Special effects are much cheaper than making something moderately difficult - let alone *really* difficult ... From VW's People Car Project and presented in Beijing (China is now VW's most important market). It is in Chinese, but watch it anyway - the story telling is visual.
But there are some interesting points here for students of physics and engineering. How would you do the levitation? How efficient would it be? Are there any bad effects on living things and how big are they? How efficient is this and how does it compare to conventional transportation technologies?
The year was 1964, the World's First Hovercraft Race.
"March 14, 1964, may become a famous date in ACV [Air-Cushion Vehicle] history,
for on that day, at Canberra, the world's first competitive hovercraft trials took place. An analogy may be drawn between the Canberra trials of 1964 and the Rheims air meeting of 1909: both mark the beginning of competitive development in their respective fields, with relatively primitive machines conceived by enthusiastic experimenters." - Flight International (London), April 1964
The race was held over water, but...
"I clearly recall the ear-splitting noise of the motors as they were warming up onshore, and the clouds of sand and dust raised by the downward blasts of air from the machines."
And therein lies the problem with air cushion machines. Who will stand for big bullies kicking sand in their face?
Posted by: Roger | May 10, 2012 at 19:19