Tolland Teacher to be Featured on Science Channel Tonight

Technology education teacher James Benini will be able to watch himself on national TV tonight, when the newest Science Channel's "JUNKies" episode premieres at 10 p.m.

Benini, who has instituted a and for high school students, said that he was contacted last year by the show's producers who wanted to know if he was still in the hovercraft-building business. 

Soon enough, Benini says that he and a student were traveling to Freeport Auto Parts in Freeport, Long Island, the featured business of the "JUNKies" show.

"The premise is that we are looking for a thrust engine to push the craft forward, as well as a steering system," Benini said.

After cobbling together the systems from the junk yard's parts, Benini said that he, his student and the junk yard owners had a blast riding the contraption.

For those uninitiated in hovercraft driving, Benini has some tips:

"Keep yourself balanced," he said. "You want the nose and tail of the craft to be level."

And while it may not be the most intuititive drive in the world, Benini added that it's worth the effort to drive.

"It's kind of like driving a car on a frozen lake. You slide all over the place. But that's part of the fun of flying it," he said.

Despite his imminent moment in the spotlight tonight, Benini said that he is focusing on continuing the hovercraft project in class this year. The hovercraft competition will be held again in June, and his classes will build another two hovercrafts during the school year.

"It's starting to resemble a fleet," he said.

Check out Benini and the hovercraft at 10 p.m. on the Science Channel.