Commerical Hovercraft

The Role of Hovercraft in Commercial Applications

HOVERTOURS:

Hovercraft can be used at vacation destinations to give tours of otherwise inaccessible areas such as coastal reefs or swamps.

Our hovercraft have been used in both the Bahamas and Australia by business owners who want an extra edge and intrigue to draw customers to their resorts.

WINTER ISLAND HOME MAINTENANCE:

Our hovercraft have been used in by maintenance crew to service island homes during the winter making sure that their utilities and other essentials are being taken care of so there will be no surprises when their occupants return in the spring.

PIPELINE INSPECTION AND MAINTENANCE:

TC Brown has been in the natural gas production business for over 60 years. Most of his 315 gas wells are located in an overflow swamp area. When the water rises in the fall the wells are inaccessible by boat, truck, airboat, helicopter and other type of craft.

TC Brown said, "some people in Louisiana thought I was crazy, (a hovercraft in Louisiana in a swamp and overflow areas), but I laughed all the way to the bank."

He used his hovercraft to gain access to problem areas in his pipeline system that would have closed the pipeline down resulting in lost profit. By being able to access and fix the problems he was able to save his company over $200,000 in the last two years.

SURVEYING:

LandPlan Engineering in Kansas provides hydrographic surveying services. They survey bodies of water to determine depth of flow or impoundment volumes. They use their hovercraft when encountering sand bars or swift currents which previously would have been obstacles to completing their work. They also use the hovercraft while determining impoundment volumes for detention structures as well as ground lines for boat ramps and beaches.

ENVIRONMENTAL DRILLING:

The Hoverprobe 2000 was developed for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in close collaboration with MPI Drilling of Picton, Ontario, Canada. The hi-tech METADRILL multi-sonic drill rig fitted inside the center of the craft is used by the USGS to take core samples down to 100 feet while the craft is floating on shallow water or sitting on mudflats. The Hoverprobe 2000 opened up new vistas of exploration for geologists to collect data for the first time in areas of terrain previously inaccessible for core sampling.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ANALYSIS:

Hovercraft can be used as transport vehicles in environmental impact projects to minimize damage to the earths surface and get to otherwise inaccessible areas.

Víglundur Guðmundsson and three other people from Landsvirkjun, the National Power Company in Iceland, used a hovercraft to fly over a terrain called þjórsáver during an environmental impact project. The terrain, only found in Iceland, consists of moss over wet sand and leaves footprints when walked on.

Ecology and Environment, Inc. utilized our hovercraft in Kuwait's muddy intertidal zone to reach previously inaccessible areas to take core samples and survey the environmental damage inflicted by the 1991 Persian Gulf War old fires.

To see a hovercraft in action and to receive assistance in assessing the value of a hovercraft in your business or organization, contact us.