A New Life for Hovercraft

A New Life for Hovercraft Roaring along on a cushion of air and traveling with equal facility over land, ice or water, large and expensive Hovercraft have proved successful as ferries across the English Channel, cargo carriers in the Arctic, and patrol vehicles on Vietnamese rivers. In the past few years, Canadian and U.S. companies have also begun manufacturing smaller air-cushion vehicles and have sold several hundred to private buyers at prices between $3,500 and $4,000. Now a Canadian firm has raised the specter of a noisy Hovercraft in every garage. Ottawa's MHV Ltd. will soon begin to mass-produce two-passenger models that ski along as fast as 60 m.p.h. and cost less than a Volkswagen.

MHV's air-cushion vehicle, the Spectra I, looks something like a funland bump car with a big fan on the back. It is powered by two engines--"one for up," in the words of MHV's promotional brochure, "and one for over." The first inflates Spectra's black vinyl skirts and forces air to seep out from under them, providing a cushion that suspends the craft above the surface; the second turns a propeller that thrusts the vehicle forward. Only 10 ft. long and 6 ft. wide, Spectra I weighs 450 Ibs. and costs between $1,595 and $1,995, depending on engine size.

The price should include driving lessons: piloting a Hovercraft is almost as tricky as flying a plane. Steering is controlled by a wheel (connected to air rudders) and the direction in which the driver's body leans, but Spectra tends to drift out disconcertingly on turns. "The first feeling you get on our craft," MHV's President Geoff Voyce cheerfully concedes, "is one of sheer panic."

That was the instant impression of TIME Correspondent Robert Lewis, who test-drove a Spectra last week. "But after a while," reported Lewis, "you begin to get the hang of Spectra. It has a very distinct maneuvering capability, even if it does drift in the turns. To be sure, the craft is not built for slaloming in the forest; even experts require at least a 20-ft. clearance to allow for drift. Nor would you want to stray very near railroad tracks or city streets: the decibel level from the two loud engines makes it impossible to hear any approaching traffic. But the sensation really is that of flying, of handling a light plane, and after a few hours of practice it is great fun."

Voyce admits that there are still a few kinks in his craft--the "really shoddy" mufflers, a laminated-wood prop that deteriorates rapidly in damp climates, a carburetor that gums up in salt water, and the vehicle's tendency to eject its driver over the bow when it is stopped quickly in water. But he expects to have the troubles ironed out in time to manufacture 10,000 Spectras in 1970 and claims already to have orders for 8,000. "People literally get freaked out by the Spectra," he says, and prophesies that one day "the Hovercraft will do away with the wheel."

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