An airboat also known as a planeboat , swamp boat , bayou boat , or fanboat is a flat-bottomed watercraft propelled by an aircraft-type propeller and powered by either an aircraft or automotive engine.
A version is also adapted for use on ice. The lack of operating parts below the waterline makes the craft ideal for rescue operations. Rudders attached to a control stick divert the air to steer. Without special adaptations, airboats cannot go in reverse. The operator seat is typically in an elevated position to maximize visibility.
Because of their specialized design and limited mobility beyond the conditions they are designed for, airboats represent a small fraction of total watercraft. As of December there were 12, airboats, 1, of which were commercial, in the state of Florida. Airboats and airboat-like craft have been used in the Soviet Union and its successor states since the Second World War and possibly earlier. Some true airboatsβvessels that operated entirely in the waterβwere used by the Soviet military in World War II.
These true airboats include the NKL-5, a 1,kilogram 2, lb WWII armed boat reportedly capable of speeds up to 60 kilometres per hour 37 mph; 32 kn. An aerosled is an aircraft propeller driven amphibious vehicle best described as a hybrid of a sled, airboat, and ground effect vehicle. Thousands of aerosleds were used as cargo and passenger vehicles in Siberia , where they cope excellently, working equally well in the icy Siberian winter and in muddy, marshy conditions of the Rasputitsa season similar to the American mud season , when meltwater and thawing snow makes travel by road impossible.
Aerosleds are still in use today. The earliest ancestors of the airboat were waterborne vehicles for testing aircraft engines. The first airboat was the Ugly Duckling , an aircraft propeller testing vehicle built in in Nova Scotia , Canada, by a team led by inventor Alexander Graham Bell.
