Austintown class works to build hovercraft
By ROBERT CONNELLY
rconnelly@vindy.com
AUSTINTOWN
After brainstorming about what to build in the Intro to Engineering class at Fitch High School, a few students settled on building a hovercraft.
“We just thought about what we could do our freshman year, and we thought this is something really cool that we can expand upon in the future,” said Nate Spalding, 15.
That was back in November in the first-year Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics class at the school, 4650 Falcon Drive. A hovercraft can go on water or land and uses an engine that powers a propeller that uses force to power the machine forward. There is a place for someone to sit and control the device as well.
Months later, teams of students in the 19-person class work on the 5-by-10-foot frame while some read blueprints spread out on two desks.
“What we saw happening was everybody helping each other out,” noted teacher Seth Basista.
“The biggest roadblock really was on the air duct. We had foam that we were supposed to wrap around it, but we can’t just wrap foam around it because foam is not flexible,” remarked Justin Neff, 15. “So what we’re doing now is, we’re going to put a layer of wood down and we’re going to spray spray-foam in it, and it will give us the same effect.”
Students were wrapping pieces in plastic, sawing wood and working on other aspects as the class approaches its deadline of late May to have the hovercraft built. It will sit a few feet high in the air with a pilot’s chair and an engine capable of going 30 to 35 mph.
“They’re forced into solving things,” Basista explained of the project. “Let’s build a hovercraft, but we don’t have everything we need and the blueprints leave you figuring them out.”
Nate, Justin and their classmates built soapbox derby cars in the STEM program at Austintown Middle School.
“These kids have already been through the ins and outs [of STEM] so far,” Basista said, listing off 3-D modeling, problem solving, designing and reading blueprints.
Some parts of the hovercraft, such as the controls for the drive of the vehicle, will be made by a 3-D printer.
One of the last things the class will do is move the project next door to the metal shop, where the hovercraft can exit the building through the double-bay doors.
For the project to come to reality, the students sought sponsorships. Fitch principal Chris Berni, along with the other building principals, allocated funds to the project from their fund, and businesses such as the Austintown Home Depot and Taylor Winfield Technologies Inc. gave money. Another donation was made by the family of a student in the class.
“You’ll see it at football games, and we hope to have competitions in the next few years,” Nate said, wanting friendly competitions such as many schools in the Valley do for robotics teams.
“If they’re just going to build a hovercraft, what’s the point?” Basista said. He also wants those competitions to take place.
Overall, Basista said projects such as this raise awareness in the community of how STEM is taking shape in Valley classrooms.
“It took us a while to find that perfect build, but it’s fun for me because I get to see all their potential and solving problems that individually they wouldn’t be able to solve,” Basista remarked. “As a team they come together to make this bigger thing happen and just the energy it brings to this program makes it fun for everybody.”