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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