Air
boats are watercraft that are powered by large
propellers mounted on the rear.
Early air boats
used aircraft engines to spin their props,
but most state of the art air boats use standard
V-8 engines for power.
The engine powered by
gas turns a crankshaft, which spins the propeller
more than 3000 rpms.
As air boats do not require underwater
rudders or blades, their bottoms can be very
flat. This implies that air boats can
reach areas usually out-of-the-way to conventional
boats, such as very shallow water, swamps and
stump-filled inlets.
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Air boats can also travel over most land surfaces,
as long as the propeller can create enough power
to overcome the added resistance. The bottom and
sides of many air boats are covered with a thick
layer of polymer plastic to escape the damage of
gravel and hard surfaces.
Airboats are usually used for amusement and fishing,
but many coastal cities also employ them for rescue
operations which is its great importance. Harsh winter
climates always made search and rescue operations
complicated. Without proper protection, bone-chilling
temperatures, broken ice and mushy open water can
instantaneously threaten lives and apparatus.
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In
places like the Florida Everglades, air boats
are much more realistic than customary boat
designs.
Weeds and grasses slip below
the flat bottom of the air boat and the propeller
never comes in contact with the water.
Pilots of
air boats control direction through the use
of a handheld rudder and 'brake' by cutting
power to the engine with a strangle control.
According to some people Alexander Graham Bell
in reality planned the first air boats in 1905,
even though innumerable numbers of amateur
boat builders also attached aircraft engines
and propellers to flat-bottomed boats.
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Most air boats built before the 1980s still used
aircraft engines, but for that proper up keep proved
to be complicated. With the switch to standard automotive
engines like a Chevy 350 V-8 or 454, most of the mechanics
can at ease make repairs to air boats with readily
obtainable parts.
The Husky Nattiq airboat is a fast-response
rescue vehicle designed to safely transport up to
six people through the most uncertain winter conditions,
over ice, water or even snow.
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