Hovercraft were invented 50 years ago, yet according to the media, many people think that hovercraft vanished about 20 years later. This misconception once again proves that you should never believe what you read in the newspapers. As Mark Twain might have said "The reports of the death of hovercraft are greatly exaggerated"
Hovercraft production continues to increase and new manufacturing methods and materials are reducing the cost of ownership to make mass adoption more likely. Hovercraft are now more affordable and smaller versions make leisure ownership possible. 50 years from now, with seawaters rising as a result of global warming, perhaps we will all drive hovercraft instead of cars.
50 years from now, flooding will be more common, and hovercraft will be necessary to assist rescue operations. More people will get cut off by rising tides, and will need rescuing from mud and quicksand. As winter temperatures rise, ice will thin, and use of snowmobiles over icy lakes will become even more precarious, as will skating on thin ice.
Higher water levels are changing the landscape and maps are being revised to ensure their accuracy against satellite and GPS data. As we have seen this year, flooding can cause expensive damage and seriously disrupt our lives. The commuter hovercraft might be more practical than the car for getting to work. It will be quicker to take the hovercraft to work and cross the lake or river than take the car along congested roads.
In trying to predict future trends, commentators have to consider changing circumstances; improvements in affordability of hovercraft will aid mass adoption. For the hovercraft to be universally accepted, we need to look at developments that are taking place with smaller hovercraft. As with the motorcar, affordability is the key to mass adoption.
Large hovercraft remain expensive, so mass adoption of hovercraft will be driven by the development and affordability of personal leisure hovercraft. These smaller hovercraft versions are already starting to make a big impact on commercial activities such as rescue, commercial surveying etc.
Leisure hovercraft are fun to fly, comfortable to drive with inbuilt air suspension and easy to operate. Simply twist the throttle, and feel the air inflate the hovercraft skirt, to gently raise you up and thrust you forward on your friction-free journey of exploration. Experience the freedom of flying down the beach or slipway, and enjoy the smooth transition from land over water. Imagine the freedom of use 24/7; with no restrictions imposed by low tide, you just fly out to sea, over the mud or sand.
Boat and Jet Ski owners await the tide, and need to plan their voyages according to the restrictions imposed by tidal streams. Boat owners need to watch out for submerged rocks and coral, hovercraft owners fear not, as hovercraft have no propellers to get damaged; they just fly out over the mud or sand whenever they like. It takes only a short time for users to get the feeling and control of anti gravitational flight. Personal hovercraft can travel at speeds of up to 40 miles per hour, race craft go even faster, but with friction free transport, any small hovercraft will guarantee the hover experience adrenalin rush. A number of entrepreneurial operators now offer Hovercraft experience days to passengers to experience water to land transitions, or allow one to master the controls of leisure hovercraft.
UK based manufacturer Reaction International Ltd is currently enjoying considerable success with a small 3-person hovercraft known as the Hov Pod.
All hovercraft are weight dependent, and in the past, hobbyists and enthusiasts have raced each other on weekends on home made craft made from very thin GRP to reduce weight to a minimum. Race hovercraft can achieve speeds of up to 70 miles per hour, but lightweight construction often compromises durability, so the Hov Pod hull is designed principally for the commercial & leisure market from a material known as HDPE, or High Density Polyethylene.
New lightweight engine developments make leisure hovercraft suitable for use as rescue hovercraft for flooded ground, also ice and mud rescue. Every year people succumb to drowning and hypothermia after falling through the ice. Accidents occur through ice fishing, or the use of snowmobiles traveling over thin ice (global warming affects ice thickness). In colder climates, dog owners regularly throw sticks for their poops to trustingly fetch from iced over lakes. Alas, too frequently, dog owners routinely fall through the ice trying to save their furry friends, as emotion overcomes logic. (Humans are usually heavier than dogs so more likely to fall through the ice) Rescue boats are pretty useless on ice and mud, and in cold conditions, hypothermia is a real danger, as it slows your senses and mobility. Small hovercraft are quickly able to reach victims as they hover above any flat surface, and do so without exposing rescuers to the perils that face the victims. (rescue them, don't join them)
Rescue boats also fail during flooding, since propellers get snarled on submerged street furniture and wire fences straddled across fields. Hovercraft have no propellers so have no problems with submerged obstacles during flooding emergencies, in fact Hovercraft are happy traveling over any flat surface.
Small hovercraft are easier to transport than their larger cousins, so are in great demand for homeland security patrols to protect citizens from acts of terrorism and cross border incursions such as the recent terrorist activities in Mumbai. Smaller patrol hovercraft deployed over a larger area can be more effective than one or two larger patrol craft. Hovercraft have no propellers to get snagged on the roots of mangrove trees. Hovercraft can patrol coastal regions to prevent incursions from drug and people traffickers. Hovercraft are less likely to set off mines, and provide a far more stable platform compared to boats; this is useful when firing off warning shots.
Will hovercraft still be around 50 years from now? We certainly think so. New technology provides techniques such as computer-aided-design to engineer parts with tolerances far tighter than possible 50 years ago. Computers communicate with robotic CNC machinery to produce the engineering parts to extremely tight tolerances to reduce vibration and wear and reduce noise. Regulators in some countries continue to try classifying hovercraft as boats or planes (You it mean it flies like a plane, but it goes on the water?) But there is no turning back for the hovercraft, they are here to stay, and news of their terminal demise by the media may be a little inaccurate and ignorant of the current speed of development. Hovercraft are fun, adaptable, useful, great for commuting across rivers and lakes, reaching lakeside property, rescue, patrol, environmental surveys, commercial applications, shell fishing and indeed fun.
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