To say that
Neoteric Founder/President Chris Fitzgerald has devoted his life to hovercraft
is no exaggeration. He began designing award-winning hovercraft in his early teens and quickly
attracted the interest of the Aeronautical Research Laboratories in Melbourne,
Australia, who hired him as a technical assistant.
Here’s an article the Melbourne Sun published about Fitzgerald in the early 1960s …
YOUNG AUSTRALIAN BUILDS HOVERCRAFT
A young
Australian, Christopher Fitzgerald, is anxiously awaiting the results of this
year’s Science Talent Search.
Christopher’s
main interest in life lies with hovercraft, and last year he won £10 in the
same competition for the design of a wind tunnel for use in the design of these
oddly shaped means of transport. He is hoping for even greater success this
time.
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| Christopher Fitzgerald with his experimental hovercraft. |
Christopher
has recently left school and has found himself a job at the Aeronautical
Research Laboratories in Melbourne. There he is doing the thing he most wants
to do - working with hovercraft.
“Three years ago,” he said, “I was reading an article in a magazine about one of these strange
crafts. At that time little was known about them. I became very interested and
later built my first one, which was three feet by three feet, and constructed
from balsa wood. It weighed a total of 6 lb. including the engine, which was a
3.5 c.c. model aeroplane one.
“It could carry a payload of 28 lb.
but the weight was hard to distribute. To a degree I overcame this problem by
building four little boxes on each of the corners of the hovercraft and these
were filled with weights until it balanced from its point of gravity, which in
my case was the prop on the engine.”
Carry More
“In comparison with a model plane with
the same size engine, it was found that the plane could carry only 3 lb., but
the hovercraft could take 28 lb.
“Studying further, I found that a wind
tunnel would be a great asset to the construction and designing of hovercraft,
so I set about to build one. The first attempt was made out of wood and sheet
metal.
“It was 15 feet long and had a vacuum
cleaner engine, but this did not satisfy my needs. I then built another which was
all metal and 18 feet long with a 5 phase electric motor with an air speed of
50 m.p.h.
“With this tunnel I won my £10 at the Science
Talent Search but even so, it still does not do all I want it to do. I plan now
to lengthen it and install a 28 h.p. truck engine with an estimated airspeed of
100 m.p.h.”
Christopher’s
next hovercraft was constructed of aluminum and weighed 10 lb., being powered by
a bigger engine than the first. He has made a number of attempts to use the air
jets as a means of propulsion, but to date, none has been successful.
On Display
“Early last year when the Avalon
pageant was announced, The Ultra Light Aircraft Association, of which I am a
member, asked me to display my hovercraft on their stand.”
Since
then, Christopher has taken his interest further by started a Hovercraft
Research Association in Australia.
“We intend to develop hovercraft as a
means of transport,” he
said. “The reasons for such hopes are
that we believe these craft to be the potential machine to revolutionise
transport.
“A full-scale research plan has been
started for the eventual building of a prototype machine.”
Because
his interest in the air is not entirely limited to hovercraft, Christopher is
also keen to learn to fly, and recently he and a friend bought a Puss Moth with
money they earned from week-end clearing jobs. His pilot’s license is the next
step.
