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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 1135.PDF
Air-Cushion Vehicles FLIGHT International supplement, 25 April 1963 HOVERCRAFT IN MINIATURE ILLUSTRATED HERE is an air-cushion vehicle which, though made by a well- known firm of manufacturers of toys and furniture (the ingenious Mobo Bronco is perhaps their best-known product in the former field), is a good deal more than a toy: it is a hover ing semi-scale model with characteris tics calculated to interest not only youthful aeromodellers but anyone of any age concerned with hovercraft, professionally or otherwise. Assembled from a kit or obtainable in finished form, the Mobo hovercraft is powered by a 0.8 c.c. model aero engine of the glowplug-ignition type driving a three-bladed lift-fan in a shallow pylon amidships. The light- gauge but well stiffened moulded- plastics hull is a double-walled structure forming an annulus through which the peripheral jet emerges. For forward propulsion a proportion of the air is bled from the main supply and ejected through (a) triangular vents in the mountings of the twin rear fins and (b) six stub pipes projecting through the transom. The little craft will operate over any reasonably smooth, dust-free surface or, ideally, over water. With the engine adjusted to optimum revolutions a hoverheight of approximately fin is obtained, with a forward speed of about 10 m.p.h. Course is controlled by adjust ing the rudders, which are hinged to the fins by soft aluminium strips, and by this means the craft can be set to travel in a circle (radio-controlled versions have also worked successfully). The main exit ducts provide slipsteam effect over the rudders. A table-top demonstration in the offices of this journal showed—more vividly than any words, drawing or A handsome vehicle, if a little lacking in payload capacity. Note, in the rear view, the triang ular-section propulsion ducts in each fin and the additional vents, in two groups of three, in the transom even film—the true implication of the term "air-lubricated," for the lightest push with one finger would send the hovering vehicle drifting across the table. Overall dimensions are: length 17in, beam 11 in, height to top of fins 4in; weight is 11.5oz. Retail prices are £2 2s in kit form without engine or £7 5s for the fully assembled and finished craft with engine. The kit has been designed for a variety of British and US motors. Included, incidentally, is a neat fuel-dispenser by BP—who are well versed in fuelling rather larger craft of this type. The manufacturers of the Mobo hovercraft are the Jetex Division of D. Sebel & Co Ltd, West Street, Erith, Kent. •Air-Cushion Vehicles" photographs This unretouched photo graph shows the model hovering. Once engine speed is correctly adjust ed the craft displays ex cellent stability 66
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