Sir, We use EA-81 (85 hp) and EJ-22 (140 hp) Subaru engines. They can be found from junk yards for under $ 600. Rebuilt engines go from $ 3,600 to $ 6,000. The 20 thousand dollar kit is a quick-build where much of the work is done for you. You can find details at Universal Hovercraft website under the 18SPW section.
I got to meet the inventor of this machine, he was very smart and down to earth. He appeared on the old tlc show junkyard wars, when they built hovercrafts. he was on the winning team naturally.. Bob Windt!! he took me a ride on one of his hovercrafts and halfway up the river he asked me if I wanted to drive it, totally awesome.. there's nothin like it..
Thanks! Ketchikan is on an island and among several dozen other islands that are separated by about 1/2 to 1 mile waterways. The water isn't too rough normally but it does get rough in storms. This seems like a really nice way to travel when island hopping and may be a better way than flying float plane where you really do need steel balls because they shake and crash so much.
In Miami, in 1973 there was a guy who had one and it ran on a Volkswagen engine. No licensing authority (city, county, state) would grant him approval to drive the thing ANYWHERE. With today's crowded city streets, alternatives like this are the answer.
If you looked at the title... flying ground effect hovercraft.. Universal hovercraft is A Hovercraft manufacturing company. And this is a conversion kit for one of their models, which changes it from a hover craft to a ground effect vehical
basically, its a rear prop plane that has short wings with a very high lift factor. even though the thing weighs a good bit, the engine is strong enough to keep speed for the wings to generate enough upward lift, but not to much. this craft is at almost a stall the entire flight
I looked at the non-winged rescue varient of this thing on their website... I could see the potential for the use of something like that along the Gulf Coast. Even outside of that one I do think that there are some interesting vehicles.
This is a very interesting vechile and although more research needs to be done, i believe that the wing profile and area maybe what is preventing this from actually flying. I build R/C aircraft and can see that these are the areas that may need to be addressed to correct the flight problem to some extent
@pitdog2010 The description tells us that the wings are detachable, and at 0:22 you can see it launced without wings as a true hovercraft. In fact this is very cool, a hovercraft/WIG hybrid which is completely capable of either mode. In no way can it be considered "1970's [sic] rubbish". There was nothing at all in the 1970s to compare with this. There were ekranoplans in the USSR that the west barely knew about, or there were hovercraft, but there were no hybrids like the Hoverwing.
That is correct. It's called the Ekranoplan. To explain to readers. It's not a hovercraft. It's a ground effect aircraft and needs forward motion to gain lift. There is no reason for the manufacturers not to put wheels on to make it an amphibious aircraft.
Actually the first and biggest (500+tons of flying weight) russian ekranopan "kaspian monster" designed and created as proof of concept. Next projects is smaller. Рroject 903 Harrier (missile carrier) designed not for nukes, but carries 6 heavy anti-naval rockets, and long-range radar, for quick, distant strikes, with stay out from enemy aircrafts. One more "ekranoplan" is project A-90 eaglet (marines transport, that can fly "normaly" if need)
The fact it has wings doesn't mean it's not a hovercraft. Any vehicle that stays off the ground on a downward-pointed cushion of air is still a hovercraft. The only difference is that this one has added wings to increase the potential height it can reach. That, however, does not negate the fact it's still a hovercraft.
Man I LOVE this thing ... I think of my brother and his boat, and how much better owing one of these and having it on the lake would be! Wonder what the cost is, and how hard to learn to fly?
its awsome i had a hovercraft and you enter the third dimension and you are flying especially when if you add wings your not touching the ground however you wanna call it very nice
Возглавлял работы по конструированию и испытанию техники для воздушного десантирования; разработал мотопланер «Г-31» (1932), транспортно-десантный самолет «Г-37» (1934). Также разработал самолеты: «Кукарача» (стреловидный бесхвостный самолёт Г-39), Г-38, Г−61, Г−63 и другие. Многим известен, как разработчик парашютных систем для десантирования техники.
Technically it's a hybrid of both ekranoplan and hovercraft. It still uses a hovercraft lift-cushion for low-speed manuvering and bringing it on land, even if the main mode of travel functions as an ekranoplan.
it is essentially a hovercraft adapted with wings to act like an Ekranoplan i could put stubbed wings on a car and place a fan on the back to achieve that constant take off effect that would make it "act" like an Ekranoplan, but it wont be as good as a real one
@rotglmao7 Trust me I am not confused. A hovercraft is not a futuristic machine that hovers feet above the ground like in star wars. It is a vehicle that "hovers" by forcing air out from under an inflatable skirt. They are also known as air cushion vehicles, and they have been around since the 50's. They do hover while standing still, although they tend to drift about. The vehicle in this vid is just a hovercraft that also has wings and can glide when it reaches high speeds.
***** lol, the armed one was called Lun :) And yes, you right, it did not come in the form of the kit. Thing was a beauty though. Too bad they discontinued them.
Look on there website. Basic kit costs $5900. Add another $2000 for the engine. You can buy the kits in varying stages of completion but they get a lot more expensive the more complete they are.
From what I understand, there are 2 modes that it can be operated in It can be either Hovercraft or Hove-rwing. But it needs a quick conversion. If that is the case, then we are both correct.
Yeah it does. Briefly... You can totally see the skirt at :18 and it is going over land at the very end. I didn't notice many places for an over land demonstration around there, did you?
No regulations needed. Ground effect relies on trapping air between the wing and the ground/water. It's incapable of going higher, because it loses lift immediately and drops back down.
well that thing certainly looks cool as hell. the only few problems i can see are the amount of attention it would draw and the danger of catchin a wingtip and rollin it lol but if i had the cash i would own one cause it's looks like a ton of fun hee hee
@rotglmao7 It is a hovercraft, though. It is hovering when it moves across the water, and when it gains enough speed it takes off. If you look at it closely you can see that it clearly has an inflatable skirt like a hovercraft rather than a hull like a boat. You can also see in the video that it can travel up onto the beach, meaning it is definitely hovering.
@shaky468 Technically it's neither. It does fly, but the altitude it can reach is limited by ground effect as the wings are too small to make it fly "for real". Ground effect vehicles are also classified as ships, so according to the government you're wrong :p
@thevikingwarrior11 ... quoted from the above description of this hover craft.. "Ground effect hovercraft operates over any terrain while cruising at an altitude of 4 to 12 feet"
Max altitude on this version is about 20 feet. You have to build up speed in ow ground effect to make a "jump". Its designed to fly in ground effect. Not enough horsepoper to fly any higher.
Somewhere in the world, a government bureaucrat's head has just exploded wondering exactly what license you will need for that.
Well said
Sir,
We use EA-81 (85 hp) and EJ-22 (140 hp) Subaru engines. They can be found from junk yards for under $ 600. Rebuilt engines go from $ 3,600 to $ 6,000.
The 20 thousand dollar kit is a quick-build where much of the work is done for you. You can find details at Universal Hovercraft website under the 18SPW section.
I visited these guys at their shop years ago. Pretty cool designs, though my dad and I never finished building our own hovercraft.
I got to meet the inventor of this machine, he was very smart and down to earth. He appeared on the old tlc show junkyard wars, when they built hovercrafts. he was on the winning team naturally.. Bob Windt!! he took me a ride on one of his hovercrafts and halfway up the river he asked me if I wanted to drive it, totally awesome.. there's nothin like it..
Thanks! Ketchikan is on an island and among several dozen other islands that are separated by about 1/2 to 1 mile waterways. The water isn't too rough normally but it does get rough in storms. This seems like a really nice way to travel when island hopping and may be a better way than flying float plane where you really do need steel balls because they shake and crash so much.
Take off speed is about 50 mph. Typically we fly at 55 to 65 mph depending on payload and conditions.
This is the best marketing I've ever seen for any product. I want one!
haha lol i love the tiny wind-shield wiper at the very beginning xD
Combination air cushion vehicle and wing-in-ground-effect machine - cool!
In Miami, in 1973 there was a guy who had one and it ran on a Volkswagen engine. No licensing authority (city, county, state) would grant him approval to drive the thing ANYWHERE. With today's crowded city streets, alternatives like this are the answer.
If you looked at the title... flying ground effect hovercraft.. Universal hovercraft is A Hovercraft manufacturing company. And this is a conversion kit for one of their models, which changes it from a hover craft to a ground effect vehical
basically, its a rear prop plane that has short wings with a very high lift factor. even though the thing weighs a good bit, the engine is strong enough to keep speed for the wings to generate enough upward lift, but not to much. this craft is at almost a stall the entire flight
I came for the sick soundtrack and left knowing that there were flying hovercrafts in 2009
Wow! This video and soundtrack must be 20 years old.
this isn't the original soundtrack
i like the little wind shield wiper on the boat/plane
I looked at the non-winged rescue varient of this thing on their website... I could see the potential for the use of something like that along the Gulf Coast. Even outside of that one I do think that there are some interesting vehicles.
You don't see these everyday. Remarkable piece of engineering.
Going higher means risking crashing and burning. It does what it does very well. Nice machine.
This is a very interesting vechile and although more research needs to be done, i believe that the wing profile and area maybe what is preventing this from actually flying. I build R/C aircraft and can see that these are the areas that may need to be addressed to correct the flight problem to some extent
@pitdog2010 The description tells us that the wings are detachable, and at 0:22 you can see it launced without wings as a true hovercraft. In fact this is very cool, a hovercraft/WIG hybrid which is completely capable of either mode. In no way can it be considered "1970's [sic] rubbish". There was nothing at all in the 1970s to compare with this. There were ekranoplans in the USSR that the west barely knew about, or there were hovercraft, but there were no hybrids like the Hoverwing.
A helluva lot more practical than a normal hovercraft.
song is 'brokenkites - disconnect'
the entire song is not on youtube but if you google for it you can find it.
Spretty damn bad ass. You'd be the coolest kid at the lake.
you know what be awesome if they had a deathrace versions of these hovercraft
I will promote these in Florida , bring me 2 to demonstrate 👍
That is correct. It's called the Ekranoplan. To explain to readers. It's not a hovercraft. It's a ground effect aircraft and needs forward motion to gain lift. There is no reason for the manufacturers not to put wheels on to make it an amphibious aircraft.
perfect to have when you drive to fast on the sea and cops comming after you :D
Ooo I like the music.
Actually the first and biggest (500+tons of flying weight) russian ekranopan "kaspian monster" designed and created as proof of concept. Next projects is smaller. Рroject 903 Harrier (missile carrier) designed not for nukes, but carries 6 heavy anti-naval rockets, and long-range radar, for quick, distant strikes, with stay out from enemy aircrafts. One more "ekranoplan" is project A-90 eaglet (marines transport, that can fly "normaly" if need)
The fact it has wings doesn't mean it's not a hovercraft. Any vehicle that stays off the ground on a downward-pointed cushion of air is still a hovercraft. The only difference is that this one has added wings to increase the potential height it can reach.
That, however, does not negate the fact it's still a hovercraft.
Man I LOVE this thing ... I think of my brother and his boat, and how much better owing one of these and having it on the lake would be!
Wonder what the cost is, and how hard to learn to fly?
I don't think the general public is ready for this... but I am
its awsome i had a hovercraft and you enter the third dimension and you are flying especially when if you add wings your not touching the ground however you wanna call it very nice
The craft is easy to fly. No pilot license required. The craft does not stall - it will simply make a smooth landing if airspeed gets to slow.
Очень жаль, что экранопланы так мало распространены. Самый безопасный вид транспорта. Конструктор Алексеев был великим человеком. 🤔
Возглавлял работы по конструированию и испытанию техники для воздушного десантирования; разработал мотопланер «Г-31» (1932), транспортно-десантный самолет «Г-37» (1934). Также разработал самолеты: «Кукарача» (стреловидный бесхвостный самолёт Г-39), Г-38, Г−61, Г−63 и другие.
Многим известен, как разработчик парашютных систем для десантирования техники.
It's amazing how I start out looking at one thing, then totally end up looking up random videos like this.
Only on youtube.
That looks like too much fun!
Damn what a classic video with classic comments. It feels like 2009 in this comment section.🤣
bravo, need 10 of these.
Technically it's a hybrid of both ekranoplan and hovercraft. It still uses a hovercraft lift-cushion for low-speed manuvering and bringing it on land, even if the main mode of travel functions as an ekranoplan.
no safety gear. i cant even see a seat belt. i am impressed
My dream, is to fly...
Over the rainbow so high!
it is essentially a hovercraft adapted with wings to act like an Ekranoplan
i could put stubbed wings on a car and place a fan on the back to achieve that constant take off effect that would make it "act" like an Ekranoplan, but it wont be as good as a real one
Not fake at all. You will see on our website that we have been delivering these to customers around the world for more than 12 years.
Some crazy kid is Gina build this out of plywood and leaf blowers. Bazinga
They should make a flying version for people with pilot's licenses
@rotglmao7 Trust me I am not confused. A hovercraft is not a futuristic machine that hovers feet above the ground like in star wars. It is a vehicle that "hovers" by forcing air out from under an inflatable skirt. They are also known as air cushion vehicles, and they have been around since the 50's. They do hover while standing still, although they tend to drift about. The vehicle in this vid is just a hovercraft that also has wings and can glide when it reaches high speeds.
beautiful toy. but Caspian Sea Monster was before that :)
***** lol, the armed one was called Lun :) And yes, you right, it did not come in the form of the kit. Thing was a beauty though. Too bad they discontinued them.
***** a lot of things broke down when USSR went down, not all were bad....
1. Try biplane with joined wing tips, transparent for best view.
2. Electrical drive of each fan, with common turbine generator.
Look on there website. Basic kit costs $5900. Add another $2000 for the engine. You can buy the kits in varying stages of completion but they get a lot more expensive the more complete they are.
From what I understand, there are 2 modes that it can be operated in It can be either Hovercraft or Hove-rwing. But it needs a quick conversion. If that is the case, then we are both correct.
seems like we'll be able to play real life diddy kong racing
I know what I want for my birthday!!
now that's a flying vehicle
Man, when I was a kid, I dreamed of a thing that looked EXACTLY like that, only red
now i think we will have hovering cars in the soon futureits gonna be awsome omfg im soo excited
That is BEAUTIFUL!
Yeah it does. Briefly... You can totally see the skirt at :18 and it is going over land at the very end. I didn't notice many places for an over land demonstration around there, did you?
This is fantastic and it looks like so much fun
This is amazing! Flying. Ground effect. Hovercraft. It's a flying oxymoron
that's Jetsons stuff right there. Mad props. not regular but Mad props.
The hovercraft's paint job kind of reminds me of G1 Seaspray
Nice fix for all those damn no wake zones.
Sure it can go higher. The height is approx. equal to 1/2 the wing span. gull wings on the tips of the wings would help stability at speed.
I'll put an order in for one tomorrow.
Think of the fun with Sasquatch you can have with this thing!!
No regulations needed. Ground effect relies on trapping air between the wing and the ground/water. It's incapable of going higher, because it loses lift immediately and drops back down.
Thats...so........COOL!!!!! :)
I read on MSN where it's about $200,000.00 (not including monthly/yearly maintenance)
well that thing certainly looks cool as hell. the only few problems i can see are the amount of attention it would draw and the danger of catchin a wingtip and rollin it lol but if i had the cash i would own one cause it's looks like a ton of fun hee hee
Yes. the Honda VTEC engine would work on this craft. Some adjustments would have to be made to the engine mount.
@rotglmao7 It is a hovercraft, though. It is hovering when it moves across the water, and when it gains enough speed it takes off. If you look at it closely you can see that it clearly has an inflatable skirt like a hovercraft rather than a hull like a boat. You can also see in the video that it can travel up onto the beach, meaning it is definitely hovering.
now thats what i call an all-terain vehicle
I cant belive my eyes.. who am i not a test driver for that vehicle? fucking hell, its SICK
Kennie Diamond SICK is the music to such a clip
***** First off.. You do realize that im not a native english/american speaking individual right? secondly, Grow up..
@metacosmos - why not? A desert is sand, and hovercrafts work on beaches just fine.
I believe it's horsepower determines when it becomes an aircraft, not the height it flies at.
ive noticed something-all hovercraft youtube videos look like 1990s VHS quality. Did it not catch on after its inception?
You could say...it never took off. *insert rimshot*
get it? because it's a ground effect vehicle?
@@CathodeRayKobold 🙄🙄🙄
😝😝😝
nice application of the russian ekranoplan ground effects tech.
it looks it it'd work very well in a desert too.
Super pour des interventions rapide !
big pimpin with this thing at the lake
Wow if I can buy this without having to make it then I would this is legendary
Your own personal WIG! cool! =D
@shaky468 Technically it's neither. It does fly, but the altitude it can reach is limited by ground effect as the wings are too small to make it fly "for real". Ground effect vehicles are also classified as ships, so according to the government you're wrong :p
Generally, if you aren't near an airport, you can fly up to 700 ft Above Ground Level without a license in anything you want.
Pilot: Ground effect is used in take off's to gain the speed before you go for altitude.
How cool is this.
Holy damn that looks fun
@thevikingwarrior11 ... quoted from the above description of this hover craft.. "Ground effect hovercraft operates over any terrain while cruising at an altitude of 4 to 12 feet"
Great video's Mike. I start watching your video's and lose track of time.
the combination of the music and the flying rowboat made me come in my pants.
Max altitude on this version is about 20 feet. You have to build up speed in ow ground effect to make a "jump". Its designed to fly in ground effect. Not enough horsepoper to fly any higher.
Oh hot damn, this is my jam.
Think of all the hilarious mid-air crashes in ChinaTown in Rush Hour traffic !
this is pretty cool
If not the loudness it'd be really cool, however we should slowly invent more "friendly" levitating technologies.
the right conditions is speed creating lift with the wings.
Very impressive
Very neat kit would love to have one.