Cool Videos: DeLorean Hovercraft

“Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads…”

Sometimes dreams really do come true, especially if 150 people back you with funding via Kickstarter. Matthew Riese’s dream was to have the first DeLorean hovercraft. Well, he got what he wanted (within reason) and got to show it off during a baseball game. The outfit was a nice touch.

Here are the details on his hovercraft:

“When it is done, the craft will be able to hover on anything flat (asphalt, sand, water, etc), but it will be mostly driven on the San Francisco Bay. The hovercraft is registered with the DMV in California as a boat (it is not street legal). The top speed should be around 45 mph, which is pretty impressive for a vehicle with no breakes (it’s not touching the ground, remember!). If you have never seen a hovercraft, the basic concept is that a fan pushes air underneath the middle of the craft and a “skirt” (basically a flexible inner-tube around the perimeter of the craft) traps that high-pressure air under the craft, which lifts it off the ground. Some air is escaping under the skirt at all points at all times, so in theory, even the skirt isn’t actually touching the ground/water (in reality the skirt drags on the ground occasionally). A second fan pushes air behind the craft, driving it forward. Rudders behind this thrust fan turn the craft. Just in case you were wondering, the craft will not be able to reach 88 mph and so I won’t be installing a flux capacitor. Of course, if it was a real time machine I wouldn’t be asking you for money, I would be just winning a lot of horse-racing bets!”

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