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A personal hovercraft is a small hovercraft normally carrying fewer than 10 passengers. The low cost makes it affordable for personal use.
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A personal hovercraft is a small hovercraft normally carrying fewer than 10 passengers. The low cost makes it affordable for personal use.
A hovercraft, or air-cushion vehicle, is a vehicle or craft that can be supported by a cushion of air ejected downwards against a surface close below it, and can in principle travel over any relatively smooth surface, such as gently sloping land, water, or marshland, while having no substantial contact with it. [1] In Europe, the HSC2000 regulation craft less one Ton(1000 kg) for a personal hovercraft.
Race craft are built for speed. They are mostly built from light materials to maximize speed but safety is often compromised. People who build race craft often participate in hovercraft races. The world's first hovercraft race was held on March 14, 1964 in Canberra, capital of Australia. There were 13 participants and around 10,000 spectators.
Self-built hovercraft are ideal for hobbyists and for people for whom price is the main criterion. They can be self-designed craft, built from a plan or they can be kit-built craft. A kit can cost as little as $600 for a one-person craft, up to $5000 or more for a larger craft. Depending on the manufacturer a kit may be complete or almost complete. Most kits include engines. Alternatively a hovercraft can be built from scratch. Many plans can be found online so all you need do is buy your materials. Generally, racing hovercraft are provided with a high-RPM motor fan at the backside of the hovercraft for the required thrust. The racing hovercraft's height is limited to provide it stability even at high speeds.
Leisure crafts are oriented for ease of use and safety. They have higher buoyancy and are intended to be safe on the water even with engine off. The companies mostly professionally build leisure crafts. There are several companies which offer already completed leisure craft. Hovercraft are weight dependent vehicles, so whereas race hovercraft are extremely lightweight, leisure hovercraft manufacturers need to also consider durability and longevity of product life. The majority of leisure hovercraft are constructed from glass fibre, with recent introductions of other materials such as HDPE (High Density Polyethylene). Leisure hovercraft designs offer better on-water handling capabilities - some hovercraft struggle to get onto the air cushion when starting on water, because hovercraft create a bow wave referred to as The Hump - so different models will have quoted on-water payloads to denote what weight can be lifted when starting from on-water. Some hovercraft have a tendency to nose dive or plough (plow) into water so some leisure suppliers offer anti-plough designs. Leisure hovercraft need better underside protection than perhaps you would find on a race craft - for leisure, think durability, for race, think speed. More powerful engines add weight, so suppliers need to consider many aspects to balance performance, durability, speed.
This appeared in an early 1970s episode of Let's Make a Deal. This is an Air Cycle 720 made by Air Cushion Vehicles of Troy, New York valued at $1,495 at the time. It could go up to 40 MPH.
A model aircraft is a small unmanned aircraft. Many are replicas of real aircraft. Model aircraft are divided into two basic groups: flying and non-flying. Non-flying models are also termed static, display, or shelf models.
A hovercraft, also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and other surfaces.
An amphibious vehicle, is a vehicle that is a means of transport viable on land as well as on or under water. Amphibious vehicles include amphibious bicycles, ATVs, cars, buses, trucks, railway vehicles, combat vehicles and hovercraft.
Any vehicle used in or on water as well as underwater, including boats, ships, yachts, hovercraft and submarines, is a watercraft, also known as a water vessel or waterborne vessel. A watercraft usually has a propulsive capability and hence is distinct from a stationary device, such as a pontoon, that merely floats.
A rigid inflatable boat (RIB), also rigid-hull inflatable boat or rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB), is a lightweight but high-performance and high-capacity boat constructed with a rigid hull bottom joined to side-forming air tubes that are inflated with air to a high pressure so as to give the sides resilient rigidity along the boat's topsides. The design is stable, light, fast and seaworthy. The inflated collar acts as a life jacket, ensuring that the vessel retains its buoyancy, even if the boat is taking on water. The RIB is an evolutionary development of the inflatable boat with a rubberized fabric bottom that is stiffened with flat boards within the collar to form the deck or floor of the boat.
The Patrol Air Cushion Vehicle (PACV), also known as the Air Cushion Vehicle (ACV) in Army and Coast Guard service, was a United States Navy and Army hovercraft used as a patrol boat in marshy and riverine areas during the Vietnam War between 1966 and 1970. Six hovercraft were built, three for the Army and three for the Navy.
Cushioncraft Ltd was a British engineering company, formed in 1960 as a division of Britten-Norman Ltd to develop/build hovercraft. Originally based at Bembridge Airport on the Isle of Wight, Cushioncraft later moved to the Duver Works at St. Helens, these works gave ready access to the sheltered water of Bembridge Harbour.
A radio-controlled aircraft is a small flying machine that is controlled remotely by an operator on the ground using a hand-held radio transmitter. The transmitter continuously communicates with a receiver within the craft that sends signals to servomechanisms (servos) which move the control surfaces based on the position of joysticks on the transmitter. The control surfaces, in turn, directly affect the orientation of the plane.
A hover car is a personal vehicle that flies at a constant altitude of up to a few meters (yards) above the ground and used for personal transportation in the same way a modern automobile is employed. The concept usually appears in science fiction.
British Hovercraft Corporation (BHC) was a British hovercraft manufacturer that designed and produced multiple types of vehicles for both commercial and civil purposes.
A surface effect ship (SES) or sidewall hovercraft is a watercraft that has both an air cushion, like a hovercraft, and twin hulls, like a catamaran. When the air cushion is in use, a small portion of the twin hulls remains in the water. When the air cushion is turned off ("off-cushion" or "hull borne"), the full weight of the vessel is supported by the buoyancy of the twin hulls.
Griffon Hoverwork Ltd (GHL) is a British hovercraft designer and manufacturer.
The Saunders-Roe SR.N1 was the first practical hovercraft. The concept has its origins in the work of British engineer and inventor Christopher Cockerell, who succeeded in convincing figures within the services and industry, including those within British manufacturer Saunders-Roe. Research was at one point supported by the Ministry of Defence; this was later provided by the National Research Development Corporation (NRDC), who had seen the potential posed by such a craft.
A ground-effect vehicle (GEV), also called a wing-in-ground-effect (WIG), ground-effect craft, wingship, flarecraft or ekranoplan, is a vehicle that is able to move over the surface by gaining support from the reactions of the air against the surface of the earth or water. Typically, it is designed to glide over a level surface by making use of ground effect, the aerodynamic interaction between the moving wing and the surface below. Some models can operate over any flat area such as frozen lakes or flat plains similar to a hovercraft.
An aerodynamically alleviated marine vehicle (AAMV) is a high speed marine vehicle configuration that uses aerodynamically generated forces (lift) to 'alleviate' its weight. The advantage is that the hydrodynamic lift required to sustain the weight of the vehicle is diminished, leading to a diminished hydrodynamic drag. The vehicle is in constant contact with the water, therefore the aerodynamic surfaces operate in ground effect. The name derives from the "Aerodynamic Alleviation Concept", presented by L.J. Doctors to illustrate the positive effect of using a wing-like superstructure on a catamaran configuration.
The British Hovercraft Corporation AP1-88 is a medium-size hovercraft. In a civil configuration, the hovercraft can seat a maximum of 101 passengers, while as a troop carrier, it can transport up to 90 troops. When operated as a military logistics vehicle, the AP1-88 can carry a pair of Land Rovers, a Bv202 tracked vehicle and trailer unit or up to roughly 10 tons (10,000 kg) of cargo.
The Griffon 2000 series is a light-weight hovercraft built in the United Kingdom by Griffon Hoverwork and used principally by military and rescue organisations.
The Saunders-Roe SR.N5 was a medium-sized hovercraft which first flew in 1964. It has the distinction of being the first production-built hovercraft in the world.
A hovertrain is a type of high-speed train that replaces conventional steel wheels with hovercraft lift pads, and the conventional railway bed with a paved road-like surface, known as the track or guideway. The concept aims to eliminate rolling resistance and allow very high performance, while also simplifying the infrastructure needed to lay new lines. Hovertrain is a generic term, and the vehicles are more commonly referred to by their project names where they were developed. In the UK they are known as tracked hovercraft, in the US they are tracked air-cushion vehicles. The first hovertrain was developed by Jean Bertin in the early 1960s in France, where they were marketed as the Aérotrain before being abandoned by the French government.
The Ship-to-Shore Connector (SSC), also known as the LCAC 100 class, is a system proposed by the United States Navy as a replacement for the Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC). It will offer an increased capacity to cope with the growing weight of equipment used by the United States Army and Marine Corps. As of 2015, the program is forecast to cost a total of US$4.054B for 73 hovercraft.