March 12, 2006

March 2, 2006

"I hover nearly every weekend and have clocked up some good experience, 50+ hours. I have been in Gale Force 3 conditions: 0.5m – 1 m waves and winds around 35km/h in Durban Harbour. (SA Hovercraft took their craft out of the water.) It really was fun – challenging, but fun. The wind was too strong to drive straight into the wind and waves, but tacking worked well and WOW this hovercraft can surf on the waves!"

January 5, 2006

"I'm Rich Stuart's son, and I took our hovercraft out the other day on Geist Lake, which is totally frozen over, and it was a complete blast! I love how much easier the craft skims across the ice than the water. Do you have any hovercraft trips planned soon? My dad and I would be very interested in exploring a river or something like that with other hovercraft enthusiasts."

November 3, 2005

"Back in 1988 we drove to your factory in Terre Haute, bought the Racer Hovercraft Kit, and have used it ever since at our remote cabin in Canada. We have been very satisfied with the hovercraft, its performance, and your company. With Rae now being 73 and myself nearly there, we decided we'd better not risk long periods in the remote during the "ice out season" anymore. Those were some memorable events and we were able to have them with the hovercraft as our emergency vehicle. We have the hovercraft listed on eBay, where it is getting a lot of attention … over a thousand lookers and more than 50 have it on their list to watch. Some are asking questions and we are mentioning your web site in our answers. Yours is the most impressive site on the Web; it's informative, covers every aspect, and is exciting. We hope many others will visit the site and all take a trip to Terre Haute. Thanks again for all the help you were to us. Owning one of your hovercraft was an exciting part of our lives."

January 10, 2005

"Last Saturday and Sundy we got to run the hovercraft though it was windy[over 15 knots] and rough. It's a wonderful little machine, booming all around the place, fun machine, wonderful device, very well thought out..."

March 9, 2005

"Really enjoying my craft. Was on the river last week. I have about 10 hours on craft so far. Takes a long time to load and unload because of everybody at the river wanting to talk about the craft!!"

December 28, 2004

"I have flown the hovercraft a few times in my field (open and flat) and am practicing slow speed land maneuvers like loading and unloading from trailer as well as getting use to the thrust buckets etc. Having a great time and really enjoying the craft, it is an excellent machine."

August 24, 2004

"Went out for about 2 + hours on Saturday and did quite a distance. Explored a nearby river to the township of Katikati then went out and claimed an Island and a sandbank so we now have a Neoteric Island and sandbar! Trust everyone at Neoteric is impressed with their new claim.

It is really a great machine; the more I drive it the better I like it. I was not impressed with the Neoteric trailer at first glimpse, although I must admit that it became very clear that it was practical after our first outing.

Congratulations on a fine design and well thought out craft. I must say it is comforting to have a full set of instruments; maybe a volt meter would be useful in the future. Cheers from a happy owner."

August 15, 2004

"Had a couple of interesting moments driving [the Hovercraft] down the water. One in particular where [the craft] just wanted to side swipe the hedge, but after a serious chat to it, it settled down and behaved. I did a test out in front to reacquaint myself with the controls, etc., and then took Rose for a short flight. All was good so we stopped for a while, put on the head phones, and hovered up the estuary. We did a couple of 360s, and a little bit of backwards movement. Great craft - I am really pleased with it. Thanks a bunch. "

Each year we do a short water show for the spectators. This year, as were gliding along at a fairly good speed, the cable on my left side bucket broke, causing me to touch Marty's machine. Everyone thought it was part of the show! I ran the rest of the day without the port side bucket, so we didn't do all our usual maneuvers. When we perform, the crowd loves it as we head toward each other then put both hovercraft in reverse at the very last minute and fly backwards.

We gave free rides from 11:00 to 3:00 to two or three people at a time. Even though we requested that there be only one ride per person, we still had to turn people away at the end of the day. We could have used at least one additional hovercraft, as each year the crowd gets bigger.

This is a big weekend for the entire area. Manitowoc has an annual Children's Hospital benefit on the short of Lake Michigan at the same time that Two Rivers holds their benefit for the Rogers Street Fishing Museum on the West Twin River, and thousands of people come to the area to enjoy the two events.

It was a great day of Happy Hovering!"

September 2004:                 [In September 2004 Marty Van Lishout took delivery of his fourth recreational hovercraft from Neoteric.]

"Really appreciate new engine. Very responsive and much more pleasing to the ears. I like the new front skirts too. Started using 40 pound bag of sand in the nose which trimmed the craft quite well for me. Then I replaced 10 of the new front skirts with regular ones, and was able to remove the sand bag. I still get a little spray on turns which can be eliminated by moving way forward.

Beautiful Machine!

"I have more enjoyment out of my hovercraft than anything I have ever owned. It runs like a top, it's sure been a good craft. The bass fishing boys say, 'Boy you can get where we can't go!'

Best money I've ever spent!"

"Thanks! You have provided us with a method of conquering the river. You can’t imagine how much we appreciate this hovercraft. The Hovertrek is 10 times better than an airboat. It’s the best thing we can think of for the river. It’s doing a fantastic job. If it wasn’t for the reverse buckets it just wouldn’t work, you just have to have them; it’s the perfect thing. It crosses shoals as smooth as silk. The fishing platform works great. John and I have been everywhere on the river – we have mastered 50 miles from log jams to crossing dams and fish traps, even 3 ft drops. The river is like an obstacle course 1 to 4 ft high rocks for up to ½ mile stretch. We couldn’t ask for anything more. Yesterday we blew past a 90 HP jet boat that had gone as far as it could go."

Rena Waid
Atlanta, Georgia USA

"The hovercraft is a good Moose hunting machine, it sails over the sandbars at 35 mph. Everyone that looks at it thinks it's goofy, until they go for a ride."

"I really like my hovercraft. I have been climbing and descending canoe ramps on the Milwaukee River. These are quite steep, almost 45 degrees and high. I have over 127 hours on the hovercraft in less than six months. Recently, I went on Lake Michigan in six-foot waves and 25 mph winds, the craft worked well. I took my 80-year-old mother for a 60-mile trip. I certainly like my machine.”

A few weeks ago we had a family reunion at our home with my three sisters and their families coming from different parts of the world so, of course, we had a day out on the hovercraft. I took about 12 people one by one for rides up and down the river. Everyone had such a thrill, having never ridden on a hovercraft. We had to dodge groups of students kayaking downstream, but they were waving and thought the hovercraft was really cool. We even attracted some attention from the press, as there was a reporter from an Internet newspaper called the Bristol Sun taking pictures and interviewing us about the reunion and the hovercraft. I made sure she got the correct information about Neoteric, the maker of this fine machine, and sure enough at 8 pm that evening our story was on their web site, complete with photos and video of us hovering along (that was about two weeks ago so it's off their site by now).

I still have not yet seen any other hovercraft out on the waterways, and I guess I enjoy being so unique, but at the same time I realize that for the health of the hovercraft industry it would be much better if there were more of us around.

We're heading up to the Wisconsin Dells for four days of vacation this week. We're towing the Hovertrek along and plan to do some serious hovering on the Wisconsin River. We're going to attend the Muscoda Hover-in on Friday and Saturday; it will be our first hover-in so we're really looking forward to that.

I'm still working on the idea of making the front seat into a power seat with push button trim control. I've ordered a linear actuator and the rest of the electrical (switch, fuse holder and wiring) is mounted and ready to go. I'll need to have a small bracket welded to the seat frame to mount the actuator. The truth is I can't stop tinkering with it, but I think it's going to turn out really well. I'll email you a photo when it's complete.

By the way, my youngest sister is a professional videographer and she shot some footage of us operating the Hovertrek, (some nice on-board footage from the back seat too.) She's going to edit it into a nice little QuickTime hovercraft video (put to music) that I can distribute through the Internet. Maybe you could have a section on your web site of videos that potential customers could download to get the feel for riding on a hovercraft. When she's done with it I'll send you a copy. Well, I hope that business is good but not overwhelming you! Hope to see you at the September 12 Hover-in at Terre Haute.

PS: Attached is a photo from our recent outing (my sister Annie in rear seat). Check out the ultralight helmets and intercom system."