Wabash River Cruise
April 28, 2002

After spending the morning helping to push vehicles and trailers out of the mud at the race site, Phil Whitney, Nick Jokay and Chris Fitgerald arrived at Fairbanks Park for a late start on the cruise. With almost 4 inches of rain, 1_ of which was delivered on Race Day, the river was at flood stage. Other craft were returning from Clinton as we departed. Tom Dienhart, who returned from the first cruise, decided to join the late party. Coincidentally, we all happened to be flying Neoteric craft. Being true adventurers, we decided not to follow the river, and embarked across country into flooded fields. Next, a trip up Lost Creek, led us into the world's best hoverdrome: the flooded Country Club Golf Course. What fun it was to glide over all the perfectly groomed mounds jutting from the water, and hover across the greens without creating any damage at all! In one corner of the golf links was a broached levee, and water was cascading into an adjacent field. Of course, the hovercraft handled this low head dam effect with ease. Some parts were 2-2_-foot rough waves, so we decided it was time to play. After playtime, we flew home as some needed to get on the highway. The rain had finally stopped on Sunday, making this short cruise a pleasurable end to a weekend filled with discovery. Chris Fitzgerald

Above Left: Jeff Rush and Steve Pope talked about the Stealth Hovercraft skirt system. Above Right: Phil Whitney explores the surrounding countryside.

Wabash River Cruise   Sunday April 21st was a cold overcast day with winds gusting 25 to 30 miles per hour. The river was at least 10 feet above its banks due to the all day rains the day of the races and the storms the night before. Participating on the cruise were: Ed Holcombe, daughter and grandson aboard (AL) StarCruiser shown below 25, Verdon and Linda Weber (WI), Wojcik Miezal and neighbor (Chicago) all in a StarCruiser 25, Andy and Donna Pittman (MO) 2002 StarCruiser 25, Dennis Alm (MN) StarCruiser 25 (unable to cruise but trailored gas and participated in the Channel 2 TV interview), Eric and Jake Larson (IL) in a beautiful UH12T4, below Tom Heckard (IN) SCAT 2 in his first cruise, below, Mike McFarland and Tanya Winokur (MI) Hoverjet GT, and Tom Deinhart (WI) Hovertrek. The winds were so gusty that all the craft hugged the shoreline to avoid the brunt of the winds. The cruise was organized on the buddy system with craft looking out for strays and pointing out the large trees and other debris that were in the flood. The StarCruisers and the Universal craft did well in the wind but created more spray and had to be more cautious about river obstacles than the segmented skirt craft. Of particular interest was a section of the river when, on both the outgoing and return trip , we found ourselves among river swallows which flew just in front of the craft looking for insects we might stir up. Another sight was a junkyard lining the river with cars from the 60s and 70s. Did I see a parts car in there for my 1972 mustang? ...well I will save that exploration for the next trip. When we arrived at the Dairy Queen 16 miles up stream we calculated we averaged 25-30 miles per hour under these extreme conditions. The hot food and drink were most appreciated although the docks were 30 feet offshore and submersed in flood waters. I had equipped my Hoverjet GT last winter with a variable high lift system and I only plowed in a couple times when I experimented with operating on a lower lift setting, which was rather eventful for my first time water passenger when this happened in a particularly narrow and fast part of the river but thanks to the buddy system other craft backtracked to make sure everything was ok. I had also left on the two foot high winter windshield and still had my emergency chemical hot packs which were used to warm ourselves on the return trip. All made it back safely. Thank you Nick Jokay for organizing the cruise and Linda Weber for taking charge and coordinating the cruise and buddy system. Mike McFarland #5662