Quote:
Originally Posted by freebeard
What would you think of pedestrian-friendly thrusters/propulsors for a hovercraft?
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We think alike, I started immediately thinking how this could be applied to hovercraft thrust.
Efficiency is such a big deal it's hard to beat what's out there.
Safety, noise, control and lower overall profile (
to get under bridges) and other factors certainly are areas for improvement.
In the end; weight (
efficiency) and skirt longevity factors (
maintenance overhead) rule the day.
For the military, getting somewhere in the middle of the night during a ruckus storm for cover is idea, and hovercraft fall short in many ways. They just don't like heavy seas.
If this type of propulsion has an advantage in high winds by lowering the profile and having less moving parts giving off a radar signature or sucking sailors into fans (
they cover the LCAC propellers with big nets now) then I can see this technology being put to future use.