Thursday 19/1/2012. H Day....

Last night at 1900 hours GMT, I walked down an unlit path into an old Gym turned art room. Upon entering this space I was greeted by one of my Creative Technologies tutors, henceforth known only as Ian, along with a box, an array of orange fibreglass shapes and some lengths of metal.

So began a time of great mystery and more than a little umming and ahhing. Pointing at pieces and guessing in marvel at their potential use or purpose. Measuring how big the engine was, using the time tested method of seeing how heavy it was. The arrival of our 3rd member Aiden was greeted with relief that an extra pair of hands and sharp mind would aid us greatly in our floaty quest.

There continued much man speak, involving the power of 10 horses, drag, torque and the lack of breaks. Before we had a moment of clarity, an epiphany.....we had figured out where the engine was supposed to go! Eureka! So we grabbed some bolts and assembled the engine seating. Caution dictated that perhaps we should not bolt it to the frame, in case we had missed out the assembly of a support frame and just broke it. It was then that a distant sound alerted us to the arrival of more potential Hovercrafterians. Two of my friends from the College; Alex, henceforth known as Al, and Nick, henceforth known as Nick. Their appearance made it apparent that this project had the interest and man power to see it through to completion and of course Hover based joy and potential injury.

After a few more realisations and figuring outs, we had, between us, revealed the place and/or purpose of most of the components. At this time we decided that without the required masks, gloves, overalls and foam cutting tools we could go no further.

And so it was that the first meeting of the Hovercrafterians was concluded. 5 men with no past experience or knowledge attempt to build a Hovercraft.....Impossible? Madness? Grown up Lego? What are the 12ft long L bars for? Keep up with the posts to find out.

To be continued next week............