This YouTube user aptly named “Papa” built a hovercraft for his kids. He wins the father of the week award. He could have just built vehicle with wheels and they would have been happy, but he went the extra mile and added hover capabilities.
Head over to YouTube to check out the video of the hovercraft in action.
Dads everywhere better pay attention and step up their game.
[via Viral Viral Videos via Neatorama]
No, inventor Jim Pitts didn’t quite replicate Back to the Future‘s hoverboard. His HoverSkater is a combination of a hovercraft and a longboard. It’s most likely the most affordable hovercraft you can get. I’m just not sure if you should get one.
Jim uses a longboard’s profile but with extended axles and of course hovercraft parts. He chose to keep the skateboard wheels because it added stability, especially since you have to stand on the board first before inflating the skirt. To help propel the HoverSkater forward, Jim placed a motor-driven wheel in the middle of the board. Jim says you can go up to 8 to 10mph on the HoverSkater.
Both the board’s motor and its LED lights are remote-controlled. Here’s Jim with more on the board’s parts:
Here he tests the HoverSkater with someone who’s trying it out for the first time:
The board works, but the commercial version needs to look much more refined than these prototypes. If you’re already sold, then pledge at least $1,400 (USD) on Kickstarter to get a HoverSkater as a reward. Your move Mattel.
[via Gadgetify]
I’m rather disappointed in the way some of the tech we have today has evolved. I was convinced as a kid by the time I was a grownup we would have flying cars and hovercraft motorcycles like Return of the Jedi’s speeder bikes. So far, neither of those things are commercially available for normal folk to buy.
Flying cars are being worked on (though they generally look like airplanes), and now a company has a sort of hoverbike in the works too. It might not speed through the forests of Endor, but the vehicle promises to fly about 10 feet above the ground, and speeds up to 45mph.
The dual-person hovercraft is called the Aero-X and is made by Aerofex, who showed off a large, but functional prototype of an earlier design a couple of years back.
It’s designed to be ridden like a motorcycle and uses a pair of ducted rotors to provide lift. The device is in the design stage at this time and its makers hope to put it into production by 2017, with an estimated price of $85,000(USD). You can secure a place in line by putting down a $5,000 deposit now.
[via The World's Best Ever via Laughing Squid]
When I think of hovercraft, I think of James Bond on a military ride that hovers fast and zips all over the place – not a golf cart. Perhaps this is what retired spies drive on the weekend.
The hover golf cart is powered by a 65hp twin-cylinder Hirth engine and its nine-blade axial-flow ducted fan propels the craft up to 45 mph and 9 inches off the ground. It will carry four passengers and two golf bags. This thing will let you golf in style while you are complaining about your aching hip and young people. Here’s some footage of PGA golfer Bubba Watson taking his hovercart for a spin:
Pretty sweet. If you like what this thing has to offer, it can be yours for $58,000(USD) over at Hammacher Schlemmer. Now you just have to find a golf course that is okay with it.
When we first saw the BW1 golf cart hovercraft, it's fair to say we were excited. But now -- if you've got burdensome disposable income -- you can buy one for yourself. If you're willing to drop the requisite $58,000, you can cruise the fairway (not to mention the rough and water obstacles) in a BW1 of your very own. It comes complete with a 65-hp twin-cylinder Hirth engine and a streamlined, sound minimizing fan that promises enough power to reach 45 mph and ferry two golfers plus caddies between holes. So, it may not be for those still improving their technique, but for the swinger that's got everything, it's the perfect ride for your trip to the floating golf course.
Filed under: Transportation
Via: Time
Source: Hammacher Schlemmer
Bubba Watson and Oakley are professional golfers who know what it is like to play golf for a long time and be stuck with a really boring golf cart.
They decided to go ahead and build a hovercraft in place of a regular golf cart. The hovercraft golf cart can slide ...
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While there's plenty of tech to improve your swing, the golf course itself doesn't see too much innovation which is why this attention-grab from Oakley and Bubba Watson is even more enjoyable. The audacious golfer decided that he was tired of pootling around courses in a golf buggy, so his new sponsors enlisted the help of Neoteric Hovercraft to build him a whip that isn't restricted to the cart path. In fact, with the BW1 hovercraft, Watson can take shortcuts across water hazards and through sand traps while shaded under the traditional golf buggy canopy -- making it the perfect ride for the eccentric 2012 Masters winner. If you'd like to see the other golfers stare in slack-jawed disbelief, then head on past the break for the video.
Filed under: Transportation
I have dreamed about owning a Landspeeder or a Speeder bike for ages. Now it looks like these vehicles might finally be becoming a reality thanks to a California-based company called Aerofex, which is using a similar hovering design in their vehicles.
The vehicle in the video below uses helicopter dynamics to lift and propel it across rough terrain.
They’ve managed to fix the stability issue by including a control bar at the the users knee level that allows the pilot to lean and balance the vehicle and keep it airborne.
The vehicle has been tested in California’s Mojave Desert and also in more crowded conditions. Right now, the Aerofex machine is being tested at a top speed of 30 mph and a max height of 15 feet above the ground. I can’t wait until we can buy these. Put two droids in the back and you are good to go.
