This video of the UH-18SPW Hoverwing™ has really got me going:

http://www.hovercraft.com/content/me...erwing_wmv.wmv

Has anyone here had any experience with something like this? Do they
get licensed as a boat, aircraft, or not at all? What is the
difficulty of learning how to operate it? What are the major safety
issues? What kind of seas can you negotiate?

On May 13, 5:35*pm, Wayne.B wrote:
This video of the UH-18SPW Hoverwing™ has really got me going:

http://www.hovercraft.com/content/me...erwing_wmv.wmv

Has anyone here had any experience with something like this? *Do they
get licensed as a boat, aircraft, or not at all? *What is the
difficulty of learning how to operate it? *What are the major safety
issues? *What kind of seas can you negotiate?

Let me rummage around, I've seen an article or two about the
hoverwing.

It isn't commonly known that the Coasdt Guard tested
a couple of hovercraft on San Francisco Bay in the
early 1970s:

http://groups.sims.berkeley.edu/waypoint/images/41.jpg

http://groups.sims.berkeley.edu/waypoint/images/42.jpg



Geoff

--
"That which has always been accepted by everyone, everywhere
is almost certain to be false. - Paul Valery

On May 14, 3:05*pm, (Geoff Miller) wrote:
It isn't commonly known that the Coasdt Guard tested
a couple of hovercraft on San Francisco Bay in the
early 1970s:

http://groups.sims.berkeley.edu/waypoint/images/41.jpg

http://groups.sims.berkeley.edu/waypoint/images/42.jpg

Geoff

--
"That which has always been accepted by everyone, everywhere
*is almost certain to be false. *- Paul Valery * * *

This is a different concept, it has wings and will actuall fly a few
feet off of the surface!

On Wed, 14 May 2008 12:17:25 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

On May 14, 3:05*pm, (Geoff Miller) wrote:
It isn't commonly known that the Coasdt Guard tested
a couple of hovercraft on San Francisco Bay in the
early 1970s:

http://groups.sims.berkeley.edu/waypoint/images/41.jpg

http://groups.sims.berkeley.edu/waypoint/images/42.jpg

Geoff

--
"That which has always been accepted by everyone, everywhere
*is almost certain to be false. *- Paul Valery * * *

This is a different concept, it has wings and will actuall fly a few
feet off of the surface!

Hey Loogy, I told Wayne B, over in Chuck's place, that you were the local
hovercraft expert. He's interested in the '18' model.
--
John *H*

On May 14, 3:38*pm, John H. wrote:
On Wed, 14 May 2008 12:17:25 -0700 (PDT), wrote:
On May 14, 3:05*pm, (Geoff *Miller) wrote:
It isn't commonly known that the Coasdt Guard tested
a couple of hovercraft on San Francisco Bay in the
early 1970s:

http://groups.sims.berkeley.edu/waypoint/images/41.jpg

http://groups.sims.berkeley.edu/waypoint/images/42.jpg

Geoff

--
"That which has always been accepted by everyone, everywhere
*is almost certain to be false. *- Paul Valery * * *

This is a different concept, it has wings and will actuall fly a few
feet off of the surface!

Hey Loogy, I told Wayne B, over in Chuck's place, that you were the local
hovercraft expert. He's interested in the '18' model.
--
John *H*- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Not an expert, but I built one, ran it a few years, etc. I did belong
to a local homebuilt type hovercraft club and learned alot from those
guys. I'm going to try to remember to rummage around in my scrap books
and find some pictures. I'll certainly try to help!

On Wed, 14 May 2008 13:01:55 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

Not an expert, but I built one, ran it a few years, etc. I did belong
to a local homebuilt type hovercraft club and learned alot from those
guys. I'm going to try to remember to rummage around in my scrap books
and find some pictures. I'll certainly try to help!

The one with the wings and limited flight capability is particularly
appealing for reasons that are difficult to define. Perhaps it is the
prospect of leap frogging a Florida Fish and Wildlife boat that is
trying to determine if you are speeding through a slow speed zone in a
boat as opposed to flying through it a few feet off the water. We
have a lot of really shallow water around here and quite a few
ridiculous (boat) speed limits.

:-)

On May 15, 12:49*am, Wayne.B wrote:
On Wed, 14 May 2008 13:01:55 -0700 (PDT), wrote:
Not an expert, but I built one, ran it a few years, etc. I did belong
to a local homebuilt type hovercraft club and learned alot from those
guys. I'm going to try to remember to rummage around in my scrap books
and find some pictures. I'll certainly try to help!

The one with the wings and limited flight capability is particularly
appealing for reasons that are difficult to define. *Perhaps it is the
prospect of leap frogging a Florida Fish and Wildlife boat that is
trying to determine if you are speeding through a slow speed zone in a
boat as opposed to flying through it a few feet off the water. *We
have a lot of really shallow water around here and quite a few
ridiculous (boat) speed *limits.

:-)

The ordinary hovercraft I built was registered as a boat just because
the laws were vague and it kept me from getting harassed! I agree it
would be fun to have the winged one and mess with people! I'll tell
you, the guy that started and owns Universal Hovercraft is a real nice
guy. When I built mine many years ago, you could just call him for
advice.

On Thu, 15 May 2008 05:19:04 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

The ordinary hovercraft I built was registered as a boat just because
the laws were vague and it kept me from getting harassed! I agree it
would be fun to have the winged one and mess with people! I'll tell
you, the guy that started and owns Universal Hovercraft is a real nice
guy. When I built mine many years ago, you could just call him for
advice.

What were the largest seas you were able to operate in, and was it
difficult to dock and undock in a breeze?

On May 16, 10:49*am, Wayne.B wrote:
On Thu, 15 May 2008 05:19:04 -0700 (PDT), wrote:
The ordinary hovercraft I built was registered as a boat just because
the laws were vague and it kept me from getting harassed! I agree it
would be fun to have the winged one and mess with people! I'll tell
you, the guy that started and owns Universal Hovercraft is a real nice
guy. When I built mine many years ago, you could just call him for
advice.

What were the largest seas you were able to operate in, and was it
difficult to dock and undock in a breeze?

They are a handful until you learn and understand some things! They'll
go through some waves, but kind of run into them as opposed to over
them because they are riding on air, until the hit the wave! I've been
on Tampa Bay with mine in some decent chop no problems. I used to take
it out and actually trout fish off of it in the bay and got caught in
a pre-thunderstorm wind that churned up the bay pretty good. You don't
have to be up to go forward, you can run it like a boat, which is what
I done to get back to the ramp. To dock, I'd always get it off of lift
and dock it like you'd dock an airboat. If you're up on lift, there's
just not enough drag to manuver well. Like, if you are running along
at a good clip, and want to stop there are two ways. You can either
get off of lift, or you can turn 180 degrees (like half a donut!) and
gas it to stop forward momentum.