Homemade Hovercraft

Tuesday, September 25th 2007, 5:00 pm

By: News On 6

James Lam was thinking of building a boat, then he saw a James Bond movie, and decided a hovercraft was more to his liking. As The News On 6â€™s Rick Wells reports, with James Bond as his inspiration, and some plans he bought online for $30, James Lam has built two hovercraft and is ready to move on to something else.

It's a beauty, a 14 foot hovercraft. It was built right in James Lamâ€™s South Tulsa garage, but why build a hovercraft? Actually, he was going to build a
regular boat, until he saw a James Bond movie.

"â€˜Die Another Day,â€™ with James Bond. They had a hovercraft that's what inspired me to build a hovercraft," said hovercraft builder James Lam.

He searched and found some plans on the internet, and he was off. Lam says doing something like this in the garage is a great way to meet people.

"People stop up here, the mailman's been up here that's how I met a lot of the neighbors," said Lam.

Lam has actually built two hovercrafts, the first one took two years, the newest one only took a year.

"So having one under your belt cut the time in half?" asked News On 6 reporter Rick Wells.

"Exactly," Lam responded.

James Lam knew where to get all the materials. It's made mostly of eighth inch plywood, lots of styrofoam and fiberglass to keep the weight down.

"Is that like a lawnmower engine?" asked Wells.

"Exactly," James Lam responded.

There are two, one in the front to provide the air cushion and the one in back to push it forward.

Lam took his home built hovercraft out on Lake Skiatook last month for a test run. Everything worked fine, but what can you do with it?

"It'll float, you can fish out of it, camouflage it and take it out duck hunting," said Lam.

The lawnmower engine in the back will push it on the water about 47 mph.

James Lam has a website, www.stayingbusy.com, where you can get more information about his two hovercraft and how he built them, you can also find more pictures of the homemade hovercraft.

Watch the video: Man Builds Hovercraft

WEB EXTRA: Homemade Hovercraft Test At Lake Skiatook