Airboats for You and Me Trivia Quiz

Answer: Fanboat

The airboat is moved by the rotation of a large propeller (like those used in airplanes) mounted above the rear end of the boat and driven by an engine which is also located above water. Unlike most inboard or outboard boat motors, it does not act on the water, but creates a current of air to move the boat forward. For safety reasons, the propeller is enclosed in a wire cage, giving it the appearance of a large fan - hence the alternative name.

Answer: Shallow waters

Airboats, in one form or another, are used around the world in places where the depth of the water is so little that conventional boat engines aren't practical. This includes the Florida Everglades, with which they are linked in popular imagination, but also such diverse spots as the Mekong River delta in Vietnam, the Mesopotamian Marshes in Iraq, and the bayous of Louisiana.

They have also proved to be useful in ice rescues. The boats themselves are constructed to have a very small draft, often having a bottom that is almost completely flat in profile.

Answer: True

Not only does the extremely large propeller provide a lot of thrust (the air pushed out usually has a speed of around 150 miles per hour), but the flat bottom means there is less drag as the boat moves through the water, allowing it to achieve higher speeds than a conventional motorboat. Airboats which are used primarily for tourism purposes do not go as fast as possible, but cruise along slowly so as to avoid disturbing the wildlife whose observation is the purpose of the ride.

However, there are times when they do turn up the speed, and racing airboats can achieve speeds well over 100 miles per hour.

Answer: They have no brakes

Although some airboats have makeshift devices to provide some braking, most do not, and speed reduction requires adroit maneuvering to utilise current flow. They also cannot reverse, unless a special reversible propeller is fitted. They can certainly be turned, by means of rudders that are turned via a control stick.

The boats usually have quite low sides, although the driver's seat has a high elevation to provide clear vision over the fan. This makes them somewhat unstable in rough waters.

Answer: Cheaper fuel required

Automobile engines use cheaper fuel than aircraft engines, and repairs are also usually cheaper, as you only need to find a car mechanic, not an aircraft repairer. However, for the same power they are much heavier, and (because they have more moving parts than an aircraft engine) are more likely to need repairs, even though the actual repair cost is less. Neither type of engine is known for its quietness, although modern airboats often include mufflers to reduce the engine noise. (Most of the noise comes from the propeller, anyway!)

Answer: Alexander Graham Bell

The Ugly Duckling, constructed in Nova Scotia, was actually used to test aircraft propellers. The boat looked like a raft perched on top of a twin-hulled frame, with the propeller mounted at the rear, and driven by an aircraft engine. The weight of the engine (over a ton) produced significant drag as it moved through the water, so its top speed was under 5 miles per hour.

In 1907, Brazilian Santos Dumont built a similar vehicle for testing aircraft engines, to which he gave the name of hydrofoil, because the boat rested on floats similar to the aerofoil of an airplane.

Other aviation pioneers developed similar boats, evolving over time into the modern airboat.

Answer: Reconnaissance on the Tigris River

The first of these flat-bottomed hydroplanes, called HG 1 Ariel, was put together using the engine and propeller of a wrecked biplane. It proved to be so successful in supporting progress up the Tigris to Kut that another eight craft were built to order by the French company De Lambert.

These airboats were given the name of Lambert "Hydro-Glisseurs", meaning water gliders. They could achieve speeds of over 50 miles per hour, and their seven-inch draft meant they could operate in shallow stretches of the river that were otherwise inaccessible. Following the war, Lambert airboats found peacetime use as ferries in shallow stretches of rivers around Asia, as well as in the upper reaches of the Missouri River, and the marshes of the southern USA.

Answer: Utah

In order to carry out their studies of botulism in birds that inhabited the marshy regions of the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge near Brigham City, Utah, the two purchased an aircraft engine which they mounted on a flat-bottomed aluminum hull. The main improvement they contributed was the use of an air rudder for steering.

Instead of the traditional water rudder which uses pressure from the water through which the boat is moving to control direction, the air rudder directs the airstream from the propeller appropriately.

This meant that there were absolutely no working parts underwater. The major drawback to the design was the lack of a seat - users had to kneel on the floor of the boat. As their model was copied elsewhere, seats became an early addition! There are a number of Florida residents who claim to have developed an airboat even earlier, but their designs were one-offs, and not put into widespread use as happened with the Utah model, whose use quickly spread to the rest of the country. Over the years, it developed through a well-documented evolution into the modern airboat.

Answer: Aerosled

The aerosled is driven by the same mechanism as an airboat, but the vehicle itself is amphibious, allowing it to operate in water or over land that is too soft or too icy for most vehicles. It is useful in the icy winters, when it operates as a sort of hovercraft, using ground effect technology to move over a cushion of air.

In the season the Russians call Rasputitsa, when mud abounds as the deep snow melts, it travels equally well through the muddy conditions.

Answer: Floods

Many of the memorable televised images from New Orleans following the devastating floods produced by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 involved airboats cruising the streets of the city, helping people reach safety. This did not only involve those who were stranded in their places of residence - the evacuation included around 5000 people who had to be moved out of hospitals after the levee broke. Airboats have proven their usefulness in the wake of other hurricanes that caused flooding, as well as in sea rescues involving ice-obstructed waters.

The use of helicopters in the same vicinity for rescue operations, however, has proven to be problematic - the helicopter rotors can push airboats into nearby objects, or even cause them to capsize.