Air bag. What is it and what role does the boat play?

Air cushion for amphibious transport (hovercraft) is created by injecting air into a special cavity located at the bottom of the hull. Of course, during the movement there are certain losses of its contents, which leads to a decrease in the efficiency of the vehicle. However, this problem also has a solution: a flexible fence (skirt), which is made of textile material and supports the lifting of the machine to a considerable height - from 15 cm to 2 m. Due to this dynamics, such a vessel is more similar to an aircraft.

The principle of motion

All hovercraft on the air cushion have traction, which is provided by the engine - due to it, and movement occurs. Some ships are equipped with an engine that simultaneously creates traction and pumps air - a single stream is divided into two substreams. Some machines are also equipped with a twin-engine system. In this case, the thrust is created by one engine, and the air cushion is supported by the second one.

Advantages of new SVPs

The best are those vessels that have a two-tier enclosure, the housing is lightweight thanks to the use of composite materials, and the movement and volume of the air cushion are maintained by two separate engines.

Two-level fencing

It occurs in domestic hovercrafts rather rarely, since it requires the cost of expensive materials, and the technology of its manufacture does not belong to the category of simple ones. But it is this air cushion that is considered more progressive, because it is not afraid of uneven surfaces, loose snow and possible mechanical damage. This enclosure consists of two parts: the upper cylinder with unstable pressure and the individual segments that are located under it. Such a fence is used on all European and American SVPs and is called classical. Due to it, while driving on a perfectly flat surface, an air cushion boat "hovers" at a height of about 30 cm, and if unevenness is still present, separate lower segments will be used to reduce air losses to a negligible minimum.

Composite body

Composites in the creation of the hull have a number of advantages. If lightness can provide and the addition of aluminum, the resistance to corrosion and simple mechanical strength are peculiar only to composite materials. In this case, the repair of the aluminum casing can be done exclusively by an experienced welder, and the composite body is perfectly repaired with a conventional patch and special glue.

The system of two engines

This scheme guarantees ease, maneuverability and carrying capacity of traffic. Air cushion will detach from the ground even at low speeds, loading and unloading work can now be performed by one person, and most importantly - reliability and safety are many times increased. Since the pillow feeds a separate engine with an impressive resource, the failure of the main draft engine will not now lead to a drop in the vessel on the bottom, the consequences of which can be simply catastrophic. You simply plan slowly and carefully on the reinforced bottom, thus avoiding not only the damage to the hovercraft, but also the threat of your own life.