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An airboat (also known as a planeboat, swamp boat, bayou boat, or fanboat) is a flat-bottomed
watercraft Any vehicle used in or on water as well as underwater, including boats, ships, hovercraft and submarines, is a watercraft, also known as a water vessel or waterborne vessel. A watercraft usually has a propulsive capability (whether by sai ...
propelled by an aircraft-type
propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...
and powered by either an aircraft or automotive engine. In early
aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes airplane, fixed-wing and helicopter, rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as aerostat, lighter- ...
history the term ''airboat'' was applied to
seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their technological characteri ...
s or
flying boat A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fuselag ...
s, i.e. aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water surfaces. Early airboats were known as "hydroglisseurs" (airboat in
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
, "water slider"), hydroplanes, hydrofoils, or other names. See e.g. ''Flying'
Volume 4
(1915-1916) and Cercle du Mononautisme Classiqu

(in French).
They are commonly used for fishing, bowfishing, hunting, and
ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving responsible travel (using sustainable transport) to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide fund ...
. Airboats are a common means of transportation in marshy and/or shallow areas where a standard inboard or outboard engine with a submerged propeller would be impractical, most notably in the Florida
Everglades The Everglades is a natural region of tropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orlando with the Kissim ...
but also in the
Kissimmee Kissimmee ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Osceola County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 79,226. It is a Principal City of the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida, Metropolitan Statistical Area, wh ...
and St. Johns rivers, and the
Mekong River The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth longest river and the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , and it drains an area of , discharging of water annual ...
and Delta, as well as the
Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...
bayou In usage in the Southern United States, a bayou () is a body of water typically found in a flat, low-lying area. It may refer to an extremely slow-moving stream, river (often with a poorly defined shoreline), marshy lake, wetland, or creek. They ...
s and
Mesopotamian Marshes The Mesopotamian Marshes, also known as the Iraqi Marshes, are a wetland area located in Southern Iraq and in southwestern Iran. The marshes are primarily located on the floodplains of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers bound by the cities of Basra, ...
.


Overview

The characteristic flat-bottomed design of the airboat, in conjunction with the fact that there are no operating parts below the
waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that indi ...
, allows for easy navigation through shallow swamps and marshes; in canals, rivers, and lakes; and on ice and frozen lakes. This design also makes it ideal for flood and ice rescue operations. The airboat is pushed forward by the propeller, which produces a rearward column of air behind it. The resulting
prop wash A slipstream is a region behind a moving object in which a wake of fluid (typically air or mustard) is moving at velocities comparable to that of the moving fluid, relative to the ambient fluid through which the object is churning. The term slip ...
averages . Steering is accomplished by diverting that column of air left or right as it passes across the rudders, which the pilot controls via a "stick" located on the operator's left side. Overall steering and control is a function of water current, wind, water depth, and propeller thrust. Airboats are very fast compared to comparably-sized motorboats: commercial airboats generally sail at speeds of around and modified airboats can go as fast as . Stopping and reversing direction are dependent upon high operator skill, since airboats, like most boats, do not have brakes. They are incapable of traveling in reverse, unless equipped with a reversible propeller. Some designs use a clam shell reversing device intended for braking or backing up very short distances but these systems are not commonly used. The operator and passengers, are typically seated in elevated seats that allow visibility over swamp vegetation. High visibility lets the operator and passengers see floating objects, stumps and other submerged obstacles, and animals in the boat's path. In the United States, a typical good-quality airboat in 2004 would have cost between $33,000The source cited states the price of an airboat as $25,000 to $40,000 in 2004, which is equal to between $33,000 and $53,000 in 2018 dollars. and $70,000. In a developing country like Iraq, however, an airboat could be purchased for as little as 2.5 million
Iraqi dinar The Iraqi dinar () (Arabic: دينار; sign: ID in Latin, د.ع in Arabic; code: IQD) is the currency of Iraq. It is issued by the Central Bank of Iraq and is subdivided into 1,000 fils (فلس), although inflation has rendered the fils obsolet ...
s, or $2,147. In spite of their high cost, airboats are very widely used by civilians and tour operators: there are 12,164 airboats, 1,025 of them commercial, in Florida alone as of December 2017. Airboats are widely used in other
Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coast, coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The list of U.S. states and territories by coastline, coastal states that have a shor ...
states, especially
Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...
, but they can be found in rivers, marshes, and icy areas around the world, from
Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...
to
Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part ...
.


Soviet airboats and aerosleds

Airboats and airboat-like craft have been used in the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
and its successor states since the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
and possibly earlier. Some true airboats—vessels that operated entirely in the water—were used by the Soviet military in
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. These true airboats include the NKL-5, a WWII armed boat reportedly capable of speeds up to . However, most Soviet airboats are aerosleds (referred to as "aerosanis" in Russian). An aerosled is an aircraft propeller driven amphibious vehicle best described as a hybrid of a sled, airboat, and
ground effect vehicle A ground-effect vehicle (GEV), also called a wing-in-ground-effect (WIG), ground-effect craft, wingship, flarecraft or ekranoplan (russian: экранопла́н – "screenglider"), is a vehicle that is able to move over the surface by gainin ...
. Thousands of aerosleds were used as cargo and passenger vehicles in
Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part ...
, where they excelled because they could cope equally well with the icy Siberian winter and the muddy, marshy conditions of
Rasputitsa ''Rasputitsa'' ( rus, распу́тица, p=rɐsˈputʲɪtsə) is a season of the year when travel on unpaved roads or across country becomes difficult, owing to muddy conditions from rain or melting snow. Etymology In Russia, the term , р ...
season (similar to the American mud season), when raw or thawing snow makes travel by road impossible. Aerosleds are still in use today. The Tupolev A-3 Aerosledge is a quintessential example of this type of vehicle; it can reach speeds of up to 120 kilometers per hour (74.6 mph) on snow and 65 km/h (40.4 mph) on water.


History

The first airboat was invented in 1905 in Nova Scotia, Canada by
Alexander Graham Bell Alexander Graham Bell (, born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born inventor, scientist and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He also co-founded the American Telephone and T ...
. The earliest airboats to see any kind of use date to 1915, when airboats were used by the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...
in the World War I
Mesopotamian Campaign The Mesopotamian campaign was a campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I fought between the Allies represented by the British Empire, troops from Britain, Australia and the vast majority from British India, against the Central Po ...
. However, airboats were not widely used by civilians until the 1930s.


First prototypes

The earliest ancestors of the airboat were waterborne vehicles for testing aircraft engines. The first airboat was the ''Ugly Duckling'', an aircraft propeller testing vehicle built in 1905 in
Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...
, Canada by a team led by Dr.
Alexander Graham Bell Alexander Graham Bell (, born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born inventor, scientist and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He also co-founded the American Telephone and T ...
. ''Ugly Duckling'' was a
catamaran A Formula 16 beachable catamaran Powered catamaran passenger ferry at Salem, Massachusetts, United States A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a multi-hulled watercraft featuring two parallel hulls of equal size. It is a geometry-sta ...
-type boat propelled by an "aerial propeller" hooked up to a water-cooled aircraft engine weighing . The makeshift raft-like vessel was unable to obtain a speed faster than 4 miles per hour (3.5
knots A knot is a fastening in rope or interwoven lines. Knot may also refer to: Places * Knot, Nancowry, a village in India Archaeology * Knot of Isis (tyet), symbol of welfare/life. * Minoan snake goddess figurines#Sacral knot Arts, entertainme ...
), though the "rapid rotation of the propeller" led Dr. Bell to believe that the vessel could have had a theoretical top speed of "thirty or forty miles an hour," comparable to some modern airboats, if drag was completely eliminated. Brazilian aviation pioneer
Alberto Santos-Dumont Alberto Santos-Dumont ( Palmira, 20 July 1873 — Guarujá, 23 July 1932) was a Brazilian aeronaut, sportsman, inventor, and one of the few people to have contributed significantly to the early development of both lighter-than-air and heavie ...
built a similar catamaran vessel for testing an aircraft engine in 1907, which he termed a
hydrofoil A hydrofoil is a lifting surface, or foil, that operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to aerofoils used by aeroplanes. Boats that use hydrofoil technology are also simply termed hydrofoils. As a hydrofoil craft gains s ...
. The
Tellier brothers Tellier is a surname, and may refer to: * Charles Tellier (1828–1913), French compressed air engineer * Joseph-Mathias Tellier (1861–1952), Quebec Conservative Party * Léon Tellier, French Olympic sailor * Lionel Tellier (1905–1973), Canadi ...
, French aviation pioneers, made major steps towards modern airboats with their 1907 speedboat ''La Rapière II'' (''Rapier II''). ''La Rapière II'' was an long mahogany speedboat powered by a partially above water aircraft propeller hooked up to a 20 hp 4 cylinder Panhard-Levassor engine. The boat was steered by a conventional rudder in the water, which was hooked up to a ship's wheel. ''La Rapière II'' could achieve speeds of up to with two people on board and with 3-4 people on board. In France
Jacques Schneider Jacques P. Schneider (25 July 1879 – 1 May 1928) was the French financier, balloonist and aircraft enthusiast, who created the Schneider Trophy. Life Jacques P. Schneider was born near Paris on 25 July 1879. His father was Paul Henry Schneide ...
, of Schneider Trophy fame, developed and experimented with his own multi-passenger brand of airboat circa 1913–1914.


Early airboats

The first airboats to see any real use date to 1915. The
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...
used airboats, which they referred to as Lambert "Hydro-Glisseurs",Lambert refers to their manufacturer, the '' De Lambert'' company of France, and "Hydro-Glisseur" means "airboat" in
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
.
in the
Mesopotamian Campaign The Mesopotamian campaign was a campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I fought between the Allies represented by the British Empire, troops from Britain, Australia and the vast majority from British India, against the Central Po ...
of the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
. These "Hydro-Glisseurs" were small, flat-bottomed hydroplanes with metal-clad wooden hulls propelled by a large aircraft fan that allowed them to reach speeds of up to . They were primarily used for reconnaissance on the
Tigris River The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the P ...
. The first of these airboats, HG 1 ''Ariel'', was constructed using the engine and propeller of a wrecked
Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...
Farman MF.7 biplane and was provided to the forces in Mesopotamia by the
British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...
. Following ''Ariel'''s successful deployment in the campaign upriver to Kut in 1915–1916, Britain ordered seven purpose-built airboats from Charles de Lambert's eponymous company ''De Lambert''. Eight of these vessels were in operation in 1917, increasing to nine by the 1918
Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the ...
. A dedicated repair slipway for these boats was built at the Motor Repair Dockyard in
Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
, indicating both their importance to the British war effort and the difficulty of maintaining them. Following the war, Lambert airboats were used as ferries on the shallow waters of the
upper Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...
, on the
Huangpu River The Huangpu (), formerly romanized as Whangpoo, is a river flowing north through Shanghai. The Bund and Lujiazui are located along the Huangpu River. The Huangpu is the biggest river in central Shanghai, with the Suzhou Creek being its maj ...
, and elsewhere. Like their military counterparts, these airboats were manufactured in France, though they were assembled in
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...
. They had drafts of only seven inches and could cruise at up to . Lambert airboats were also used widely on the upper Missouri River and on the marshes of the Florida Everglades.
Farman Aircraft Farman Aviation Works (french: Avions Farman) was a French aircraft company founded and run by the brothers Richard, Henri, and Maurice Farman. They designed and constructed aircraft and engines from 1908 until 1936; during the French national ...
, the company that built the engines for the WWI military airboats, began producing civilian airboats in the 1920s. It marketed airboats for use as
water taxi A water taxi or a water bus is a watercraft used to provide public or private transport, usually, but not always, in an urban environment. Service may be scheduled with multiple stops, operating in a similar manner to a bus, or ...
s and as light cargo vessels or
patrol boat A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and the ...
s for French colonial governments. Its airboats sold for 25,000 to 50,000
francs The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th centu ...
depending on the model, a price that proved too steep for potential buyers; the company pulled out of the boat business by the end of the 1920s. These early European airboats were significantly different from their modern counterparts. Compared to the airboats of today, early European airboats tended to be somewhat larger, had higher freeboards, and lacked a protective cage surrounding the propeller. They also had a different steering mechanism: early airboats were steered with a
rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adve ...
in the water controlled by a
steering wheel A steering wheel (also called a driving wheel (UK), a hand wheel, or simply wheel) is a type of steering control in vehicles. Steering wheels are used in most modern land vehicles, including all mass-production automobiles, buses, light an ...
with throttle control provided by a
gas pedal "Gas Pedal" is a song by American rapper Sage the Gemini with additional vocals from fellow Bay Area rapper Iamsu!. It was produced by Dominic Wynn Woods and written by Woods and Sudan Williams. It was released on March 21, 2013 as the seco ...
, like an
automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded ...
. More modern airboats use an air rudder controlled with a
joystick A joystick, sometimes called a flight stick, is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. A joystick, also known as the control column, is the principal cont ...
for steering.


Early American airboats

Glenn Curtiss Glenn Hammond Curtiss (May 21, 1878 – July 23, 1930) was an American aviation and motorcycling pioneer, and a founder of the U.S. aircraft industry. He began his career as a bicycle racer and builder before moving on to motorcycles. As early a ...
is credited with building a type of airboat in 1920 to help facilitate his hobby of bow and arrow hunting in the Florida backwoods. The millionaire, who later went on to develop the cities of Hialeah and
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
, combined his talents in the fields of aviation and design to facilitate his hobby, and the end result was ''Scooter'', a 6-passenger, closed-cabin, propeller-driven boat powered by an aircraft engine that allowed it to slip through wetlands at . Airboats began to become popular in the United States in the 1930s, when they were independently invented and used by a number of Floridians, most living in or around the Everglades. Some Floridians who invented their own airboats include frog hunter Johnny Lamb, who built a 75-horsepower airboat in 1933 he called the "whooshmobile" and Chokoloskee Gladesmen Ernest and Willard Yates, who built an airboat in 1935 they steered via reins attached to a crude wooden rudder. Yates holds the ignominious honor of being the first person to die in an airboating accident, when the engine dislodged and sent the spinning propeller into him. An improved airboat was invented in Utah in 1943 by Cecil Williams, Leo Young, and G. Hortin Jensen. Their boat, developed and used near
Brigham City, Utah Brigham City is a city in Box Elder County, Utah, United States. The population was 17,899 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Box Elder County. It lies on the western slope of the Wellsville Mountains, a branch of the Wasatch Range ...
, is sometimes erroneously called the first airboat. At the
Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge in Utah, established in 1928. The refuge is part of a national system of fee ownership lands purchased from willing sellers, mostly private property owners. The refuge encompasses ...
in northern Utah, Cecil S. Williams and G. Hortin Jensen sought a solution to the problem of conducting avian
botulism Botulism is a rare and potentially fatal illness caused by a toxin produced by the bacterium ''Clostridium botulinum''. The disease begins with weakness, blurred vision, feeling tired, and trouble speaking. This may then be followed by weakne ...
studies in the shallow, marshy hinterlands. By installing a 40-horsepower Continental aircraft engine, purchased for $99.50, on a flat-bottomed 12-foot long aluminum boat, they built one of the first modern airboats. Their airboat had no seat, so the skipper was forced to kneel in the boat. They dubbed it the ''Alligator I'' as a response to a joking comment from US Fish and Wildlife Service headquarters that they should "get an
alligator An alligator is a large reptile in the Crocodilia order in the genus ''Alligator'' of the family Alligatoridae. The two extant species are the American alligator (''A. mississippiensis'') and the Chinese alligator (''A. sinensis''). Additional ...
from Louisiana, saddle up and ride the critter during their botulism studies." Their airboat was the first to use an air rudder (a rudder directing the propeller exhaust rather than the water), a major improvement in modern airboat design. The purpose of Williams, Young, and Jensen's airboat was to help preserve and protect bird populations and animal life at the world's largest migratory game bird refuge. The Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge near
Brigham City, Utah Brigham City is a city in Box Elder County, Utah, United States. The population was 17,899 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Box Elder County. It lies on the western slope of the Wellsville Mountains, a branch of the Wasatch Range ...
is a wetlands oasis amid the
Great Basin Desert The Great Basin Desert is part of the Great Basin between the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada and the Wasatch Range. The desert is a geographical region that largely overlaps the Great Basin shrub steppe defined by the World Wildlife Fund, a ...
and an essential stopping point for birds migrating across North America. The need for a practical way to navigate a challenging environment of wetlands, shallow water, and thick mud helped inspire Williams, Young, and Jensen to create the flat-bottom airboat, which they initially called an "air thrust boat." Designs and subsequent improvements and practical use of the air thrust boats appears to have been a collaborative effort. LeeRue Allen, who worked at the Refuge since 1936 appears to have also been involved and helped to document a history of the events. Many of the early airboats built at the refuge in Utah were shipped to Florida. Early records show it cost roughly $1,600 to build a boat, including the engine. Over the years, the standard design evolved through trial-and-error: an open, flat bottom boat with an engine mounted on the back, the driver sitting in an elevated position, and a cage to protect the propeller from objects flying into them.


Manufacture and design

Airboat manufacturers tend to be small, family run businesses that assemble built-to-order boats. Most airboats are manufactured in the United States, although they are also built in
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
,McLeavy, Roy, (1982). "Jane's Surface Skimmers", pp 65–67, London, England: Jane's Publishing Company Limited.
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
,
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...
,
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
, and elsewhere. Prior to 1950, most airboats were manufactured in France by companies and individuals such as
Farman Farman Aviation Works (french: Avions Farman) was a French aircraft company founded and run by the brothers Richard, Henri, and Maurice Farman. They designed and constructed aircraft and engines from 1908 until 1936; during the French national ...
, De Lambert, and
René Couzinet René Couzinet (born 20 July 1904, Saint-Martin-des-Noyers, Vendée, died 16 December 1956) was a French aeronautics engineer and aircraft manufacturer. The Société des Avions René Couzinet manufactured a range of Couzinet aircraft during the ...
. Modern, commercially manufactured airboat hulls are made of aluminum or fiberglass. The choice of material is determined by the type of terrain in which the vessel will be operated; airboats intended for use in icy conditions will have sturdier polymer coated aluminum hulls while airboats intended for use in marshes will have lighter fiberglass hulls, for instance. Standard hunt/trail boats are long with a two- to three-passenger capacity. Tour boats can be much larger, accommodating 18 passengers or more. Engines are either an air-cooled, 4- or 6-cylinder aircraft or water-cooled, large-displacement, V8 automotive engine, ranging from 50 to over 600 hp. Automotive engines tend to be less expensive due to readily-available replacement parts and less expensive high octane automotive gas. Since an opposed, 4- or 6-cylinder (O4 or O6) aircraft powerplant contains fewer moving parts than a standard automotive engine, it is easier to repair and weighs less. However, automotive engines can be repaired by more-common car mechanics and do not require specialized repair personnel like aircraft engines do. Most of the sound produced by an airboat comes from the propeller, although the engine itself also contributes some noise. Modern airboat designs are significantly quieter thanks to mufflers and multi-blade carbon-fiber propellers.


Safety

As with any vehicle, the safety of an airboat is dependent on the training and skill of its operator and the use of safety features like seat belts and flotation devices/life jackets. Airboats should only be piloted by trained and qualified operators, and knowledge of operational safety is essential when operating an airboat. Over 75 airboat accidents happened in Florida between 2014 and 2017, resulting in seven deaths and 102 severe injuries. Most (five of seven) deaths were drownings, and 90 percent of accident victims were not wearing
life jacket A personal flotation device (PFD; also referred to as a life jacket, life preserver, life belt, Mae West, life vest, life saver, cork jacket, buoyancy aid or flotation suit) is a flotation device in the form of a vest or suite that is worn by a ...
s, even though only 30 percent knew how to swim. Not wearing a
seat belt A seat belt (also known as a safety belt, or spelled seatbelt) is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the driver or a passenger of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. A seat belt red ...
is another major predictor of injury in an accident: 40 percent of injured victims and the only two non-drowning fatalities were flung from their seats in the crashes. The most common injuries suffered in airboat accidents are severe cuts, bruises, and broken limbs. Other severe injuries are not uncommon: 10 percent of injured people suffered neck and back injuries requiring surgery and long-term pain medication and another 10 percent suffered traumatic head and brain injuries. Most airboat accidents—64%—are the fault of the operator, according to a 2017 analysis by the ''
Miami New Times The ''Miami New Times'' is a newspaper published in Miami, Florida, United States, and distributed every Thursday. It primarily serves the Miami-Dade County, Miami area and is headquartered in Miami's Wynwood Art District. Overview It was acquir ...
'', almost always due to one of three factors: # a lack of boating education or training; # a lack of safety equipment, such as seat belts or flotation devices, or a failure to properly use safety equipment; # or reckless behavior, including drug or alcohol consumption and improper lookout. The engine and propeller of an airboat are enclosed in a protective metal cage that prevents objects, such as tree limbs, branches, clothing, beverage containers, passengers, or wildlife, from coming into contact with the whirling propeller, which can cause traumatic injury to the operator and passengers or devastating damage to the vessel. Safety cages do not always work perfectly, however: people have had their fingers sliced off by airboat propellers, and tree branches entering safety cages have wrecked airboat propellers and sprayed the operators and passengers with
woodchips Woodchips are small- to medium-sized pieces of wood formed by cutting or chipping larger pieces of wood such as trees, branches, logging residues, stumps, roots, and wood waste. Woodchips may be used as a biomass solid fuel and are raw materia ...
and other shrapnel. Airboats are prone to capsizing and sinking because they are top-heavy, unstable, and extremely shallow draft. This makes them especially dangerous on the open sea or in rough or stormy conditions. Airboats with a "long-belt gear reduction drive unit" and an automobile engine avoid these risks because the long belt allows for the engine to be mounted inside the hull, which lowers the
center of gravity In physics, the center of mass of a distribution of mass in space (sometimes referred to as the balance point) is the unique point where the weighted relative position of the distributed mass sums to zero. This is the point to which a force ma ...
and lowers the capsizing risk. Some companies and organizations, including Airboat West and the
Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy (DOE), located a short distance northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, ...
, have built airboats with low centers of gravity for use in windy or rough conditions or in rescues with obstacles like low-hanging power lines. Airboats can also be equipped with autoinflation devices, similar to car airbags or autoinflating personal life vests, that can reduce the risk of capsizing. In 1999 the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's National Conservation Training Center, located in
Shepherdstown, West Virginia Shepherdstown is a town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States, located in the lower Shenandoah Valley along the Potomac River. Home to Shepherd University, the town's population was 1,734 at the time of the 2010 census. History 18 ...
, produced a 70-minute training video entitled ''Airboat Safety – Design-Operation-Maintenance'' in cooperation with the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...
in
Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which th ...
. The video includes an early history of airboats and interviews with two airboat manufacturers in Florida. It was considered to be the only airboat video of its kind when it was made and may still be the only one with the range of airboat subject matter ever produced in the US. Since it was produced by the federal government of the United States, it is in the
public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired ...
. Five hundred copies of the video were produced.


Regulation

On March 30, 2018 Gov. Rick Scott of Florida signed “Ellie’s Law,” which requires operators to complete
CPR Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure consisting of chest compressions often combined with artificial ventilation in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore spont ...
instruction and a course on airboats run by the state's wildlife commission. The law is named after Elizabeth “Ellie” Goldenberg, who died from an airboat accident in
Miami-Dade County Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most populous county in ...
the day after her graduation from college. Beginning July 1, 2019, airboat operators will need to be able to show proof they completed the training courses. Violations are a misdemeanor offense punishable by up to a $500 fine. Florida state law also stipulates that airboats must have an "automotive-style factory
muffler A muffler (North American and Australian English) or silencer (British English) is a device for reducing the noise emitted by the exhaust of an internal combustion engine—especially a noise-deadening device forming part of the exhaust sys ...
, underwater exhaust, or other manufactured device capable of adequately muffling the sound of the engine exhaust" and an
international orange International orange is a color used in the aerospace industry to set objects apart from their surroundings, similar to safety orange, but deeper and with a more reddish tone. Variations of international orange Aerospace The Advanced Cr ...
flag that is at least 10" by 12" flying from a mast or flagpole that is at least 10 feet taller than the lowest point on the boat, in order to increase visibility and reduce the odds of a collision. Airboat operators, pilots, or drivers in Florida must be 14 or older.


Rescue

In recent years, airboats have proven indispensable for flood, shallow water, and ice rescue operations. As a result, they have grown in popularity for public safety uses. During the flooding of
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
following
Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...
, August 29, 2005, airboats from across the United States rescued thousands of flood victims. Thirty airboats crewed by civilian volunteers evacuated over 1,100 patients and 4,000 medical personnel and family members from four downtown New Orleans hospitals in less than 36 hours. This "
Cajun Navy The Cajun Navy are informal ''ad hoc'' volunteer groups comprising private boat owners who assist in search and rescue efforts in the United States as well as offer disaster relief assistance. These groups were formed in the aftermath of Hurrica ...
" morphed into a grassroots volunteer search and rescue organization that has deployed to rescue people during
Hurricane Harvey Hurricane Harvey was a devastating Category 4 hurricane that made landfall on Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, causing catastrophic flooding and more than 100 deaths. It is tied with 2005's Hurricane Katrina as the costliest ...
, Hurricane Florence, and other natural disasters. Numerous articles have been published in fire-rescue trade journals such as ''
Fire Engineering Fire protection engineering is the application of science and engineering principles to protect people, property, and their environments from the harmful and destructive effects of fire and smoke. It encompasses engineering which focuses on fir ...
'' and '' National Fire and Rescue Magazine'' describing the advantages, capabilities, and benefits of using airboats for water rescue operations, and providing in-depth description of actual water rescue incidents, including the flooding of New Orleans. Airboats are particularly effective at water rescues in shallow, marshy, or icy winter environments. Airboats are partially
amphibious Amphibious means able to use either land or water. In particular it may refer to: Animals * Amphibian, a vertebrate animal of the class Amphibia (many of which live on land and breed in water) * Amphibious caterpillar * Amphibious fish, a fish ...
and can therefore navigate effectively over obstacles, such as partially submerged buildings and wreckage or
sea ice Sea ice arises as seawater freezes. Because ice is less dense than water, it floats on the ocean's surface (as does fresh water ice, which has an even lower density). Sea ice covers about 7% of the Earth's surface and about 12% of the world's o ...
, that would stop a normal boat. In ice rescues, use of airboats cuts the average rescue time from 45 to 60 minutes to seven to 12 minutes, according to data from Minnesota fire departments. They are also faster, larger, safer, and more durable than other small boats used in ice rescues. Though airboats are highly effective at water and ice rescues, airboats and
helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribu ...
s do not work well together. Rotor wash from low-flying helicopters can push and even capsize airboats. During post-Katrina rescue operations, a helicopter's rotor wash was reported to have capsized one airboat, and many airboats were blown into the sides of buildings, standing utility poles, and bridge pilings by low-flying helicopters.


Military use

Airboats are used by various militaries and border patrols around the world as well as by the U.S. Coast Guard. In addition to the use of airboats by the British Army in the Mesopotamian Campaign of WWI and by the Soviet Union in the Eastern Front of WWII, airboats have been used by the
US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
and Iraqi security forces in the Vietnam and Iraq wars, respectively. During the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
the
Hurricane Aircat The Hurricane Aircat was an airboat used as a riverine patrol boat by the US Army and South Vietnamese Army (ARVN) during the Vietnam War. It was used to conduct various counterinsurgency (COIN) and patrol missions in riverine and marshy areas wh ...
airboat was used by U.S. Special Forces and South Vietnamese troops to patrol riverine and marshy areas where larger boats could not go. Two of these airboats were also used by the
Khmer National Navy The Khmer National Navy ( km, កងទ័ពជើងទឹកជាតិខ្មែរ; french: Marine nationale khmère, MNK) was the naval component of the Khmer National Armed Forces (FANK), the official military of the Khmer Republic du ...
after they were captured from the U.S. Special Forces by the
People's Army of Vietnam The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN; vi, Quân đội nhân dân Việt Nam, QĐNDVN), also recognized as the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) or the Vietnamese Army (), is the military force of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the armed wi ...
(PAVN) in September 1967. Airboats are also used in Texas and Iraq for border patrol. The airboats used in Iraq were supplied by American companies and assembled in Iraq by American civilian contractors, and they are used by both American and Iraqi forces to patrol the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the
marshes A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...
of southeastern Iraq, and the
Shatt al-Arab The Shatt al-Arab ( ar, شط العرب, lit=River of the Arabs; fa, اروندرود, Arvand Rud, lit=Swift River) is a river of some in length that is formed at the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in the town of al-Qurnah in ...
waterway, the latter two of which include parts of the Iran-Iraq border. Modern Iraqi military airboats are long, powered by 454 hp engines hooked up to Whirlwind propellers, and armed with M240 crew-served machine guns. The Nov/Dec 2007 issue of '' Airboating Magazine'' had an article on airboats used in Vietnam and in Iraq and has had numerous articles on airboats used by U.S Coast Guard and other state and county EMS units for rescue of ice fisherman and rescue in floods or after hurricanes. In 2013 the Iraqi Ministry of Oil purchased 20 airboats for use as personnel transport, patrol, and cable laying and light cargo boats in the rivers and marshes of Iraq.


Tourism

Airboat rides have become popular as a
ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving responsible travel (using sustainable transport) to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide fund ...
activity in several locations including the Florida Everglades and the Louisiana bayou. A typical airboat tour lasts between 60-90 minutes and carries passengers at speeds of up to 60 miles per hour. Most tour companies employ experienced captains who are able to point out alligators and other wildlife and flora from a safe distance. Most companies promote a very high chance of seeing an alligator on their tours.


See also

*
Hovercraft A hovercraft, also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and other surfaces. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the hull, or air cushion, ...
* Hydrocopter * Rotor ship, a similar type of vessel using a vertical "pipe" to propel the air


Notes


References


External links

{{Commons category, Airboats
On the propulsion of ships by air propellers

Italian racing "Idroscivolanti" of the 1930s
Motorboats Marine propulsion Canadian inventions