Michigan first responders complete pilot training in their new rescue Hovertrek™

The Norman Township Fire Department’s Assistant Chief Dennis Jolicoeur and Medical First Responder Larry Waligorski traveled to Neoteric’s headquarters on the day before Easter to take delivery of their new craft and complete their hands-on flight training and maintenance certification. The funding for the department’s rescue hovercraft was provided by a grant.

From the left: Instructor Chris Fitzgerald, Medical First Responder Larry Waligorski, Assistant Chief Dennis Jolicoeur and Instructor Steve Stafford prepare to launch two craft on the Wabash River for the first training session.

A volunteer on call department, the Norman Township Fire Department in Wellston, MI provides fire protection and ambulance service to an 80 sq. mile area in Michigan’s Manistee County.

Waligorski explains the department’s need for a hovercraft: “We perform water and ice rescues on the rapidly running, narrow, difficult to access Pine River, with rocks, downed trees and steep banks.”

The Pine River is considered the premier paddle sports venue in the Midwest; it attracts canoers, kayakers, rafters and fishermen from across the nation year-round. The first responders say that one asset of the hovercraft will be to replace, “ice rescues done the old fashioned way: with rope and ice rescue suits.”

Instructor Chris Fitzgerald briefs Jolicoeur and Waligorski and walks them through a preflight inspection of their new hovercraft.

The department had considered purchasing a jet boat, but the problems with that rescue vehicle were quickly made apparent when, during a company demo, rocks in the river caused the jet boat to break down.

After discovering Neoteric Hovercraft online, Norman Township Fire Department personnel visited the Muskegon, Michigan Fire Department, “who had great things to say about their Neoteric craft,” says Jolicoeur.

Steve League, Fire Chief of the North Muskegon Fire Department recently told Neoteric, “Both the North Muskegon and Muskegon Fire Departments use hovercraft for their ice rescue operations. The hovercraft have saved more lives than our engines have. Since 1985, 255 people have been rescued or removed from Muskegon area lakes using hovercraft. 50% would have drowned not having the hovercraft as a safe rescue tool.”

Larry Waligorski (left) begins his hands-on pilot training as instructor Steve Stafford (right) demonstrates the operation of the hovercraft's controls and how to achieve the proper trim.

Photo gallery of the Norman Township Fire Department's pilot training.

Meet the Norman Township Fire Department

 

Neoteric Hovercraft assist in Kuwait mega-project disputed by Iraq

Conflicts in the Middle East are a fact of world history. The Neoteric Hovertrek™ has a long history of navigating challenging terrain, but only recently has it traveled to the midst of a dispute between two Persian Gulf nations: Kuwait and Iraq.

Neoteric hovercraft are being used by South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co. Ltd. in the building of the new Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port at Kuwait’s Bubiyan Island on the Khor Abdullah waterway. The project is disputed by Iraq, who argues that the port would choke its only access to international shipping lanes. Territorial claims to Bubiyan Island were a factor in Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

Hyundai E&C Civil Engineer Min Suk Lee and Scheduling Engineer Seung Uk Paik embark upon a day of training in rare clear weather. On the following day this training location had been buried under several layers of bulldozed sand.

Neoteric President Chris Fitzgerald recently traveled to Kuwait to conduct hovercraft pilot and maintenance training for Hyundai E&C personnel, much of which took place during a severe sandstorm. He relates ...

“Bubiyan Island is a giant mud pie! Both the terrain and the weather made hovercraft training a challenging challenge. Construction projects of this size in these environments are a monumental feat, and the need for several hovercraft is clear. No other vehicle can carry personnel and equipment over this muddy moonscape quickly or perform rescues when emergencies arise. Breaking down or getting marooned in this semi-liquid land makes rescue a slow, difficult task.”

Left to right: Hyundai E&C Speed Boat Operators Saifull Islam and Aneesh Kumar take a photo break during training with Instructor Chris Fitzgerald. The sandstorm has completely obscured the company’s headquarters in the background.

 From ancient Middle East tensions to mud dwellers to sandstorms and disappearing training sites, we invite you to read the saga of Fitzgerald’s Kuwait experience in his own words – with a complete photo gallery:

Neoteric Hovercraft serve in controversial Kuwait port construction ...

 

Recreational hovercraft pilot training

Aspiring pilots from throughout the world recognize that Neoteric’s exclusive Hovercraft Pilot Training Program is the most comprehensive course available. And in addition to first responders and military personnel, recreational hovercrafters also come to Neoteric for quality hovercraft flight training.

Steven McVeety from Perth, Ontario, Canada (left) and Ryan Dagey from Bloomington, Indiana USA (center) exemplify the leisure hovercraft pilots trained by Chris Fitzgerald (right) at Neoteric. Here, Fitzgerald shows Steve and Ryan how to conduct a pre-flight inspection before the Neoteric training craft was launched yesterday on the Wabash River ...

Steve is employed by 3M in Canada as a plant engineer in charge of quality control and safety. Ryan, as President of Dagey Technology Solutions LLC, directs Neoteric's information management needs. Steve is in the process of building his own hovercraft from a kit; Ryan participated in the training course to increase his first-hand familiarity with a client's product.

Below, Fitzgerald describes how Neoteric's patented reverse thrust system makes the Hovertrek the only light hovercraft in the world with effective brakes ... 

Steve has organized power boat events, has raced hydroplanes and go-carts and is a certified scuba diver. He has always had a passion for hovercraft, but his training yesterday is the first time he's ever been aboard a hovercraft in flight - evidenced by his anticipatory smile as Fitzgerald prepares to launch ... 

And they're off ...

 

Steve wanted to undergo thorough pilot training and says he found, after considerable research, that “The only place to get proper training is here at Neoteric. I’ve really learned a lot ... and the maintenance instruction part of the Training Course has given me ideas that will expedite the building process on my own hovercraft."

At the end of an afternoon on the river, back at Neoteric the two new pilots accept their Class III Hovercraft Pilot Training Certification from Chris Fitzgerald ... 

U.S. Air Force hovercraft pilot training

Personnel from the Utah Test and Training Range at Hill Air Force Base have completed a week of specialized military pilot training at Neoteric. Among them was Capt. Cory Lingelbach, the UTTR Hovercraft Unit's Chief Trainer, who used one of the base's two Neoteric hovercraft to rescue a downed F-16 pilot who crashed on the Great Salt Lake mudflats, where no other rescue vehicle could travel.

The impact of the $30 million jet, hitting the ground at approximately 300 mph, shattered it into small burning fragments scattered across a vast muddy terrain. The Base's Neoteric craft not only rescued the pilot, who ejected before impact, they also were used in the search and recovery operations.

Below, one of the two Neoteric rescue hovercraft employed by UTTR awaits launch on the Wabash River in Terre Haute, Indiana for training operations. Neoteric President Chris Fitzgerald (in vest) briefs Capt. Lingelbach (left) ...

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. 

Capt. Cory Lingelbach explains, “The conditions under which we operate are very rough. Before we had the hovercraft, we had to recover a downed plane and got six of our ATVs stuck in mudflats, blew engines and lost all the equipment. That was the trigger point to look for alternatives, and after research we found the Neoteric craft to be the most suitable.”

The UTTR training included night water rescue operations. Below, as shown through night vision goggles during a water rescue simulation, the Neoteric hovercraft's unique maneuverability allows immediate access to victims in water rescue operations, as well as operations on difficult terrain such as mud, ice and swiftwater ...

At the end of their week of training, with their hovercraft loaded into their trailer, the military firefighters prepare to return to Hill Air Force Base. From left: Neoteric President Chris Fitzgerald presents graduate certificates to Lt. Derek Martinez; Capt. Cory Lingelbach; and Lt. Jonathon Jimenez ...

See a photo gallery of the Air Force hovercraft pilot training

Hovercraft Pilot Training: Fire District 19, Silvana, Washington USA

Emergency responders from Fire District 19 in Silvana, Washington, spent a cold March weekend at Neoteric Hovercraft to complete the Neoteric Hovercraft Pilot Training Program.

Upon their arrival at the Wabash River training site on Saturday, instructor Chris Fitzgerald illustrates to Assistant Fire Chief Jeremy Swearengin (left) and firefighter/EMT Trent Nunemaker (right), the ease of unloading the Neoteric training HoverTrek from its trailer ...

After a thorough review of the HoverTrek's operational systems and a quick skirt repair, Fitzgerald and Swearengin launch the hovercraft in below-freezing air temperature on the swift flowing river ... 

 

After Swearengin (left) and Nunemaker (right) received classroom instruction and extensive flight training on both land and water, they receive their Class III Hovercraft Pilot Certificates from Fitzgerald ...

Swearengin and Nunemaker both serve on the Stillagaumish Water Rescue Team, an interagency cooperative effort that includes their Fire District 19 in Silvana along with Districts 21 in Arlington Heights, 24 in Darrington and 25 in Oso. The Stillaguamish Water Rescue Team has a number of nationally certified water rescue technicians, two hovercraft, two inflatable craft, and thousands of dollars in water rescue equipment to respond to calls for help on the regional river systems and lakes.

Neoteric Hovercraft has trained and certified rescue, recreational, commercial and military hovercraft pilots from across the world for more than 30 years. Neoteric’s Hovercraft Pilot Training Program is the most comprehensive light hovercraft pilot training course available.