thoughts on winter transportation...

fatlazyless · 01-05-2015, 09:59 AM

Wasn't there a 62 year old guy who drowned or died some way in April, 2011, while returning to Cow Island by himself in a Scat airboat. It was about 90-feet from the Cow Island shoreline, and he was a living out there or something.

So's ....let me guess what happened based on what I have seen with airboats going from open water to ice. To get up onto the ice shelf, airboaters will increase engine power to power up the bow onto the ice and move forward....and sometimes the airboat can flip-flop backwards over and become upside-down on the water, or half on the water, half on the ice, or the slush or so. Anyway, in the April 2011 Cow Island airboat death, something went dead wrong?

codeman671 · 01-05-2015, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

Wasn't there a 62 year old guy who drowned or died some way in April, 2011, while returning to Cow Island by himself in a Scat airboat. It was about 90-feet from the Cow Island shoreline, and he was a living out there or something.

So's ....let me guess what happened based on what I have seen with airboats going from open water to ice. To get up onto the ice shelf, airboaters will increase engine power to power up the bow onto the ice and move forward....and sometimes the airboat can flip-flop backwards over and become upside-down on the water, or half on the water, half on the ice, or the slush or so. Anyway, in the April 2011 Cow Island airboat death, something went dead wrong?

The accident in question happened on a small Scat hovercraft, not an airboat. Completely different animal. I heard that it was not moving at the time, it was more of a tipping accident.

I have never heard of an airboat flipping over backwards getting on to the ice, certainly not around here. The type that I was talking about is more of a traditional fiberglass boat that you sit down on and is not top heavy.

fatlazyless · 01-05-2015, 01:37 PM

www.scat.com.sg/ and go to recreational products, there's two models, an Intruder and a Mirage both same size at 6' x 9 1/2' and a third model, a Liberator , at 6' x 12' long.

In the April, 2011 Cow Island fatal, was it in the water or on the ice or transitioning from the water to the ice......wonder what went wrong? Wearing a pfd, and maybe even wearing a dry suit could have made a differance?

codeman671 · 01-06-2015, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

www.scat.com.sg/ and go to recreational products, there's two models, an Intruder and a Mirage both same size at 6' x 9 1/2' and a third model, a Liberator , at 6' x 12' long.

In the April, 2011 Cow Island fatal, was it in the water or on the ice or transitioning from the water to the ice......wonder what went wrong? Wearing a pfd, and maybe even wearing a dry suit could have made a differance?

Here is the original thread, which you were part of:

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums/...highlight=scat

The reports state that he fell out of the craft while trying to start it after a stall (the pull cord broke and sent him back over the side). He capsized it trying to climb back in. It sounds like it was overloaded to begin with.

Hovercrafts of this size are fine for basic back and forth transportation with no cargo, the one in question was not rated to hold much more than the occupant.

fatlazyless · 01-06-2015, 12:40 PM

Will have to go search Etcetera Shoppe and St Vincent de Paul for a quality dry suit, size XXL .... hopefully for thirty dollars or less. Walmart doesn't sell dry suits. Parafunalia is closed till March 28. Is there any place in the area that sells dry suits.......are dry suits very uncomfortable to use and wear?....are they expensive?.....what's a decent dry suit for a low price somewhere?....to be used for kayaks and for sailing a 12' sailboat in April, May, and early June....when the water temp is 35-60 degrees?

What do cold water kayakers, sail-boaters, and hover-crafters like to use for a comfy dry suit that is low priced?

http://www.apsltd.com/c-8473-what-to...de-dinghy.aspx

After seeing the super-high prices for a dry suit.....think I'll do all my cold water sail-boating in the 104-degree, hot tub......arrooooo! If you go from a 104-degree hot tub to a 34-degree Lake Winnipesaukee.....what do you get? ...... pretty danged cold! ....but if you drink three 18oz Beck's beer while still in the hot tub.....when you get into the 34-degree lake Winnipesaukee....it will be much easier to get totally wet in the lake.....and then roll around on the snow.....before crawling back into the hot tub.........arroooooo!

http://annapolis.craigslist.org/spo/4820819843.html Sz XL Kokatat dry suit with lots of good photos $500, used?

Kamper · 01-06-2015, 12:44 PM

FLL

FWIW - An 'airboat' is like a john boat with an airplane propeller pushing it.

codeman671 · 01-06-2015, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamper

FLL

FWIW - An 'airboat' is like a john boat with an airplane propeller pushing it.

There are sit down in/ traditional hulled boats with fans that are airboats as well. See my post above. These are not the everglades style.

Cow Man · 02-09-2015, 01:57 PM

An amphibious Argo or Maxx is a good solution most of the time. Their Achilles heel is when there is snow and crust on top of snow and ice. When the machine breaks through this type of strata it is held up by the crust and snow and the plastic tracks on ice aren’t much good, you’re stuck. Ironic that they can handle most anything other than that.

oceanadventura · 02-09-2015, 05:00 PM

Why not go over the lake rather than ON the lake. You dont need a license for an ultralight and it's actually quite fun and can be landed on any surface, ice, water, or land if you get the proper body similar to that of a hovercraft. The difference is that a hovercraft's body is vulnerable to being punctured by ice chunks. You wont have this issue with a similar body with an ultralight. My grandfather is an ex-pilot (he's now 78) and he still flies ultralights and has all sorts of different landing methods depending upon the body he uses. An ultralight can land and take off in 80 ft, but I've seen him do it in 40 right on my front lawn.

Besides, wouldnt it be a cool experience?

It might not be an option for you, but it's certainly an "option" hehe.

http://backcountryaerosports.com/faqs.ydev <--- All of the most common ultralight questions/answers.

Take particular notice to TEMPERATURE. The colder it is, the more stable it is for flying which means it's great to fly ultralight in colder seasons when boat is not an option

If it were me, I'd have 4 modes of transportation. The legs on this trike are interchangable. It can use wheels, floats, hover floats, or ski's. Hoverfloats are the "all-terrain" method for trikes but they are significantly heavier. You can land them on any surface as seen below:

If if you are ok with not having the safety of a glider, you could get one of these badboys:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VaG0LQBcgY <---- BTW, the "rotor" is not even connected to the engine. It's called a gyrocopter. The Rotor is spinning on it's own. It will even spin if you kill the engine! This guy says it best here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8IB-5PbL9U "Most aircraft below 800 feet, if the engine dies, you are left with no time to recover. But for us, we dont care if the engine dies!" Then, he kills the engine LMAO". It's a cool vid to watch on gyrocopters which can land and takeoff in even shorter spaces than trykes.

1. 4 Wheeler for when there is no/little/packed snow on the ice (usually early winter), safe enough for snowmobile, but terrible on the tracks (Another option would be an enclosed side-by-side ATV, its a wheeler with a cab basically)
2. Snowmobile for winter or if snow is to deep for the wheeler
3. Boat (this goes without saying, its the best option when its open water season)
4. Ultralight, good for the tweener seasons (Fall/Spring). Also a cool way to check things out from above no matter what the season and believe it or not, they are actually safer than sleds/atv's. They do NOT need a motor to "fly". You can kill the motor and still fly for very long periods of time depending upon updrafts and what not. Its no different than hang gliding. Just try not to land in a tree

So like the seasons, Mobility should have 4 methods when you're living "off the grid". I've lived in Alaska and this mentality of 4 types of transportation comes from those experiences.

<-- doesnt that look cool? Who needs a sled when you have one of these beasts

01-05-2015, 09:59 AM	#1
fatlazyless Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 8,775 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 300 Thanked 1,021 Times in 743 Posts	Cow Island-April 2011-airboat fatality Wasn't there a 62 year old guy who drowned or died some way in April, 2011, while returning to Cow Island by himself in a Scat airboat. It was about 90-feet from the Cow Island shoreline, and he was a living out there or something. So's ....let me guess what happened based on what I have seen with airboats going from open water to ice. To get up onto the ice shelf, airboaters will increase engine power to power up the bow onto the ice and move forward....and sometimes the airboat can flip-flop backwards over and become upside-down on the water, or half on the water, half on the ice, or the slush or so. Anyway, in the April 2011 Cow Island airboat death, something went dead wrong? __________________ ... down and out, liv'n that Walmart side of the lake!

01-05-2015, 01:37 PM	#3
fatlazyless Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 8,775 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 300 Thanked 1,021 Times in 743 Posts	www.scat.com.sg/ and go to recreational products, there's two models, an Intruder and a Mirage both same size at 6' x 9 1/2' and a third model, a Liberator , at 6' x 12' long. In the April, 2011 Cow Island fatal, was it in the water or on the ice or transitioning from the water to the ice......wonder what went wrong? Wearing a pfd, and maybe even wearing a dry suit could have made a differance? __________________ ... down and out, liv'n that Walmart side of the lake!

01-06-2015, 12:40 PM	#5
fatlazyless Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 8,775 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 300 Thanked 1,021 Times in 743 Posts	.... all about dry suits? Will have to go search Etcetera Shoppe and St Vincent de Paul for a quality dry suit, size XXL .... hopefully for thirty dollars or less. Walmart doesn't sell dry suits. Parafunalia is closed till March 28. Is there any place in the area that sells dry suits.......are dry suits very uncomfortable to use and wear?....are they expensive?.....what's a decent dry suit for a low price somewhere?....to be used for kayaks and for sailing a 12' sailboat in April, May, and early June....when the water temp is 35-60 degrees? What do cold water kayakers, sail-boaters, and hover-crafters like to use for a comfy dry suit that is low priced? http://www.apsltd.com/c-8473-what-to...de-dinghy.aspx After seeing the super-high prices for a dry suit.....think I'll do all my cold water sail-boating in the 104-degree, hot tub......arrooooo! If you go from a 104-degree hot tub to a 34-degree Lake Winnipesaukee.....what do you get? ...... pretty danged cold! ....but if you drink three 18oz Beck's beer while still in the hot tub.....when you get into the 34-degree lake Winnipesaukee....it will be much easier to get totally wet in the lake.....and then roll around on the snow.....before crawling back into the hot tub.........arroooooo! http://annapolis.craigslist.org/spo/4820819843.html Sz XL Kokatat dry suit with lots of good photos $500, used? __________________ ... down and out, liv'n that Walmart side of the lake! Last edited by fatlazyless; 01-07-2015 at 09:28 AM.

02-09-2015, 01:57 PM	#8
Cow Man Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Cow Island / Holderness, NH Posts: 46 Thanks: 4 Thanked 19 Times in 8 Posts	Argo / MAXX An amphibious Argo or Maxx is a good solution most of the time. Their Achilles heel is when there is snow and crust on top of snow and ice. When the machine breaks through this type of strata it is held up by the crust and snow and the plastic tracks on ice aren’t much good, you’re stuck. Ironic that they can handle most anything other than that.

02-09-2015, 05:00 PM	#9
oceanadventura Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2014 Posts: 4 Thanks: 0 Thanked 3 Times in 2 Posts	Why not go over the lake rather than ON the lake. You dont need a license for an ultralight and it's actually quite fun and can be landed on any surface, ice, water, or land if you get the proper body similar to that of a hovercraft. The difference is that a hovercraft's body is vulnerable to being punctured by ice chunks. You wont have this issue with a similar body with an ultralight. My grandfather is an ex-pilot (he's now 78) and he still flies ultralights and has all sorts of different landing methods depending upon the body he uses. An ultralight can land and take off in 80 ft, but I've seen him do it in 40 right on my front lawn. Besides, wouldnt it be a cool experience? It might not be an option for you, but it's certainly an "option" hehe. http://backcountryaerosports.com/faqs.ydev <--- All of the most common ultralight questions/answers. Take particular notice to TEMPERATURE. The colder it is, the more stable it is for flying which means it's great to fly ultralight in colder seasons when boat is not an option If it were me, I'd have 4 modes of transportation. The legs on this trike are interchangable. It can use wheels, floats, hover floats, or ski's. Hoverfloats are the "all-terrain" method for trikes but they are significantly heavier. You can land them on any surface as seen below: If if you are ok with not having the safety of a glider, you could get one of these badboys: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VaG0LQBcgY <---- BTW, the "rotor" is not even connected to the engine. It's called a gyrocopter. The Rotor is spinning on it's own. It will even spin if you kill the engine! This guy says it best here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8IB-5PbL9U "Most aircraft below 800 feet, if the engine dies, you are left with no time to recover. But for us, we dont care if the engine dies!" Then, he kills the engine LMAO". It's a cool vid to watch on gyrocopters which can land and takeoff in even shorter spaces than trykes. 1. 4 Wheeler for when there is no/little/packed snow on the ice (usually early winter), safe enough for snowmobile, but terrible on the tracks (Another option would be an enclosed side-by-side ATV, its a wheeler with a cab basically) 2. Snowmobile for winter or if snow is to deep for the wheeler 3. Boat (this goes without saying, its the best option when its open water season) 4. Ultralight, good for the tweener seasons (Fall/Spring). Also a cool way to check things out from above no matter what the season and believe it or not, they are actually safer than sleds/atv's. They do NOT need a motor to "fly". You can kill the motor and still fly for very long periods of time depending upon updrafts and what not. Its no different than hang gliding. Just try not to land in a tree So like the seasons, Mobility should have 4 methods when you're living "off the grid". I've lived in Alaska and this mentality of 4 types of transportation comes from those experiences. <-- doesnt that look cool? Who needs a sled when you have one of these beasts Last edited by oceanadventura; 02-09-2015 at 05:55 PM.

01-06-2015, 12:44 PM	#6
Kamper Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Thornton's Ferry Posts: 1,307 Thanks: 67 Thanked 172 Times in 128 Posts	FLL FWIW - An 'airboat' is like a john boat with an airplane propeller pushing it.