Neoteric Military Hovercraft In Use Around the World

When you think of military hovercraft, typically what comes to mind are the U.S. Navy’s 100-ton LCAC (Landing Craft Air Cushion) and the new generation of SSCs (Ship-to-Shore Connectors). But light hovercraft, such as the Neoteric Military HoverTrek™, are gaining increasing global recognition as an essential vehicle for military operations.

Watch Neoteric’s military light hovercraft in action below. This particular craft, operated by Hovercraft Training Centers, was engineered as a potential training apparatus for LCAC pilots and navigators …

Neoteric Hovercraft in Viet Nam:

Last year the Viet Nam military purchased two Neoteric hovercraft to be used by their Ministry of National Defense, which coordinates both military and civil forces in disaster relief and search and rescue operations. The craft were quickly recognized as crucial equipment for the Viet Nam People’s Army, and they recently purchased two additional 6-passenger models.

Steve Stafford, Neoteric’s Law Enforcement Liaison and HTC’s Flight Instructor, recently trained additional military personnel on Suoi Hai Lake at the Army’s Emergency Response Training Facility near Hanoi. The training captured the interest of first responders from a fire department near Ho Chi Minh City, who flew in to observe, and Stafford gave them a demo flight …

Neoteric Hovercraft in Pakistan:

Two Neoteric military hovercraft are used by the Pakistan Air Force for rescue operations. Pakistan and surrounding nations rely heavily on the PAF for tsunami, cyclone, earthquake and flood rescue and relief operations ...

Neoteric Hovercraft in Kuwait:

Neoteric hovercraft were used on Kuwait's intertidal zone to survey the environmental damage inflicted by the 1991 Persian Gulf War oil fires. The hovercraft were the only vehicles capable of operating on the thick mud ...

Neoteric Hovercraft in South Korea:

In South Korea, the Neoteric hovercraft was introduced to U.S. and South Korean Generals during a joint military exercise. The craft was also used to demonstrate the concept and feasibility for dragging plastic fuel pipeline over tidal mudflats …

Neoteric Hovercraft in the United States:

Tetra Tech, a California-based global firm, conducts unexploded ordnance detection and remediation for the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and commercial clients. This year, their custom Neoteric HoverTrek™ was used in an MEC/UXO remedial investigation at a Defense Environmental Restoration Program (DERP) for Formerly Used Defense sites (FUDS) area in the Caribbean. The site was an impact range for aerial bombs and rockets, missiles, mortars and naval projectiles from 1903 until 1975. 

The site consists of shallow water with listed and protected coral reefs inches below the surface; the hovercraft was the only vehicle that could conduct the project without damaging the corals ... 

Read more about the Tetra Tech project ...

The Utah Test and Training Range at Hill Air Force base operates two Neoteric military hovercraft. In 2006, one of the craft rescued a downed F-16 pilot who crashed on the Great Salt Lake mudflats, where no other vehicle could travel. Prior to their hovercraft purchase, when the Range used ATVs and trucks, emergency response times could reach more than three hours. With their Neoteric hovercraft, they can reach victims in minutes ...

The Future of Neoteric Military Hovercraft:

Neoteric and Hovercraft Training Centers are currently investigating the possibility of the U.S. Navy using Neoteric military hovercraft for initial flight training for LCAC and SSC pilots and navigators. The untrained eye might not recognize much similarity between light hovercraft and the Navy’s $22 million behemoths that transport 180 Marines along with weapon systems and heavy cargo directly from ship to shore. But these two vehicles share a significant trait: they operate by the same basic principles, just as a 2-seat Cessna flies by the same rules as a Boeing 747.

As a first step in this investigation, Neoteric President Chris Fitzgerald was invited to Assault Craft Unit 4 in Virginia Beach to review the Navy's training protocol for LCAC crews. While there, he had the opportunity to pilot a 100-ton LCAC on the Atlantic Ocean without any previous training - which verified his premise that the skills acquired in flying light Neoteric hovercraft are easily transferred to flying heavy military hovercraft ...

The Navy's current LCAC training program is quite costly and has high attrition rates. Approximately $200,000 is spent on each trainee and dropout rates are as high as 65%. Should the Navy decide to use Neoteric hovercraft for initial LCAC training, it would not only vastly decrease costs, it would also decrease attrition by serving as an inexpensive way to qualify future LCAC craftmasters. And, since light hovercraft so easily capture public attention, they would serve as an excellent public relations tool to boost the success of the Navy's recruiting efforts.

As the world's military forces grow to realize the value and versatility of the Neoteric HoverTrek™ as their new secret weapon, expect to see more of them deployed every year!

Take a Test Flight or Training Course on a Neoteric Military Hovercraft ...

and 

Learn more about the Neoteric Military HoverTrek™ ...

U.S. Navy LCAC Craftmasters Evaluate Training on Neoteric Hovercraft

Hovercraft Training Centers, which trains exclusively on Neoteric hovercraft, is investigating the possibility of the U.S. Navy using Neoteric craft for initial pilot training for LCACs (Landing Craft Air Cushion) and the new generation of SSCs (Ship-to-Shore Connectors.)

Currently, LCAC Craftmasters are trained using simulators, following by final training in actual LCACs; from what we are told this is a costly protocol with low retention rates. According to information gathered from the Navy’s Virginia Beach hovercraft training base, it costs the military approximately $200,000 per trainee. Each trainee spends approximately 100 hours in simulators, which cost $800 per hour to operate. Trainer LCACs operate about 150 hours per year, which costs $7,800 per hour. And the current dropout rates for Craftmasters, Engineers, Navigators, and Loadmasters ranges from 15% to 65%.

Last spring, Neoteric President and HTC founder Chris Fitzgerald was invited to the U.S. Navy Assault Craft Unit 4 in Virginia Beach, where half the Navy’s fleet of 72 LCACs are based. There, he visited with Craftmaster Trainers Andy Sutter and Dave Convery to study and learn about the LCAC training protocol and to determine if HTC could assist in improving the current program. He also had the opportunity to operate a simulator and to pilot a 100-ton, $22 million LCAC - with no previous training other than his experience piloting light hovercraft. After his flight, Fitzgerald observed, “I found it relatively easy, and that was with no advance instruction. I had no trouble getting over the hump, operating in a straight line, turning, modulating speed, stopping. I attribute that to my experience piloting smaller light hovercraft; it was pretty much second nature.”

Fitzgerald’s visit to ACU4 confirmed his theory that light hovercraft could benefit the Navy’s LCAC training program. In contrast to the Navy’s protocol, military aircraft pilots are initially trained in light aircraft, then move directly to heavy aircraft. Following this protocol and using light hovercraft for initial LCAC/SSC training is likely to be a much more efficient and cost-effective method.

As the next step in this exploratory mission, Craftmaster Trainers Andy Sutter (now retired) and Dave Convery traveled to Neoteric and HTC headquarters to undergo a Standard Training Course in order to judge and advise whether or not light hovercraft could be applicable to heavy hovercraft training. First, they underwent classroom and maintenance training, after which Convery observed, “Compared to ours, light hovercraft are nothing maintenance-wise.”

Here are a few photos from their training course …

Chris Fitzgerald (center) leads Andy Sutter (left) and Dave Convery (right) through a preflight inspection on an HTC Neoteric training hovercraft …

With a thumbs-up, Sutter takes off on his first flight in a light hovercraft, with Chris Fitzgerald at the controls …

Through wireless headsets, each Craftmaster listens to the other’s entire flight training session. Here, Convery listens to Sutter’s flight …

Sutter takes the controls, while Fitzgerald provides constant feedback and instruction …

The Neoteric Hovercraft’s reverse thrust system caught Sutter’s attention even before his first launch: “I was impressed when Chris spun the craft around and backed it up to the trailer.” Here, he learns to operate it himself …

At the end of his flight training session, Sutter easily transitions the craft from water to the boat ramp …

Dave Convery (left) and Andy Sutter (right) accept their HTC Pilot Certifications from Chris Fitzgerald …

Both Craftmasters felt that their day of training was productive and that it enabled them to experience the differences – and many similarities – between light hovercraft and heavy military hovercraft. “I felt very comfortable; it’s very similar to what we teach. Before I came here I was skeptical that flying this hovercraft could help anyone fly an LCAC. But flying this craft, using the thrust buckets, it does help,” Sutter said.

And Convery agreed, “The training session was excellent. I really enjoyed it and I’m very enthusiastic about what this craft does.” He added, “It’s sensitive; I expected it to be a little more reactive, but not like this. When you put the controls in, you are gone. In that regard, it’s the same as ours. It’s like an air hockey puck. When you push an air hockey puck across the table, it goes until it bounces off something. And that’s what’s going to happen without this training.”

Sutter and Convery's visit solidified the premise that light hovercraft could play a role in the LCAC/SSC training program. Should the U.S. Navy utilize Neoteric Hovercraft and Hovercraft Training Centers to streamline their training protocol, it would improve the cost/benefit ratio of training for the Department of Defense. It would also lower the high attrition rate by serving as an inexpensive way to qualify future LCAC/SSC Craftmasters and Navigators. And, since Neoteric hovercraft easily capture public attention, they're an excellent public relations and marketing tool that would boost the success of the military’s recruiting efforts.

See photos of HTC founder piloting a 100-ton Navy LCAC …

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The Neoteric Way: Neoteric Partners with Hirth Engines

Across the globe, the automaker Toyota is highly recognized for consistently raising the bar for manufacturing, product development and process excellence – the major reason Toyotas are the most preferred cars on the market. Neoteric shares many of Toyota’s business philosophies and has adopted the automaker’s world-famous TPS System (Toyota Production System). One of the main tenets of TPS is establishing partnerships with suppliers and partners to work hand-in-hand for mutual benefit.

Göbler-Hirthmotoren KG (Hirth Engines) is Neoteric’s largest supplier, and this month Neoteric president Chris Fitzgerald visited Hirth in Benningen, Germany to formalize and strengthen the partnership between the two companies. The trip was quite a success and, Fitzgerald reports, one of his most enjoyable.

Hirth owner Siegfried Göbler (left) and Chief Engineer Dietrich Kehe (right) 

extend a warm welcome to Chris Fitzgerald (center).

History of Hirth

Hirth has an intriguing history. Its founder, Hellmuth Hirth, born in 1886, was the most successful German pilot before WW1. At age 18 he worked with Edison in the USA as a mechanic, then returned to Germany in 1909 to help build the first German aircraft. He founded Hirth Motoren GmbH in 1927.

Hellmuth Hirth lost his life in an air crash in 1938 and the company was taken over by Ernst Heinkel AG. After WW11 the defeated Germany could not manufacture aircraft engines due to production constraints imposed by the Allied Forces, so Hirth began manufacturing small 2-stroke engines for vehicles and stationary applications.

In 1974, Hans Göbler acquired all production rights and the company became Göbler-Hirthmotoren KG, as it’s known today. Siegfried Göbler purchased the company from his father Hans in 1993.

The company is known for its state-of-the-art research, technology and production and Hirth engines are at home in all the elements: from breaking the world’s record in hovercraft racing to lifting paragliders off the ground, pushing ultralight aircraft into the sky, supplying firefighters with high-pressure water and powering UAV aircraft for reconnaissance in natural disasters, border surveillance and traffic monitoring.

An aerial view of Hirth facilities, which remain today in their original location

in the midst of dense housing in Benningen am Neckar, near Stuttgart, Germany.

Stuttgart is a major auto and component manufacturing region.

The Neoteric-Hirth Partnership

In addition to learning more about the Hirth philosophy and its operation, one of the main objectives of Fitzgerald’s trip was to work with Hirth to modify their engines to Neoteric’s specifications. In order to meet the unique requirements of hovercraft, Neoteric spends considerable time modifying engines after it receives them.

Also, Neoteric is the exclusive supplier of training craft for HovercraftTraining Centers, and wants to partner with Hirth to manufacture heavy fuel engines specifically for HTC. Hovercraft Training Centers is developing a light hovercraft training program for the U.S.Navy’s LCAC and Ship-to-Shore Connector crews, which ultimately will require the use of heavy fuels (diesel/kerosene) for military hovercraft.

A third goal was to mutually achieve engine improvements to make them even more suitable for all hovercraft environments - salt water, etc. Finally, for aesthetic reasons and to improve resistance to corrosion, Neoteric requested that engines be painted or anodized black.

Mr. Göbler wholeheartedly agreed to all Neoteric’s proposals and he was an engaging and extremely gracious host. Fitzgerald was allowed full access to the factory and staff. He also visited Mr. Göbler’s home and met his family and was treated to exquisite dining experiences and accommodations.

Fitzgerald concludes, “Mr. Göbler was eager to assist us however he could. I regret not having made this trip several years in the past. I was made extremely welcome and this was a most worthwhile mission which should produce verifiable results in the future for all involved. I’d like to thank everyone who made this visit a productive one, especially our team at Neoteric.”

Hirth factory photos:

The Hirth assembly line. Fitzgerald noted that everything in the factory

and the office is exceptionally organized and spotless.

A technician mills crankshaft components, with a smile on his face

that is typical for Hirth employees. Note the orderly arrangement of his tools.

A technician machines and drills an oil pump housing.

A CNC (Computer Numerical Control) milling machine is programmed.

At center right is a broaching machine, used to cut keyways.