Leafy

So, what kind of airflow would this hovercraft need to really work well? Let's see. A 3 foot diameter means about a 9 foot circumference. A 1/2" air gap would mean that air is escaping through a 0.375 ft² area. If the air escapes at an estimated 60 ft/s, that's 22.5 ft³/s.

A weight of 120 lbs on 8 sq feet means that the air is under a pressure of about 15 lbs/ft². Total power needed: about 325 foot lbs/sec or 0.6 horsepower. If the electricity to wind power to lift conversion is 20% efficient, that would mean a 2200 watt motor would be required -- and the actual leaf blower is only 1100 watts.

But that's only half the problem, or less. A leaf blower is designed to produce high-speed wind, but not very much of it. Too much power, not enough volume. I saw an ad for a gas- powered leaf blower that claimed 410 cfm, and the calculation above says that 22.5 ft³/s or 1350 ft³/min would be needed. The propeller design is wrong.

Note that increasing the size of the disk actually decreases the power required. I thought about cutting a larger disk. But although the total horsepower required is lower, the volume of air needed is greater (at much lower pressure). It would be even worse.

Maybe a smaller platform? Anyone for a hovershoes?