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Report of the 1st. Annual Houston Hover-in
The Hover-in was held on March 14-16 at Nails Creek
State Park on Lake Somerville. In all, about 26 people and a pooch were in
attendance from as far away as Oklahoma, Georgia and, yes, Dallas. Well you
see, Craig, although just from Dallas, gets honorable mention for taking 8
hours to make the 3.5 hour trip (Monica did say it was a scenic trip you
took her on Craig ….)
After a month of rain, the clouds parted and we could
not have been better weather for the event. The temperature was in the mid
70s during the day and high 50s at night. But, our original campgrounds
were under 5’ of water due to all the rain we had. So we had to retreat to
higher grounds and move our reservations to the equine camp area, which
worked well as the horse people cancelled their reservations due to the
horse trails being washed out. And, no, Lane, the noise last night was not
a horse snoring!
While a three hovercraft owners had to cancel, we had 6
hovercrafts show up. Lane Crampton’s AC-3, Rob Tilton’s 12T4, Peter Tew’s
12T4, Craig Wilkins’s 17TA “Wizzard”, I took the SCAT Intruder and my son
took his UH-6F with the new Tilton special fan.
We had the usual hover breakdowns. Lane was working
on his engine at the campgrounds on Friday and broke the primer “T” and had
to travel to scenic Brennen to find a replacement. Rob’s ignition coil
broke its mount, which converted his engine to single cylinder until
repaired. Then there was my craft. I can honestly say I was the first on
the lake on Saturday (there were witnesses). I launched from the trailer in
good form and promptly spent the next 8-10 min. doing doughnuts on the lake
and having a good time. My new fan setup worked real well and the SCAT
scooted. I went back on shore and parked the SCAT and it never would run
again. I had tools and parts for everything except a vacuum fuel pump.
The hovering was without too many embarrassing
moments. Of course there was Lane launching smartly into the tree. Then my
son having his cut-off switch lanyard snagged by a tree limb and coming to
an abrupt halt (we did learn that Bob Windt’s calculations were correct and
the 6F does not sink – floats mighty low though). And lastly there was
Peter Tew’s heroic rescue of the foundering Mr. Tilton after he implemented
his ill fated single cylinder fuel saving plan.
Craig and the Wizard were kept very very busy giving
hovercraft rides to all comers. And there were a lot of folks wanting rides
on Saturday and Sunday. The people really liked not getting wet from the
ride. My wife and youngest son even went out in Craig’s HC. Craig gave
Lane and I a number of rides out on the lake and his craft is very nice.
Rides nice and you never feel that maybe you should be closer to shore like
in my SCAT. Craig did look pooped on Saturday night. The rides were enjoyed
by all. Thanks Craig!!! Lane felt sorry for me and let me fly his AC-3.
Wow! That thing is a rocket. Once you get over 3500 rpm, it just takes
off. With his 85 hp thrust engine it will flat move out. Thanks Lane!
We rented the pavilion by the lake and cooked lunch
there, which made for a pleasant eating experience. Much nicer than having
to stop the important work of hovering to waste time having to round up a
burger or dog somewhere. My wife drove up Saturday with the burger, dogs,
and chopped condiments. Thanks Becky!!!!! Was pretty tasty – thanks to all
the cooks!!!! After lunch I was surprised with a presentation of a very
nice MVP Award for setting up the event by Lane Crampton of HoverCrafts of
Texas. Thanks, that was a nice touch!
Everyone seemed to enjoy the event and the lake was
ideal. We will likely do something there again this summer. Well, that is
all the news that is fit to print; a good time was had by all!
Howard
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