Hovercraft - what happened to them?

[Weaver]

...so maximum wt for such an air cushion vehicle would be about 1.4 * Cushion Area * Cushion L = 1.4 * 185.25 * 19.5 = about 5,057lb or abut 2.26LT as compared to the nominal 24.6 LT weight of the Panzer IV Auf H design from 1943.

As such the use of air cushion technology doesn't really seem to reasonable for an armored vehicle.

Which is why I said the terrain would have to justify it: you'd have to have room to use larger vehicles with thinner armour and lighter weapons than in real life, and there would have to be no better alternative. Say some area that the warring powers needed to fight over was thousands of square miles of flat marsh land, too soft for tracks or wheels, and only crossed by waterways that were too shallow for any displacement craft bigger than a rowing boat.

[steelpillow]

Cushion Area = 185.25ft2
maximum wt ... 5,057lb

That implies a surface loading of 27.3 lb/ft2, which is comparable to that of a road tyre. The thought of having to keep pumping up a punctured tyre while driving along at 50 mph gives some feel as to why the limit exists. My respect to any hovercraft designer who can come anywhere near it.

It is also comparable to the wing loading of many light aircraft, comfortably above the average ultralight, which makes me wonder whether some kind of hybrid V/STOL/Hover flying car might be plausible - "Look Ma, no wheels!" The downside would be the massive sideways air blast when cornering on the ground at any speed, in terms of both generation and the effect on passers by. 

Maybe the cornering side blast could be employed as a non-lethal weapon for riot control? A fine diorama that would make!

[RAFF-35]

Cushion Area = 185.25ft2
maximum wt ... 5,057lb

That implies a surface loading of 27.3 lb/ft2, which is comparable to that of a road tyre. The thought of having to keep pumping up a punctured tyre while driving along at 50 mph gives some feel as to why the limit exists. My respect to any hovercraft designer who can come anywhere near it.

It is also comparable to the wing loading of many light aircraft, comfortably above the average ultralight, which makes me wonder whether some kind of hybrid V/STOL/Hover flying car might be plausible - "Look Ma, no wheels!" The downside would be the massive sideways air blast when cornering on the ground at any speed, in terms of both generation and the effect on passers by. 

Maybe the cornering side blast could be employed as a non-lethal weapon for riot control? A fine diorama that would make!

You might have inadvertently come up with the Universal Hovercraft - UH-18SPW Hoverwing™

[RAFF-35]

Universal Hovercraft - UH-18SPW Hoverwing™ Flying Ground Effect Hovercraft

[Steel Penguin]

ok  thats suitably bonkers, but also very wow!

[steelpillow]

Awesome! Just need those wings to fold up - and a bit back so I can get in and out - and it'll fit nicely in my garage. Have to avoid that steep uphill stretch on the usual route home, though. Oh yes, and make sure it can hop high enough in ground effect to go over the top of the squad-car roadblock up ahead, or maybe over the hedge into open fields.

[RAFF-35]

ok  thats suitably bonkers, but also very wow!

I read somewhere that it goes 70mph apparently

[Captain Canada]

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/17GHyFaRtS/

[PR19_Kit]

Phew, those are pretty big machines.