Free Republic

Hovercraft were a quick way to zip across the world's waterways but were noisy and expensive to operate. Could they be about to enjoy a second wind? The 12.30pm midweek hovercraft departure from Portsmouth is already respectably half-full when we step on board. Marketed as the world's only year-round scheduled passenger hovercraft service, the Union Jack-emblazoned machine flies for a thrilling 10 minutes, hovering just inches above the water’s surface. It is the fastest way to reach Ryde on the Isle of Wight, a Detroit-sized island off the south coast of England. A rival vehicle, the FastCat ferry, takes more...

Russia and South Korea are expected to shortly sign a contract under which Russia will build several air cushion amphibious assault landing craft Murena-E for South Korea, an informed source from the Russian delegation to INDO Defence 2014 exhibition told TASS on Thursday. “South Korea already ordered three boats in 2004 and is very satisfied with their operational capabilities, seeking to buy several more that would be upgraded a bit,” he said, adding that India and Turkey are also viewing the purchase of Murena craft. The source said all modifications have already been added in a new project. “We expect...

N. Korean hovercrafts can launch surprise attacks on South North Korea has been constructing a new base for hovercrafts, which are capable of carrying out raids at high speeds, near the western sea border, a report said Saturday. They would pose a serious threat to the South as they could launch surprise attacks on five islands near the West Sea border, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported, quoting military sources. Hovercrafts travel four or five times faster than other landing vessels. It would be easy for the aircushioned vehicles to carry out raids on the South’s west coast as they can...

In what may be one of the most shocking stories of the year, a man in China died after having an eel inserted into his rectum. Doctors who treated the victim in the Sichuan Province, did not know how the man met his demise until they performed an autopsy and discovered an Asian swamp eel up his backside.

Ukraine military hovercraft to equip Chinese navy Posted : Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:17:37 GMT Kiev - China's navy is to purchase four Ukrainian military hovercraft in a 315-million-dollar deal potentially shifting the South China Sea naval balance, the Interfax news agency reported. A shipbuilding firm in Ukraine's Black Sea port Feodosia will construct two Zubr (translation - Bison) class craft, and a second pair of vessels will be built in China under the supervision of Ukrainian technicians. A Ukrainian government publication listing state contracts confirmed the order without giving its value. Officials at the Morye shipyard in Feodosia declined...

  In a move that will cheer up lovers of vehicles that can travel on both water and (very flat) land, students at a German engineering university have built a one-person hovercraft that uses an air thrust system to move and steer.Folks over at the Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences use a pneumatic propeller that pushes air through two channels. Each of the channels has a pair of flaps that behave like the thrust-reversing system of a turbo-drive to help a user easily maneuver left or right, go in reverse, and brake.The way the project is set up hints that...

N.Korea Develops High-Speed Military Hovercraft The North Korean Navy has reportedly developed and deployed high-speed military hovercraft. A military source in Seoul said Sunday the North developed the hovercraft with its own technology apparently to target South Korean high-speed patrol boats. The North Korean vessels are 38 m long and 12 m wide with a top speed of 90 km/h. They have 56 mm and 30 mm machine guns at the head and the stern. North Korean hovercraft landing vessels, which are presumed to be similar to Pyongyang’s newly deployed high-speed war hovercraft. South Korean military authorities say they...

A fetus doesn't count as a passenger in the carpool lane, an Arizona judge has ruled. The Phoenix Municipal Court decision doesn't affect drivers in high-occupancy-vehicle lanes around, say, Vancouver or Toronto, but it addresses a thorny question that may have occurred to some. Candace Dickinson, 23, of Ahwatukee Foothills, Ariz., got a ticket for driving alone in an HOV lane on Interstate 10 on Nov. 8. She fought it in court on grounds that she was pregnant at the time, the Arizona Republic reported. Judge Dennis Freeman rejected her argument on Tuesday. For HOV purposes, a person is someone...

Roadormance trial on a special rescue hovercraft has been completed in Russia’s northern city of Arkhangelsk. A universal seven-seater hovercraft Mars-700, which has just undergone the trial in the water area near the city beach, was designed in Nizhny Novgorod. The vessel can cover 1,000 km at a speed of up to 70 km per hour. By the way, but for an unlucky accident, the northern rescuers would hardly get such a hovercraft. Director of the regional rescue service, Igor Polivanny says, last year Governor Yefremov saw himself how difficult it was for rescuers to get through the deep snow...

The Associated Press Published: May 22, 2002 WASHINGTON (AP) - The Immigration and Naturalization Service plans to use hovercraft and pepperballs, plastic containers filled with debilitating pepper, to improve border safety in the Southwest. INS Commissioner James Ziglar planned to announce details of the border security plan Thursday during stops in Arizona and California. Spokesman Bill Strassberger said Wednesday the program will raise vigilance and reduce dangers along the most perilous sections of the border, in southwestern Arizona and southeastern California. The INS said the safety plan will include placing hovercraft along All-American Canal, about 150 miles east of San...