Are hovercrafts possible, with stock game?

[Osamaru]

Or do you need a Mod?

To clarify, but "Hovercraft" I mean a vehicle that can efficiently take off from a stand still, move forward at a low Altitude (a few meters to 100-200 meters), land and take off again safely.

[Jupiter3927]

They're possible but very hard to do.
You would need engines on the bottom to keep it afloat and engines on the back to move it.
The infinite fuel cheat would help.

[Manwith Noname]

This is old but the principle probably still works...

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=554233379

[RoofCat]

you are doing it wrong. You should try first in KSP and then ask questions.
Get pilot and engineer with more bravery.

The only issue with hovercraft I know of is jet engines having thrust changes delay, which requires slower, more careful landings.

[Operation40]

i watched a youtube video recently a guy made a stock hover-carrier, and sent it to laythe.
he used jets but not directly, they were pointed into his stock propellers to super charge them

edit -- ahh here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPprYMcS5lA
I don't think it needs the engines to hover, just electricity.. uses them while climbing altitude though

[Aranador]

So, you can build V/TOL type vehicles, things that direct jet thrust downwards for lift, and you can build helicopters, but a true 'hover craft' wherein you trap a high pressure air bubble under a 'skirt' for your lift doesnt quite work. Anyway, play around with jet engines that point down for your 'hover craft' and you'll have almost the same result, although not quite as stable.

[Lucifer69]

Hovercrafts are very possible. The difficulty curve will likely be quite extreme but it can and has already been achieved.

My current issue is building working hinges so I can build a fully functional osprey and yes you can make propellors too.

[Chibbity]

Originally posted by Lucifer69:

My current issue is building working hinges so I can build a fully functional osprey and yes you can make propellors too.

Not that hard really, I have several hinge designs and a working tilt engine vtol, as well as a swing wing, if you'd like to see them.

If you had a question about hinges I could most likely answer it, unless it's about the stock propeller bit, I have no interest in those.

[Lucifer69]

Nah. It's just getting the thing to look and function like an osprey that's the biggest problem. Doesn't help that I have minor ocd.

Stock props are fairly easy. You can even add engines for a "turbo prop". Panthers are my go to.

Appreciate the offer though.

[Nebraska Space Agency]

Bunch of ways to approach this. Here is what I tried:

Steering and motors disabled on the wheels. Landing gear seems to snag on the ground and encourage flipping. Wheel authority torque off on the command pod and at 50% with the stabilizer.

The delay on the engines, adjusting throttle, makes it hard to recover from rapid decent.

I think a wheel blew and should have been angled out a bit. The foldable wheels would work better and might make a better skirt.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1534664089

[Jupiter3927]

I accidentally made a hover craft once when I was taunting the Kraken.
I used the landing gear bug to produce a phantom force between 2 ships and it turned into a hover craft moving around the space center at 5 m/s.
It bumped into the VAB and kept hovering...
It's kind of creepy actually...

[XLjedi]

Originally posted by Torigoma:

Or do you need a Mod?

To clarify, but "Hovercraft" I mean a vehicle that can efficiently take off from a stand still, move forward at a low Altitude (a few meters to 100-200 meters), land and take off again safely.

I recently built a larger-sized VTOL cargo plane... turns out it seems to magically hover at about 130-140m at full downward thrust. The TWR is slightly above neutral in the 1.05 to 1.10 range and I suspect it's just a function of pressure/altitude as implemented by the atmospheric physics engine in the game.

So sure, as per your definition it most certainly is doable. I have craft in my fleet that will do that now.