Development of an Airboat for SAR,

Counter-Insurgency and
Other Government Services
 GENERAL OBJECTIVE:

To develop an airboat for SAR, counter-

insurgency and other government services.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:

• to develop capability for design, manufacture and operation

of airboats;
• to fabricate at least 1 unit of airboat for testing;
• to test and evaluate the locally developed airboat;

Slide 2
WHAT IS AN AIRBOAT
Driven by a propeller powered by an
aircraft or automotive
engine pushing the vehicle

Airboats are multi-terrain vehicle

capable of going to places
Inaccessible by any other means

•Swamps and marshlands

•Open water
•Flooded area
•Dry land (limited by the abrasion of the
polymer lining)
•Can carry heavy loads
•High speed, average 70 kmh

Slide 3
SIGNIFICANCE AND APPLICATION OF
AN AIRBOAT IN THE PHILIPPINES

•SAR (search and rescue)

•Counter-insurgency

•Delivery of government services

•(medical missions, ambulance

•Delivery of aid to flooded areas

Slide 4
MAJOR WETLANDS IN THE
PHILIPPINES
• Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary – 14,836 Ha.

• Las Piñas-Paranaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area – 175 Ha.

• Naujan Lake National Park (Oriental Mindoro) – 14,568 Ha.

• Olango Island Wildlife Sanctuary (Cebu) – 5,800 Ha.

• Puerto Princesa Subterranean River Nat’l Park – 22,202 Ha.

• Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park – 96,828 Ha.

Based on Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

Slide 5
 EXPECTED OUTPUT

The project aims to have the following output:

•At least 1 unit locally designed and manufactured

airboat
•Trained operators in basic and advanced rescue
operations

•At least 20% cheaper than imported airboats

 

MIRDC-ITS
Slide 3
What is an Airboat?

Airboats are buoyant self-propelled multi-

terrain vehicle that depends primarily on air
thrust for propulsion. Unlike ordinary boats,
airboat does not have a submerged
propeller and does not churn up the water.
Airboats are used in a variety of
applications where access is a problem. If
the place you need to go is in wetlands,
shallow water, obstructed waterways,
bogs, swamps, or ice, there are few other
choices and none more cost effective than
an airboat.
Airboats can carry heavy payloads across a variety
of terrains without leaving scars on the land or
polluting the waterways. They have been run
through grass lands, dense bush, ice jams, and over
dikes. They can traverse water, tall grass, marsh,
mud, tundra, dry ground, log jams, small boulders,
dirt roads, snow and ice. A typical 8 ft. x 20 ft. airboat
can carry 12 people and can travel easily in excess
of 50 miles per hour.
Due this its unique capabilities, airboats are now standard
equipment for search and rescue and emergency
response. During the Hurricane Katrina in 2005 where
there was widespread flooding, airboats from all over
United States played a major role in search and rescue and
evacuation of affected residents. Airboats where the only
vehicles capable of going anywhere without incident.
Slide 3
The Philippines could benefit from airboats during
emergencies. Every year, several typhoons visit the
country bringing torrential rains and causing flooding
particularly in low lying areas. Access to affected areas
is limited to rubber boats and the few units of
amphibious vehicles of the Red Cross. An airboat
would greatly increase the response capability of
emergency services in the country.

Slide 3
Overview

The engine and propeller are enclosed in a

protective metal cage that prevents objects, e.g.,
treelimbs, branches, clothing, beverage containers,
passengers, or wildlife, from coming in contact with the
whirling propeller, which could cause devastating
damage to the vessel and traumatic injury to the
operator and passengers. The propeller produces a
rearward column of air that propels the airboat forward.
The operator/pilot/driver and in most instances
the passengers, are seated in elevated seats
that allow visibility over swamp vegetation. The
improved visibility permits the operator and
passengers to observe floating objects, stumps
and animals in the airboat's path.
The characteristic flat-bottomed design of the
airboat, in conjunction with the fact that there are
no operating parts below the waterline, permit
the vessel to be navigated easily through
shallow swamps and marshes, in canals, rivers
and lakes as well as on frozen lakes. The
airboat's design makes it the ideal vessel for
flood and ice rescue operations.
Steering the airboat is accomplished by
swiveling vertical rudders positioned at
the rear (stern) of the vessel. The
propeller produces a column of air that
produces forward momentum. That
column of air passes across the
rudders, which are directed through the
forward and backward movement of a
vertical "stick" located on the operator's
left side. The "stick" is attached to the
rudders via teleflex cable or linked rods.
Overall steering and control is a
function of water current, wind, water
depth and propeller thrust.
 HISTORY
Famed inventor
Alexander Graham Bell
created the very first
airboat at his Nova Scotia
lab in 1905. The “Ugly
Duckling” was built by Bell
and his engineering team
as a tool for testing the
engine configuration of
small vehicles.
Fifteen years later, the boat made its way south when a
colleague of Bell’s registered the “Curtis Scooter” in Florida
to navigate the marshy shallow areas of the Florida
Everglades.
The modern airboat is made
from aluminum and fiberglass,
but the original design is still
very much intact with the boat’s
elevated seats and mounted
engine on the back. In the
Everglades, where a standard
outboard engine with a
submerged propeller would
never withstand the mud and
marsh, the airboat, with its
caged propeller and flat bottom,
is the perfect answer. It skims
cleanly along the surface of the
water at speeds up to 50 mph.
PROPULSION

Airboats are powered by either an air-cooled, 4- or 6-cylinder

aircraft or water-cooled, large-displacement, V8 automotive
engine, ranging from 125 to over 600 horsepower (450 kW).
Readily-available replacement parts make the automotive
engine preferred in some cases, although an opposed, 4- or
6-cylinder (O4 or O6) aircraft powerplant is usually preferred
due to ease of repair and lighter weight (a reciprocating
aircraft engine contains fewer moving parts than a standard
automotive engine). High octane automotive gas is less
expensive than aviation gas (usually 100LL), although most
reciprocating aircraft powerplants can be derated to burn 87-
octane autogas
Modern Airboats
Main Parts of an Airboat
1. V Hull (Main Body of airboat)
2. Wind Machine Assembly
3. Instrumentation Panel
Safety

Knowledge of operational safety is essential when

operating an airboat.
The average airboat produces a 150-mile-per-hour
(241 km/h) prop wash behind it and if a tree branch gets
into a propeller the spray of material could be devastating,
causing damage to the vessel and injury to the boat's
occupants.
Modern commercially manufactured airboat hulls are made
of aluminum or fiberglass. The choice of material is
determined by the type of terrain in which the vessel will be
operated.
 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROPOSAL

a. Search and Rescue

In recent years airboats have grown in popularity in the

area of public safety. Airboats have proven to be
indispensable for flood, shallow water and ice rescue
operations. During the flooding of New Orleans following
Hurricane Katrina, August 29, 2005, airboats from across
the United States rescued thousands of flood victims. Thirty
airboats evacuated over 3,000 patients and medical staff
from four downtown New Orleans hospitals in less than 36
hours.
Due this its unique capabilities, airboats are now standard
equipment for search and rescue and emergency
response. During the Hurricane Katrina in 2005 where
there was widespread flooding, airboats from all over
United States played a major role in search and rescue and
evacuation of affected residents. Airboats where the only
vehicles capable of going anywhere without incident.

The Nov/Dec 2007 issue of Airboating Magazine had

an article on airboats used in Vietnam and in Iraq and
has had numerous articles on airboats used by U.S
Coast Guard and other state and country EMS unit is
for rescue of ice fisherman and rescue in floods and
after hurricanes.
 The Philippines could benefit from airboats during
emergencies. Every year, several typhoons visit the
country bringing torrential rains and causing flooding
particularly in low lying areas. Access to affected areas
is limited to rubber boats and the few units of
amphibious vehicles of the Red Cross. An airboat would
greatly increase the response capability of emergency
services in the country.

b. Other Application

• Alternative transportation for law enforcement use

• Alternative means of transportation for use in eco tourism.
• An emergency transportation for Red Cross and Local
Government Unit for easy access in swampy areas for
medical mission