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To: LoneClone who wrote (41809)	6/4/2007 4:08:12 PM
From: E. Charters	Respond to of 78421

H-Craft are very low environmental impact. They are preferred ways of accessing swamp and rivers of florida as they do not damage Manatee. They did permit a hovercraft for the Stikine and it was in used for over a decade. Yes, they do the job. There is no problem with getting one permitted. There are some groups who protest its use, citing as I pointed out, some envi impact. Probably the impact would be less than the road. And as the Mine pointed out, it has lower cost. This is the machine that was in use on the Iskut/Stkine, and it still may be: My only beef with the Cockerell Air-Boats is that they are directionally unstable. You aim them, not steer them. However they are load efficient, as they are low friction and lift power is small compared to rolling friction losses of tired vehicles. A small 2 person hovercraft uses about 2/3ths of the fuel of an automobile. Do hovercraft hurt the environment? No. The unique characteristics of the hovercraft make it one of the most environmentally friendly vehicles in the world. One of these characteristics is the hovercraft's low "footprint pressure." The pressure a hovercraft exerts on its operating surface is conservatively 1/30th that of the human foot! The average human being standing on ground exerts a pressure of about 3 lb per square inch (20 KPa), and that increases to 25 lb per square inch (172 KPa) when walking. In contrast, the average hovercraft exerts a pressure of only 0.33 lb (2.2 KPa) per square inch - even less as speed increases. This "footprint pressure" is below that of a seagull standing on one leg! Hovercraft have literally flown over pedestrians without inflicting harm. Ed's note: don't try this at home. EC<:-}