Hovercraft at work

Hovercraft are used throughout the world for a wide variety of commercial applications, including mosquito control, oil spill cleanup, gold mining, wildlife conservation, commercial fishing and tourism.

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

The Racine, Wisconsin airport has a large quarry at the end of the runways in which geese collect - a hazard to aircraft operation. A hovercraft is used to haze the geese and drive them away. Read the full story ...

 Club Montee in Austria performs hovercraft shows to entertain audiences at special events ...

See a photo gallery of commercial hovercraft at work ... 

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Light Hovercraft in the Military

Light hovercraft such as the Neoteric Hovertrek are used by the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Border Patrol, particularly for search and rescue missions.

Because it safely hovers 9 inches above any terrain, a hovercraft keeps military personnel above the danger – not in it – and gives them access to areas that helicopters, boats and other vehicles can’t reach.

 Neoteric trained military hovercraft pilots from the U.S. Air Force Utah Test and Training Range at Hill Air Force Base. Among the trainees is Capt. Cory Lingelbach (left), who used one of the base's Neoteric craft to rescue a downed F-16 pilot who crashed in 2006 on the Great Salt Lake mudflats, where no other rescue vehicle could travel.
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See a photo gallery of military hovercraft in action ...

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How are hovercraft used?

Hovercraft are so versatile that their applications are as diverse as the people who use them. They are most often used to reach areas that are inaccessible on foot or by conventional vehicles. Hovercraft can go where most other vehicles can't.

Hovercraft are the ideal vehicle for ice fishing and for ice rescue operations

due to their ability to fly safely over thin or broken ice.

 A partial listing of hovercraft uses includes:

• Exploring the vast number of shallow and narrow waterways that cannot be reached by boat
• Rescue work on swift water, ice, snow, mud flats, deserts, wetlands, shallow water, swamps, bogs, marshes and floodwaters.
• Affordable, safe way to fly without a pilot's license.
• Transport in environmentally sensitive areas where habitat, erosion and soil compaction are a concern; wildlife conservation research; environmental testing

• Oil spill cleanup
• Tourism; transportation or "island-hopping"
• Fishing anywhere ... including ice fishing
• Military services
• Water management
• Port authorities/drug enforcement
• TV and film companies; entertainment at Disney World water shows
• Agricultural spraying
• Survey work
• Heavy load movement across difficult surfaces
• Mosquito abatement
• Removing leaves from Pecan farms
• "Bird hazing" – chasing geese from lakes in the vicinity of airports 

To learn more about hovercraft, read About Hovercraft …

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Do hovercraft hurt the environment?

The answer is no. The unique characteristics of the hovercraft make it one of the most environmentally friendly vehicles in the world. 

One of these characteristics is the hovercraft's low "footprint pressure." The pressure a hovercraft exerts on its operating surface is about 1/30th that of the human foot! The average human being standing on ground exerts a pressure of about 3 lb per square inch, and that increases to 25 lb per square inch when walking. In contrast, the average hovercraft exerts a pressure of only 0.33 lb per square inch - even less as speed increases. 

This "footprint pressure" is below that of a seagull standing on one leg! Hovercraft have literally flown over a pedestrian without inflicting harm.

A film crew from the cable network WeathTV sets up to film an illustration of how the hovercraft's environmental footprint

is so gentle that it can hover over delicate eggs without damaging them.

To learn more about hovercraft, see Hovercraft Q & A …

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