One of the great things about Hover-ins is that you get a close look at some of the new stuff that people have come up with. At the Chain o' Lake hover-in, the most interesting innovation was the Webers' big foam prop....

The Webers' newest craft sported a very high pitch, low rpm propeller made of foam and fiberglass. I first saw this new style of prop when I saw the Webers at a Hoverclub rally in Terre Haute Indiana. After you've been around hovercrafts for awhile, it is eerie to see and hear this prop -- it is extraordinarily quiet, and it turns so slowly that you think your eyes might be playing tricks on you. Vernon told me that when he went cruising with Bob Windt, Bob would look over and see the prop turning so slowly that he'd be sure the engine had just stopped and the prop was slowing to a halt... ...and then it would just keep on going. At Terre Haute, I was standing next to hovercraft manufacturer Gary Lutke of GPL when the craft rode by. Gary laughed and said "That's not a propeller, that's a windmill!"


Here's Vernon with the craft, and here's a close-up of the prop. I'll put up the construction and performance details (like the pounds of thrust produced at a given rpm) after I get them from the Webers.