PowerPoint Presentation
Griffon Hoverwork
Hovercraft for disaster response
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organisers asked me to provide a presentation on the hovercraft
designed and manufactured by Griffon Hoverwork because - they are a
practical tool that are used all over the world in disaster
response - but they are not well understood - therefore this could
stimulate some thought amongst the delegates1
Hovercraft can reach locations inaccessible to boats
Shallow Water
Transition Zone
Rapids
Marshland / Water Plants
Ice
No infrastructure
Why hovercraft?
Click to edit Madfg d title styleEnter your text hereHovering on
a cushion of air, the hovercraft can travel over a variety of
surfaces, all year round, in all water levels and reliably move
your personnel and equipment at high speed to where they are needed
for operations. Surfaces include: i.e. land, sand, mud, swamps,
rocks, ice, etc. Climates can be arctic to tropical. Air and water
can be polluted or pure and the operation of the hovercraft itself
wont cause environmental deterioration.
Hovercraft do not require any complicated infrastructure for
operations. They can carry payloads of people or freight from small
teams of 6 to 200 passengers or about 1Tonne to 500 Tonnes or more.
The technology can also be applied to moving structures such as
storage tanks to relocate tank farms. Designs are also in progress
for moving LNG up waterways to give clean energy sources to remote
communities.2
How does a hovercraft access the inacessible?
Accelerating (10-15 Kts)High speed (20 Kts +)Low speed /
StaticDisplaced WaterPlanes over the surfaceUnaffected by obstacles
/ pollution in the waterCan access 60% more beaches than
conventional landing vesselsLeaves flora / fauna in the water
untouchedSimple and robust mechanical systemsExtremely low
footprint (1.1 atmospheres)
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understand that the hovercraft planes over the surface and that way
it can transition from water to land and is not effected by
shallows or obstaclesNote the picture in the lower right hand
corner, this is taken from underneath the skirt and you can
actually sea daylight shining in throught the small gap between the
bottom edge of the flexible structure and the surface
underneath
3
180 craft, 41 countries primary or secondary disaster relief
roles
Click to edit Madfg d title styleEnter your text hereexperience
from applications of over 180 craft in operation with over 40
countries in a wide variety of climatic, geographical, economic and
security conditionsNote the areas where hovercraft are particularly
applicableIce areas and at a time of global warming areas where the
ice is recedingJungle / tropical / riverine areasIsland
nationsAreas where the tidal range is particularly significant
(like S Korea)
4
Airport rescue
Changi Airport
Korean Coastguard
Auckland Airport
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rescue - inter-tidal zone - ice or marsh - shallow / marsh areas in
airport jurisdiction - excellent platform for launching or
controlling rescue operations including specialist swimmer and
rpv.
By virtue of its cushion, it travels high above the surface but
when it comes off cushion it does not have high freeboard so
recovering casualties or loading freight is made much easier5
Tidal mud and ice rescue
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rescue - intertidal zone - ice or marsh - areas where there is no
prepared launching or recovery facility or a dockside or jetty
6
Oil spill response
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reaction capping solution / damming off immediate area. Two
traditional problems are:Long travel distances & travel times
to scene of the disaster, andLong response times which increases
oil / gas loss, pollution and consequently clean up and litigation
costs
In Nigerias delta, the features are 70,000 sq km area of oil and
gas pipes criss-crossing uncharted, tidal and increasingly
unnavigable waterways as they silt upThe limited access by small
conventional vessels becomes the advantage to hovercraft; by using
pipeline routes as hovercraft super-highways, reducing travel
distances and response times, and increasing relative endurance on
task7
Logistic and conservation support
Changi Airport
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platform that can be equipped with ro-ro or crane gear8
Medical and evacuation
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background of this picture shows typical south american jungle
terrain that cannot be accessed by land hovercraft can access
unprepared sites and regions of the river that vary in depth across
the seasons down to no water at all
We already have craft in operation in Peru, Colombia and
Venezula and with Hover-aid in Madagascar and other areas in
Africa
Critically we are planning with The UK and Colombia governments
to provide an outreach medical and social care service based on
hovercraft that will make an immediate difference to the population
as peace replaces the enduring war in Colombia9
Flood rescue
1/6 cost of helicopter
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Hovercraft really come into their own in significant flood rescue
situations - significantly cheaper and with more capacity than
helicopters - unaffected by varying water depth, speed of movement
of water and by obstacles floating in the water10
Flood rescue
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you with this self explanatory news film clip11
