Posted on 03/25/2020 7:23:30 AM PDT by Red Badger
Why in the front? Why not in the back?
So instead of getting into a “fender bender”, you’d get into an “ender blender”?
About 15 years ago or so, a local guy here in Indiana bought an air boat and took it out one the White River. He flipped it over and drowned on his first trip out.
Think it would have been messy if they hit a pedestrian - slice and dice.
Propellers are notoriously inefficient propulsion mechanisms.
Think NINJA...................as in Food Processor!..............
Very good!.....................
He was an airplane engineer........Old Habits are hard to break..............
I see what you did there.....................
Maybe meters were smaller back then.....................
This is a true story. Honest.
I was standing outside a furniture store waiting for my wife, and noticed, about eight or ten parking rows over, an auto accident. Not in motion, but just the cars sitting still.
It appeared that a car had gone out of control and climbed up the trunk of a car parked in a regular space in the row.
My wife came out, and we drove down to the wreck. It was not a wreck. I had seen the back of one of those new Aztecs.
Honest - I am not fibbing or exaggerating.
Compared to wheel or track driven traction drive. However, Propellers are far more efficient than turbojets.
This Graph does not include the efficiency gained from using an internal combustion engine rather than a turboshaft.
I always thought the Pacer had potential. The lines were smooth enough, the extra large right-side door was a good idea, and the visibility was as good as any car on the road. All it needed was a 400 hp+ V8, a good transmission, rear-end, and a few other touches (brakes, suspension, etc) and it could have been a winner!
“5-meter-wide airplane propeller”
Maybe that was the circumference? That’s all I could figure?
“About 15 years ago or so, a local guy here in Indiana bought an air boat and took it out one the White River. He flipped it over and drowned on his first trip out.”
I have owned 2 air boats and helped a friend build one. His was built on a rather narrow 14’ john boat. The first time he took his out he drove it around some before letting some of our buddies drive it. One ended up rolling and sinking it. He slid out to the edge of the river and got up against the side. No injuries.
Amazing the damage to a charged electrical system in brackish water.
Normal reaction when you get in trouble is to chop the throttle, which on a normal boat is great, but in an air boat causes a total loss of steering.
A good air boat will drive around on wet grass.
They look like a lot of fun.
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