On Jun 21, 7:17*am, Loogypicker wrote:
On Jun 21, 2:31*am, Wizard of Woodstock wrote:



On Sat, 20 Jun 2009 13:29:15 -0700 (PDT), Katie Ohara

wrote:
It is a seriously hot day, over 100 here in N. FL and my wife decided
last night she wanted to go blueberry picking at a U-pick place near
Wacissa. Got up at 8:00 and went there and picked berries for an hour
till we had 3 gallons and then went about 1/4 mile to he springs at
the headwaters of the Wacissa River. As early as 11:00 am it was
packed with people escaping the heat by going into the icy spring
water.

Our blueberry season is going to be really late this year due to all
the cool and rainy weather. *If we get some sun and heat, it's going
to be a good crop though and with all the rain this Spring, next
year's syrup, berry and apple crop is going to be spectacular.

An air boat arrived and I watched it closely because this one was
different, made by a company called Seminole and it had a 5 bladed
prop. *Sure enough it was MUCH less noisy than all the others with
only 3 or two blades. *I talked to the owner and he told me about a
new type of prop where the end of the blades twist and are offset so
that when it spins a blade does not run into the compressed air from
the preceding one.

Sure it was five and not six? *I saw one of these the last time I was
down in SC - 14' that looked to be 6' foot or so wide. *The blade you
are talking about is also carbon fiber, not wood or aluminum which
helps with the noise. *I believe they are called Warp Drive props and
are also used in hover craft hulls.

Go ahead - ask me how I know that.

Hell, I'll tell you anyway. *My neighbor is a hover craft freakazoid
and has built a bunch of them over the years. *:)

I built a hovercraft when I lived in Fl. Universal Hovercraft design.

This particular boat had 5 blades. They were made of Kevlar and were
individually bolted to a flange on the shaft, a complicated
arrangement.
Dang, last night I dreamed of a hovercarft made in the frame of my old
'56 Ford truck, weird.