FastTrack - Like a snowmobile on water

I put this here, as it's outside of any catagory I can think of. I posted it inside of two other thread, I trust no one minds.


FastTrack, Killer amphibious vehicle - 39 mph on water and 55 mph on land
http://www.gizmag.com/go/6906/
http://www.gizmag.com/pictures/6906_28020715829_6.png
http://www.gizmag.com/pictures/6906_28020720333_0.jpg

Gallery link:
http://www.gizmag.com/go/6906/picture/31735/

Video link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaGLNcIkSm0

 

Check out the video, pulls two water skiers and goes down the road like a car. I'm starting to want one. :unsure:

They stoped the video after it was tearing up some catails near that bridge foundation, guess it's not as eco friendly as a hovercraft.

EDIT: FYI if you can't see the images, click the link below, it also has many videos.

Link-1
http://www.fasttrackamphibian.com/
FastTrack 1 is a proof of concept demonstrator. It was built to show that a vehicle built using Fast Track Amphibian technology can get “on plane”, in water, using only its tracks for propulsion.

Link-2:
http://www.bornrich.org/entry/fast-track-amphibious-vehicle-runs-into-production/

 

every bornrich navy seal should have one

 

Next they could come out with a stealth version, a pupa like thing that walks on the underside of the water.

http://www.arbovirus.health.nsw.gov.au/areas/arbovirus/mosquit/photos/mosquitophotos.htm

 

I saw this presentation at the MACC in May,

https://macc.nswccd.navy.mil/presentations/2009/thur-Wernicke.pdf

and was most impressed in that they are claiming a very high propulsive efficiency. Almost 70%, which is better than most props. If you look at the first picture in the presentation they have put the tracks into the "down" position for high speed running, lifting the hull out of the water and eliminating the hydrodynamic drag as we commonly know it. The tracks are still "planing", but are running at higher speed than the water so there is no "drag" in the common sense.

It is easy to dismiss any amphibian as being severely compromised by the requirements of running on land and water, but I can't help but wonder if these guys are on to something.

I found this old post, and it didn't seem to get much attention at the time, but this propulsion system is really "outside the box" thinking at it's best.

You have to wonder if a lot of small pleasure boats wouldn't be better off with tracked propulsion as opposed to props.

 

Bloody NEAT... I would like one - - How much and what do they weigh?

 

According to the paper, the demo version weights 1850 lbs, and in one clip on their web site shows it planing along with 6 passengers, so all up wieight would be just over 2850 pounds if the passengers weight the avg 175 lbs each.. The design gross weight with 4 passengers is supposed to be 2400 pounds. I would think that it may not be able to plane as much weight as one could with a prop, but if you look at the efficiency at speed in the paper the efficiency above 40 mph is closing in on 90%.