New Personal Hovercraft Designed for the Marine Leisure Market
by Kevin Urban
Remote control hovercraft have been a popular "boys-toy" recently, and many have wondered what it must be actually like to drive a personal hovercraft for real. The Hov Pod is a new three-person small leisure personal hovercraft designed and manufactured for marine leisure use.
While PWC users and boaters wait for high tide, Hov Pod Personal Hovercraft users are off and away over mud, sand, shingle, grass, ice, in fact any flat surface. They can hover over objects like car tyres, with clearance of up to 8.5 inches. They make an ideal vehicle for inshore rescue, particularly in situations where mud or ice poses a threat.
Of course, Personal Hovercraft aren't new, but it has taken a long time for leisure hovercraft ownership to become viable. Most people perceive hovercraft to be large, noisy commercial vessels, or small home made kit hovercraft that take time to make and are often hard to handle. The Hov Pod dispenses with the conventional lift engine, and uses one engine to generate air to lift the craft, and to propel it at speeds approaching 45 miles per hour. One engine makes flying easier, the craft less noisy, and easier to maintain. Previous designs for small hovercraft have not always performed well on water, and suddenly stop by "ploughing-in", a term to describe when the nose of the hovercraft dips into the water, causing sudden deceleration, and craft and passengers to part company. Floatation and restarting on water have also been problems to overcome.
The Hov Pod development team have spent 7 years to develop the craft specifically for marine leisure use, and consequently, the personal hovercraft is suitable for salt water use, has never ploughed in, and has no trouble "getting over hump" a term to describe the difficulty some craft have to generate sufficient power to start on water and more forward on the cushion of air. According to engine size, payload for the Hov Pod on water starts is 550 pounds (250 kilos) or 725 pounds (330 kilos, according to engine size, and the craft can carry three adults, or one adult and three small children. Driving a Hov Pod Personal Hovercraft is easy, although the experience challenges your natural instincts, and this is what makes hovercraft as a hobby very exciting. For example, PWCs and Boats usually stop when they return to the beach or slipway, whereas the Hov Pod just keeps going! With this new found freedom, you can use sandbars and mudflats to have fun, turning the craft into graceful loops, sliding, gliding, or into tight 180 turns or 360 spins, a bit like a sit-down skateboard and magic carpet combined. And because you have a cushion of air underneath you, there is no discernable join when land meets sea, not heavy jolting to jar your lower back, you just skim out over a river or lake, great for coastal properties cut off at low tide (Realtors take note!). Hov Pods are far more versatile than land based "all-terrain" vehicles too, better than a Quad-bike on water, better than a PWC on land! No need to wade into the wet stuff to hitch the trailer, Hov Pods just hover up the slipway or beach, thus enabling passengers to step out onto dry land.
The Hov Pod Personal Hovercraft offers enormous fun and excitement, and the ultimate adrenalin rush, without compromising safety for driver and passengers. They are easy to tow with purpose designed one-man operated trailer, to allow you to explore far-flung places, to reach the parts that other people never see. Being above the water has other benefits, you don't get pushed along by tidal streams, or need to worry about submerged rocks or coral, so exploring is much easier; and the craft are light enough to be lifted onto bigger yachts to use as tenders. Hov Pods are environmentally friendly craft, as they do not have propellers to damage the marine environment, or pump exhaust gas into the sea. Hov Pods have a very light footprint, weighing less than a seagull standing on one leg. There are many commercial applications for the craft too - of particular interest for rescue organisations, ideal craft for rescue from mud-flats, sand, swamps, floods, shallow rivers, iced over lakes, or areas where there might be submerged rocks or coral."
Manufactured in Southampton, England, close to where the first Hovercraft were developed and tested, Hov Pods Personal Hovercrafts are enjoying tremendous success and are now being exported all over the world.
About the Author
Kevin Urban is the editor for Inflatable-Boats-N-Kayaks.com, a comprehensive consumer guide on inflatable fishing kayaks, new and used inflatable boats, catamarans and personal personal hovercrafts.
