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Hovercraft Boat With Detachable Wings Takes Flight in New Zealand

by Caleb Johnson on March 4, 2010 at 02:20 PM

By sea, by air or by land, no terrain is out of the question for a New Zealand inventor's do-all vehicle. According to a Reuters video (watch below), Rudy Heedman has built a homemade hovercraft that uses a set of detachable wings to take flight when it reaches 44 mph. It's a child's (or adrenaline junkie's) dream come true. Once he leaves the water for the sky, Heedman is protected from death or injury by nothing more than two "Jesus pins." Heedman told Reuters, "If that pin comes out, you see Jesus."

But those same pins also makes it easier to transport the hovercraft. By removing the two pins, the inflatable vehicle can go from a flying boat to a more traditional hovercraft, the latter of which uses a large fan powered by a 1.8-liter engine to scoot across water or land. Lucky for Heedman, New Zealand aviation officials decided to classify this invention as a marine craft. That means he doesn't need a special license to take the hovercraft out for a ride.

While Heedman has no plans to market or mass-produce his invention, Spike reports that users on the auction site Trade Me have proposed bids exceeding $26,000 for the hovercraft. That's a little out of our price range. But, to be honest, a flying boat is a little out of our comfort zone, too. [From: TecheBlog and Spike]

Hovercraft Boat

Tags: boat, diy, flight, flying, hovercraft, invention, new zealand, NewZealand, top, transportation, wings

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