A Neoteric Rescue Hovercraft saves another life

Yesterday in Iowa the Council Bluffs Fire Department rescued a fisherman who had fallen through the ice on Lake Manawa and was submerged in icy water while clinging to the ice shelf.

Captain Jim Maaske reported that their Neoteric hovercraft allowed the firefighters to quickly find the man and hover directly to him without putting themselves at risk. Thanks to his rapid rescue, the fisherman was checked by EMS personnel and released.

Council Bluffs Firefighters discuss the situation after their successful ice rescue.

The Neoteric Rescue Hovercraft is the only vehicle able to operate on thin and broken ice.
It prevents first responders from having to enter the freezing water, risking their own lives.

Council Bluffs has owned their Neoteric Hovercraft since 2015, and this is far from the first life it has saved. Less than a month after its purchase, the hovercraft enabled the rescue of a young man submerged in a flooded, muddy river. Fire Chief Justin James said there was more than 60 feet of deep mud on the shores of the West Nodaway River and 20 feet of shallow water to cross before reaching the victim. Chief James reported, "The amount of time it took us to get out there would have been drastically longer if we didn't have the hovercraft."

Along with speeding up rescue operations, the hovercraft also keeps first responders safe. As Chief James says, "The hovercraft is a very stable platform, and we're not getting in the water. It's not going to sink. It won't capsize like a canoe or other boat. Our hovercraft can handle some of the most dangerous rescues that would otherwise be out of reach. It's the only vehicle able to operate on any surface; you can get it anywhere that basically nothing else can get to. With it, we're not sending first responders into bad water or ice. We can go over it all with the hovercraft, grab the victim and bring them back."

First Responders:

See firsthand what a rescue hovercraft can do ...

Visit Neoteric Hovercraft at the 2017 FDIC in BOOTH 2704

... and register to win one of three FREE Hovercraft Pilot Training Courses!

(Valued at $1,575 each)

First Responders: Don’t miss Neoteric Hovercraft at FDIC 2017 - Booth #2704

The FDIC (Fire Department Instructor Conference) is the world’s largest firefighter conference and expo, attended by more than 35,000 firefighters, chiefs and instructors from more than 53 nations.

Neoteric and HovercraftTraining Centers are honored to be the only rescue hovercraft and flight training exhibitor featured at the FDIC this year. The event takes place April 24-29 at the Indiana Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

If your department still relies on ropes, boats and other apparatus for water, ice and mud rescues, you’ll definitely want to visit us at Booth #2704 to watch videos of hovercraft rescue operations, see a remote-controlled hovercraft in action, let us answer all your questions – and register to win one of three free Hovercraft Pilot Training Courses, valued at $1,575 each!    

The Neoteric Hovercraft booth at last year's FDIC.

Flat bottom Jon boats and other propeller-driven watercraft are of questionable use in shallow water, swiftwater, flood, ice and mud rescues, and can pose a serious danger to you and to the lives you’re tasked to save. Come see how a Neoteric rescue hovercraft can greatly improve the safety, ease, speed and success of your rescue operations … while keeping you above the danger – not in it. It quickly flies you into areas where no other vehicle can go, and it’s the only hovercraft with the ability to brake and back up.

But don’t just take our word for it. See what first responders around the world say about their Neoteric Hovercraft in comparison to other rescue vehicles …

Council Bluffs Fire Department, Iowa:

Mansfield Fire Department, Texas:

"The benefit of having the hovercraft is we do not have to send our personnel into the water to retrieve victims. It can also hover over logs, car tires and any other debris, unlike boats, that could be a hazard in the water. A hovercraft is the answer to a faster rescue - a safer rescue."

Davis County Sheriff's Office, Utah:

"Our hovercraft, without question, has saved lives. Much of our county is covered by the Great Salt Lake, and when the water is low it leaves miles of mudflats boats can't reach. We can't get airboats out there. When it's extremely windy it's hard to get an aircraft or helicopter out there, and even walking out is impossible. We were putting rescuers in harm's way, but the hovercraft allows us to hover over mud, ice or water and get right to the patient - to literally reach out our hand and pull them out."

Central Fraser Valley Search & Rescue Society, Canada:

"The hovercraft gets us into areas that, before, we weren't able to reach, areas that our jet boat can't get into because we ingest debris into the impeller. And the hovercraft saves us a lot of time."

North Muskegon Fire Department, Michigan:

"Our hovercraft have saved more lives that all our fire engines combined. Since 1985, more than 255 people have been rescued from Muskegon area lakes using the hovercraft. More than half of them would have drowned not having the hovercraft as a safe rescue tool."

Learn much more - and see how you can save lives more safely than ever before - 

at Neoteric's Booth 2704 at this year’s FDIC.

Neoteric is the original and most experienced light hovercraft manufacturer, relied on by

first responders in 50+ countries for more than four decades. Read more …

Hovercraft Training Center is the world’s premier hovercraft flight training academy. 

Read more …

Save lives safely with a Neoteric Rescue Hovercraft – NOW ON SALE!

Maritime Reporter and Marine News magazines recently published articles emphasizing the need for hovercraft to be increasingly used as a primary rescue vehicle - especially in water, mud, flood and ice rescue operations. Here’s an excerpt …

"Hovercraft have a growing role to play in search & rescue, commercial and military operations around the world. Hovercraft are a practical proposition for operations in areas inaccessible to other vehicles, including frozen water, mud flats, intertidal areas, shallow rivers and flooded inland areas. Perceived to be environmentally sound, as they don’t exhaust into the water, create no wash and do not disturb the sea bed, they are also economical."

Statistics show that the most frequent victims in water and ice rescue operations are animals, children, fishermen, skaters, snowmobilers … and first responders. Because it hovers 9 inches above the terrain, a hovercraft keeps your rescue team above the danger – not in it.

But the Neoteric Rescue HoverTrek™ is not just another rescue hovercraft. Its patented reverse thrust makes it the only rescue hovercraft with the ability to brake, back up and hover in place. Its unique capabilities have made it the global industry standard, relied upon by rescue agencies throughout the world.

And, first responders, here’s a chance to increase your team’s safety and your success rate. You can own this top-of-the-line Neoteric Rescue Hovercraft at a discounted price …

Neoteric Rescue Hovercraft for Sale

This Neoteric Rescue Hovercraft is a demo with only 4 hours of use. Featuring a 100 HP Hirth engine, reverse thrust and inline seating for six, this deluxe rescue hovercraft is also equipped with a saltwater marinization package, a front cabin, a stretcher mount, a PA system, a siren and a reinforced heavy duty body. We’re offering this rescue hovercraft for a discounted price of $58,000, and that includes a trailer. And flight training and maintenance instruction are free with purchase.

This is a rare opportunity for your rescue agency to join the ranks of first responders across the world who rely on Neoteric Rescue Hovercraft to help them save lives safely. And this is the perfect time of year to better prepare yourselves for ice rescues … so contact us now for more information before this hovercraft is sold.

Here’s what just one of those first responders has to say about his department’s Neoteric Rescue Hovercraft ... “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 the hovercraft. 50% would have drowned, not having the hovercraft as a safe rescue tool.”

~ Fire Chief Steve Lague

 North Muskegon Fire Department

Michigan, USA

Read comments from other first responders …

And watch this video of Neoteric rescue hovercraft in action …

Neoteric Hovercraft’s role in Lockheed Martin’s #Hybrid Airship technology

Lockheed Martin, the global security and aerospace company, is known for developing advanced technology, focusing on military vehicles. One of its many projects, in process for more than a decade, is the Hybrid Airship.

Their first Hybrid Airship, the P-791,  became public knowledge in 2006 when a strange object was seen in the sky over the Lockheed Martin Advanced Development Projects Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California. In their next issue, Aviation Week & Technology magazine “scooped” the story.

But the story was old news to Neoteric President Chris Fitzgerald, who is also the founder and Chief Flight Instructor at HovercraftTraining Centers. A year before the article was published, Lockheed Martin’s test pilots Eric Hanson and Tim Blunck had come to Fitzgerald for pilot training on a Neoteric HoverTrek™ and to familiarize themselves with hovercraft technology – which would be a major feature of their new P-791 Hybrid Airship's air cushion landing system ...

In 2005, #Lockheed Martin Flight Test Engineer Tim Blunck (left) and Flight Operations Manager/Chief Test Pilot Eric Hanson (center) received their Hovercraft Pilot Certifications from Neoteric President Christ Fitzgerald (right).

Hanson and Blunck were both in the cockpit during the first test flight of the P-791 airship demonstrator model, with Hanson as pilot. They reported to Neoteric, "With the four vectored propulsors, I skated, sidestepped, backed up and did 180-degree reverses with solid control in 5-knot winds ... The training you provided last June was a tremendous help. It enabled us to understand the sensations around us and gave us a better situational awareness as the systems were energized."

A decade after studying hovercraft technology and flight training at Neoteric and Hovercraft Training Centers, Lockheed Martin is now manufacturing the ACLS Hybrid Airship - and giving hovercraft technology the major credit for a vehicle that will "open a new world of possibilities."

To quote from their website, "What is a hovercraft? It's an amphibious vehicle that travels on a cushion of air ... Hovercraft can operate across nearly any terrain, including land, water and ice. It's this characteristic that makes hovercraft technology the ideal match for the Hybrid Airship, the cargo-hauling ship of the skies."

Lockheed Martin's Hybrid Airship has a multitude of functions, especially since more than two-thirds of the world's land and half of the global population has no direct access to paved roads. From carrying heavy equipment or troops to isolated areas, to transporting medical personnel and supplies in disaster relief operations, this combination hovercraft/airship is "the next leap in transportation technology."

Photo courtesy Lockheed Martin

Beginning with "black projects" during World War II, Lockheed Martin's #Skunk Works has made and indelible mark on aviation history through its development and production of legendary aircraft, including the U-2, the SR-71 and the F-117.

Their new Hybrid Airship and its hovercraft technology could join the ranks of legend in Lockheed Martin's incomparable record as producer of so many of the world's most innovative, and most famous, aircraft. We at Neoteric Hovercraft are honored to have played a role in this latest production.

Read more about Neoteric military hovercraft ...

and

Hovercraft flight training ...