![]() The company, now located in Orange, TX, is still offering these airboats. The manufacturer of the airboat, the American Airboat Corporation (then located in Florida), offered to provide the vehicle to VXE-6 for testing purposes. Here is the news article with the photo-these were from a DF-75 VXE-6 press release. It was around for several seasons, but the reason for its demise is unknown. It was fitted with an enclosed insulated cabin to seat 12 passengers, and was initially intended for crew transport between McMurdo and Williams field. This 20-foot long vehicle was powered by a 250 hp aircraft engine, and had a maximum theoretical speed of 60 mph. VXE-6 brought an airboat to McMurdo in the 1974-75 season (left). It must be noted here that this was not the first such craft used in the McMurdo area. In 2010 RPSC did some research more recently, at the July 2011 National Science Board meeting, NSF OPP director Karl Erb and staff mentioned the possible use of hovercraft in the future to facilitate cargo and fuel movement from the ice edge to McMurdo if an icebreaker were unavailable. But it is of interest to note that the concept has been reconsidered more recently. There is a rumor that it was sold to a New Zealand tour company (see update below). The last report I heard was that after sitting in disrepair in the retro yard, it was shipped out in 1992-93. It was still in use in 1991-92, at left you see Cole Mather at the controls in November 1991. One possible factor may have been the support contract changeover from ITT to ASA in 1990 and the accompanying loss of continuity. During one of its seasons, the annual sea ice didn't go out, so its area of operations was limited. ![]() Maxine only saw three or four seasons of use.for various reasons which, well, I really don't know. Still, with experienced operators, Maxine saw a lot of use taking out scientists, supporting dive operations, setting out fuel caches, and showing Distinguished Visitors around, among other things. And the hovercraft could not navigate across open crevasses of the type found on glaciers, since crevasses are basically slots in the ice, all of the loft would be quickly lost, and a crane would probably be required to recover the vehicle. These struts reduced the clearance to 14", so navigation through areas of pressure ridges or sastrugi was difficult. This model of hovercraft had a normal operating height ("loft") of 18", but Maxine had been modified with the addition of two braces running the length of the hull, to strengthen it against impact from a hard surface. The USAP vehicle was never intended for normal use on open water, although a few of the cruise ships have brought them to McMurdo Sound for that purpose in the past. Hovercraft are designed to operate over water or reasonably smooth surfaces such as ice. Traveling across the ice shelf, summer 1990-91 (JT). To retain the air under the vehicle, there was a rubber skirt in a louvered chevron design that proved excellent for maneuvering. It was powered by a six-cylinder Deutz diesel engine, which drove two fans, one for lift and one for forward propulsion. The maximum payload was 2000 pounds, theoretically 10 passengers, this was roughly comparable to the payload of one of VXE-6's Bell 212 helicopters. ![]() It was about 35 feet long, with an aluminum hull and a two-section cabin-the aft section could be removed to permit more cargo capacity. The hovercraft was shipped to McMurdo on the vessel that arrived in January 1988, assembled and tested at the end of the season, and placed in service in 1988-89. The hovercraft was named Maxine after Lou's mother. Sarah had been a field processing assistant in 1986-87, her second season on the ice, and Lou had been a night janitor in her first season. The two original operators that went to that training were Sarah Krall and Lou Czarniecki (now Albershardt). Perhaps this was considered as the closest nearby approximation to the McMurdo sea ice. Later in 1987, several people went to Philadelphia for operator training on the mud flats of the Delaware River.as seen in the photo at left. Approved by NSF of course, but championed by ITT/ANS engineering manager (and my supervisor at the time), Mickey Finn, with a bit of help from Army engineer Steve Dibbern. Lou Albershardt is at left in the red hat.the guy in Big Red is probably the instructor from the operator training (MD).Īfter the 1986-87 season, the program made a decision to purchase a hovercraft. February 1988, initial testing of the newly arrived and assembled hovercraft.note some of the packaging still on the front seats.
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