Lew Adkins and Ron Fishlock worked for Rhode & Schwarz in Canada.  When that business looked like it might not have long to exist, at least for them, they decided to do something else -just in case- and Canair Hovercrafts was born.  Canair was started in Ottawa, Ontario in 1988 by Lew and Ron.  Ron Fishlock had earlier designed a number of smaller hovercrafts such as the 340, 440 and 500 series.  For those interested in hovercrafts, and who else would be reading this, Ron has an interesting background that is worth reading about.  While his earlier crafts were much smaller and sold as kits, the 504 - 512 crafts were very different being factory built and designed for commercial use.   It is interesting to note that the first business plan was for Canair to produce small personal hovercrafts.  After some research by Lew,  they decided the commercial market would be a better market to go after and the business model was changed.   Canair started in Ron's workshop, where almost all of the hull plugs and molds were built; to a building in the Carleton Place Industrial Park; then in 1997 to a shared industrial unit with Canwest Hovercraft in Langley, BC; then to its own facility in Langley where the first two twin engine craft were built; and finally, to a larger facility in Langley with the potential to house series production.  Canwest hovercraft was the company run by Lew Adkins who became one of the two sales reps along with David Van Dam (now of Vanair Hovercrafts).  The first prototype was finished in 1994 and the craft was certified for Commercial Hovercraft use by the Canadian Coast Guard on the 31st of March 1995.  The first prototype was tested extensively over the next 300+ hours of use and now sits in parts on a trailer in front of Lew Adkins's company in Langley.

All the Canair crafts, 504L/506 - 512, use a unique directional control system.  In the 50L/506 crafts, a single control stick is linked through two Moorse cables to two pairs of rudders.  One cable controls the right pair and one cable controls the left pair.  They are coupled to the control stick such that if the stick is pulled all the way back, the rudders close off the back of the square duct which operates to "pressurize" the duct.  This pressurization causes spring loaded side slats to open in the sides of the duct and direct the thrust air at about a 45 degree forward angle which in turn causes the craft to back up.  It is pretty cool in operation and fairly effective but it only has about 1/3 of the normal thrust force.  To the extent that there is a down side to this design, it is that only half of the rudders are used to turn the craft. That is, the right rudders operate from 0 degrees (no air deflection) to 90 degrees (air blocked on the right side of the duct).  Therefore the right rudder pair is not used to turn the craft left.  The left rudder pair operate in like manner and do not help in turning the craft to the right.  The large amount of air moving across the rudders and the mechanics of the control system makes the control stick forces fairly high but certainly doable.  In the 509 and 512 crafts, the rudders move the same way but are controlled by electronic linear actuators.  An electronic "joy stick" is used to effect a rudder change.  The system makes it much easier and less fatiguing for the operator to control the craft.

All of these crafts are "integrated" type hovercrafts and redirect about 1/3 of the thrust air to lift the craft.  This works out pretty well but, like all integrated hovercrafts, the lift air requirements must be considered in the engine/fan speed management. I won't go into hovercraft design here but suffice it to say that cushion static pressure varies with the square of the fan speed. So a relatively small decrease in the engine/fan rpm makes a relatively large change in the cushion pressure.  A low cushion pressure makes a plough-in more likely.  In forward motion the crafts of course benefit from receiving the dynamic head of the airstream approaching the craft but, at the speeds these craft travel, the benefit is modest. However, by pulling the control stick back some, the thrust is reduced without changing the engine/fan speed.  This ability to manage the thrust without effecting a change in the lift air pressure is a major advantage the Canair crafts have over most other integrated hovercrafts.   The amount of thrust that is redirected to lift is controlled by a set of "splitter wings" in the duct.  The splitter wings are in turn controlled by a lever in the cockpit.  In the 504L/506 crafts, the lever is coupled to a Moorse cable that adjusts the wings up and down.  In the 509 and 512 crafts, the splitter wings are controlled by an electronic linear actuator with a LED position display on the control panel.

The Canair hovercrafts are manufactured with fiber glass reinforced plastic ("FRP") hulls.  Each hull is made from the joining of modular FRP  sections that are sealed and then held together with lines of stainless steel screws.  The sides of the crafts are made of ABS panels or, optionally, polycarbonate panels.  The polycarbonate panels were offered for cold weather operations where the ABS may become brittle.  Each of the side panels were attached to the hull sides with either "swell latches" or 10/32 screws and well nuts.  Swell latches made it easy to open the side panels for maintenance or to reduce the craft width for travel but I am sure they cost more than the screw/well nut combination.  The later manufactured crafts had the screw/well nut fastening.  The smooth look of the screws seems better than looking at the line of swell latch handles but  that is, of course, a personal opinion.  Inside the side panels of the later crafts are blocks of expanded polystyrene foam.  These add significantly to the non-floodable craft floatation and also serve to significantly reduce the volume of water that must be purged from the side bodies on takeoff.  At 8 lbs a gallon, you do not want to have to lift and accelerate too much water.

The approximate specifications for the crafts are as follows and you can Click Here to see the sales literature:

Model 504L/506

Length: 19'11" ;  Width: 8'3";    Height: 6'1" ;  Gross Weight 2911 lbs;  Payload 1105 lbs;   Fuel Cap: 24 gal (US);    Cruise Speed: 30 mph (lightly loaded it can do better);  Hover height: 12";  Seats 6; Engine Cam 100 or Cam 125;  Slope Climb (standing start) 5.9 degrees.

Model 509

Length: 19'11";   Width: 11'11";   Towing Width 8'9" (with sides removed);  Height: 6'4"; Gross Weight 4290 lbs;  Payload 1710lbs ;   Fuel cap: 48 gal (US);  Cruise speed: 38 mph; Hover height 15";  Seats 9;  Engines Cam 100;  Slope Climb (standing start) 8.0 degrees.

Model 512

Length: 22'10";   Width: 11'11";  Towing Width 8'9"  (with sides removed);  Height: 6'4"; Gross Weight 5334 lbs;  Payload 2460 lbs; Fuel cap: 48 gal (US); Cruise speed: 36 mph; Hover height 15"; Seats 12; Engines Cam 100 or Cam 125;  Slope Climb (standing start) 6.5 degrees.

Canair had two Presidents & CEOs.  The first was Ron Fishlock and the second and last was Leslie K. Lyall (2/98 - 6/99).  Mr. Lyall was associated with the venture capital fund Working Opportunity Fund ("WOF") and he was brought in to bring production expertise to the company.

Canair Hovercraft started with about $190,000 of seed money raised by Ron and Lew from their personal savings plus from family and relatives.  and raised a further $1.3 million in three rounds of venture capital funding ($ 700K,  $500K and $100K).  The second round of funding for $500K was closed in  December 1998 and was used to pay for the production of the 509 and 512 models.  The 512 models sold for between $169K - $175K USD new so, while reasonable for what they are, they were not inexpensive.  The third round was closed in February of 1999.  The development and production costs put a large financial strain on the company and, sadly, the company closed in August 2000 with  most of the assets being sold to pay creditors.  It should be noted that the Jones Act limits non-US made crafts from operating commercially in the United States.  While a waiver is available in certain circumstances, the effect of the Jones Act is to make it very difficult for a hovercraft company in Canada to sell a craft such as the 509 or 512 into the United States.  That was no doubt a factor in the demise of Canair.  The WOF listed Canair as "divested" in their Spring 2001 publication.

The factory was closed while Lew Adkins was on a sales trip and he was unaware of the event until he got back.  The facility was a mess with papers and "stuff" all over the floor where it was dumped out to sell the fixtures.  Lew spent  a number of weeks cleaning up the facility for the landlord with whom he had negotiated the lease.  In the end, Lew purchased the assets from the bailiff and he is now runs the support facility for the Canair hovercrafts in the field.

Much of the production tooling and related equipment to build the Canair line of hovercrafts is currently being offered for sale  by Lew Adkins of Canhover Air Cushion Vehicles Inc.   Ron is not one to give up and he is currently developing an inflatable hovercraft.

The first picture below is of Bob Masters and Al of Firewall Forward Aero Engines.  Bob is 82 and AL is 79 and they are a hoot to deal with.  BTW, the engine they are leaning on is a Honda H22a 200hp that they are developing.  I hope to use one on my Canair.   The 2nd picture L-R is Ron Fishlock, Howard Boyle and Lew Adkins.  Both pictures were taken during my trip to Vancouver in February 2005.  Thanks to Ron and Lew for answering my many questions!

Should anyone have additional information on the company or the Canair hovercrafts, or finds errors in the information on my web site, I would appreciate hearing from them.  Just email me.