craft ! Craft is currently in Belgium, but could be delivered to Calais for collection. jos.vanderhoven@gmail.com

local branches most of the local branches meet regularly, normally in a pub, to sit around and chat hovercraft or organise an upcoming meeting or event. feel free to contact them and they will be more than happy to welcome you along to the meetings.