Winter project teaser

[JonMad]

Subscribed!

[scotta]

Will you be doing whatever it is with ex-servicepeople?

No. Just other mad bastards.

[nuttinnew]

Will you be doing whatever it is with ex-servicepeople?

No. Just other mad bastards.

Hmm, it's having the sound of something I'd prefer to do rather than just watch.
Lack of any r̶e̶l̶e̶v̶a̶n̶t̶ skills would be why I haven't

[Nefarious]

One of the other contenders: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1KhLygQ4Mg

[Nefarious]

And another: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23I0YYgGVIk

[mik]

I have just looked at your faceyB page.

Spill moh beanz.

[scotta]

[scotta]

[scotta]

Text from my brother last night.. "What the fuck is Neil up to??"

[tim]

Hover-Van up Ben Nevis.

[Jimmy Choo]

I'm claiming my Virtual fiver for hovercraft.

[ZedLeg]

Think big lads, crossing the Bering Strait in a Dodge van hovercraft.

[Gavin]

Discover the NW passage in a hover van?

[Nefarious]

crossing the Bering Strait in a...hovercraft.

We have a winner

I was hoping to have some of the proper marketing materials for the big reveal, but as is fairly typical of TV stuff, its all a bit shambolic and mired in negotiations, so I guess I'll drip feed unofficially (I'm not sharing properly on FB yet, as its all still supposed to be quiet at the moment).

But, yes, that's what we're up to - crossing the bering strait in a hovercraft. More specifically, two modified versions of this hovercraft:


It's going to be a 6 part series for Discovery, and we're competing against other national teams (Finland and Russia, see links above) and a US team based around a company called Powersports that do snowmobiles etc (they're bringing some kind of modified 6x6 Argo).

On paper, we should have it in the bag - impressive though the Sherp is, it does 6kph max in water and the currents are often double that. The argo ain't much better, and the Finnish thing is reportedly very unreliable. We can do a steady 40 knots and are unaffected by currents. We just need the weather conditions to be right.

It will be cold, and dangerous-ish. Ambient temp will be -20C on a good day, and at 40 knots the wind-chill will take another 15 off that. And we'll inevitably be wet.
We found out in the last couple of days that they can't put a RIB out for us as backup because of the ice, and the response time for the helicopter is 7 minutes, so if anyone falls in the water, it's basically game over (hence why we're running two craft to at least have a chance of rescuing a man overboard).

The vid you can see above is the start of basic pilots training - everyone is getting at least a crash course in the basics. At present, it looks like we'll be getting one pro pilot from the British Hovercraft company, and I'll be making a few more trips down to Dover to train up further to be the primary second pilot - not too much of a hardship, as it is quite fun! Also, a bit more time at the factory will give me chance to get more up to speed on the mechanical side (these are very simple machines - you can even rebuild an engine in a couple of hours!).

Oh, and the van was a little side project. My mate and fellow-adventurer bought it from a bloke near Gatwick, so we picked it up as part of the trip to use as transport and collect various bits and pieces on out travels (including a spare hovercraft hull to do some R&D work on). It's comedically huge. 14' load space and carrying capacity of 3.5 tonnes. Will 300bhp of small block, it's not slow either (although corners are a bit entertaining!). It's basically a Doge Ram pick-up with a box body on it. Even economy wasn't *too* bad. We managed 20mpg across the whole trip, although that was steady cruising at 50mph. Apparently at 70 (about the limit of stability), it does 5mpg. The new owner has an LPG kit ready to go straight in, so it's not actually as silly as it sounds.

Anyway, more hovercraft updates as I know them...

[ZedLeg]

That's fucking cool

[mik]

Awesome

[DeskJockey]

That's fucking cool

Subzero, technically.

[ZedLeg]

I’ve been waiting all day for someone to make that joke.

[DeskJockey]

I’ve been waiting all day for someone to make that joke.

You're welcome.

[jamcg]

Will there be strong broo racing and ov9 logos all over it?