Air Boat on Deep Water?

[harringtondav]

I heard this thing rumbling for 40 seconds as it idled up our slough. He opened it up in front of me. Clearly a big block engine. For the noise and power it uses it doesn't move very fast....not compared to a big block glass boat.

It made my ears hurt from 200' away. I can't imagine sitting on it, even with ear protection.

 

[Scott Danforth]

most inefficient method of boating as you have the drag of the water and the high prop slip, however a must in swamps where you dont have much water. slightly better than a hovercraft.

see a lot of them down here. most are now running EFI LS motors

 

[aspeck]

A friend of mine, now deceased, made an airboat. He was so proud of that thing and ran in on Lake Raystown (depths of 190 feet). Very inefficient, but fun. You can't hear much or communicate while under power, but at WOT the noise is behind you so you mostly just hear the wind whipping past your ears. Ear protection is highly recommended, however and they are fun ... don't turn worth a darn, but fun!

Edit ... where the boat shone was on the river ... the reinforced bottom skimmed over the rocks and shallows ... wasn't any place we couldn't go ...

 

[82rude]

I drove one years ago on lake superior.It was powered by a vw engine.Had the turning radius of a battleship.

 

[harringtondav]

I drove one years ago on lake superior.It was powered by a vw engine.Had the turning radius of a battleship.

I assumed these don't have nimble handling. I've wondered if they have a propeller pitch reverse? Maybe the push pole gets them backed out.

 

[gm280]

Never drove one or even ridden in one, but for some reason they look neat. I wouldn't mind having one. But like anything else, the engine noise could be arrested and still have power. And I am sure it too would get old after the new-nest and fun subsided... JMHO

 

[DeepCMark58A]

A friend of mine, now deceased, made an airboat. He was so proud of that thing and ran in on Lake Raystown (depths of 190 feet). Very inefficient, but fun. You can't hear much or communicate while under power, but at WOT the noise is behind you so you mostly just hear the wind whipping past your ears. Ear protection is highly recommended, however and they are fun ... don't turn worth a darn, but fun!

Edit ... where the boat shone was on the river ... the reinforced bottom skimmed over the rocks and shallows ... wasn't any place we couldn't go ...

Was on a fire in cat tails the local VFD had an airboat it did go thru anything until it hit the area that had already burned. Dead stop. must have been the friction of the ash.

 

[aspeck]

Friction kills ya!

And concerning the back-up, there is a reverse on most, I believe, but there isn't much control in direction and there better not be much friction on the bottom of the boat. When starting from land, go forward only! And turning on land isn't very good either ... go straight ahead till you hit water again and keep it floored!

 

[DeepCMark58A]

Needless to say a boat that generates a great deal of air flow is no good on a fire in cat tails.

 

[aspeck]

Needless to say a boat that generates a great deal of air flow is no good on a fire in cat tails.

When I was working at the Marina years ago, a cruiser was fueling and caught fire. We pushed it away from the gas docks pretty quickly, but a guy wanted to help so he pulls his jet boat up to the cruiser, tilts the jet up and hits the throttle ... the water from the jet mostly misses the fire and pushes the boat right back to the gas dock! We pushed it out again and yelled at him to get away! The boat burnt down to the water level, but the gas docks and the rest of the marina were spared!

 

[harringtondav]

When I was working at the Marina years ago, a cruiser was fueling and caught fire. We pushed it away from the gas docks pretty quickly, but a guy wanted to help so he pulls his jet boat up to the cruiser, tilts the jet up and hits the throttle ... the water from the jet mostly misses the fire and pushes the boat right back to the gas dock! We pushed it out again and yelled at him to get away! The boat burnt down to the water level, but the gas docks and the rest of the marina were spared!

I'm no firefighter, but I know you don't use water on a fuel or oil fire.