Advice for set-up and repair
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center of gravity
The center of gravity can be adjusted easily by positioning the battery. Different surfaces will require differnt center of gra-
vities. When running the hovercraft on water, the battery should be positioned further back, whereas the battery should be
positioned further to the nose when running on flush surfaces or tight racetracks.
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air cushion control
The easiest way to test the air cuhion is to carefully remove the propeller from the thrust motor, so only the liftmotor is
activ. With the liftmotor running the hovercraft should now easily hover on all smooth surfaces without friction. Put the
hovercraft on a flat surface with the liftmotor running and circle round the hovercraft-skirt with your hand. If you find any
leaking spots where the airflow out of the cushion is way stronger than elsewhere, readjust the skirt and retape it with the
double sided tape.
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Repair advice
Small holes in the skirt can easily be fixed with duct-tape from the inside.
Running your hovercraft the first time
Choose a spacious parking lot with smooth surface or a sports field for the maiden run. Remeber that a hovercrafts steering
characteristics are differnt from those of a car, since it will only steer as long as power is applied to the thrust motor, thus you
always have to keep the power alive while turning. The more power on the thrust engine, the more steering you will get.
In the standard configuration with its 2s 7.4V li-po battery the Dragstair hovercraft can reach up to 25mph (40km/h), so you
will need a spacious area to accellerate and brake your hovercraft. The easiest way to stop your hovercraft is simply stopping
the motors, so it will slide on the pre-installed brake pad to a stop. Since you will also slide on your skirt, this maneuver will
lead to accesive wear of brake-pad and skirt. Learn to steer your hovercraft perpendicular to the travel direction with motors
runnnig so the higher air-drag will slow you down.
Remember not to steer too hard when driving at full speed, since your hovercraft has a tendency to rollover then. Your
ACROPOR Dragstair can withstand nearly all rollovers and crashes.
The more familiar you become driving your hovercraft, you will see that it is highly maneuverable at low speeds. You can
even turn it 180° and stop it within a few feet. Drifting will be way easier if you seperate lift and thrust control by getting a
second ESC, so you can keep up the airflow in the cushion. The transmitter and receiver supplied with the RTR model are
already equipped with the neccesary third channel. For the brushed version, the second ESC should be 30A or more and ca-
pable of 3s li-po batteries. Another option is our brushless-tuning-set # 4026003. This high performance motor set will push
your Dragstair hovercraft up to 40 mph on smooth surfaces.
