The History of Neoteric Hovercraft, Inc.

Introduction: The 21st Century

Since the turn of the century, Neoteric Hovercraft, Inc. has experienced rapid worldwide sales growth, and new dealerships have been established across the globe. Customers include the U.S. Department of Justice, Border Patrol; state airports; U.S. National Parks; and emergency, police, and fire agencies in nations throughout the world.

The 4-passenger Neoteric Hovertrek is now manufactured with a range of 70 options, including 65hp and 100hp engines, as well as fuel injected versions. In 1994, Neoteric developed a 6-passenger Hovertrek; the first of this model, a rescue version, was shipped to South Korea in 2005.

In addition to developing manufacturing systems to meet increased delivery schedules, throughout the 1990s and continuing today, Chris Fitzgerald dedicated considerable company revenues to expanding awareness of the hovercraft’s utility and versatility. He was appointed Chairman of the 2002 World Hovercraft Championship, the largest gathering of hovercraft enthusiasts in history, which brought participants and spectators from more than 18 nations to Terre Haute, Indiana USA.

The company’s most recent endeavors include the founding of the not-for-profit World Hovercraft Organization, and the production of its newsletter, HoverWorld Insider, which has an expanding global readership of more than 20,000. In 2003, the World Hovercraft Organization launched the DiscoverHover International School Hovercraft Program, offering free hovercraft plans, extensive curriculum guides and other support services to schools and youth groups worldwide. Today, DiscoverHover’s membership includes 1,000 schools and youth groups from 44 nations.

With nearly five decades of history, Neoteric Hovercraft, Inc. moves into the new century as a world leader in the light hovercraft industry … but the story does not end here. The definition of the word neoteric is “new, innovative, modern” and, as exemplified by its company name, Neoteric will remain so in the decades to come.

2000-present: A Photographic History of the 21st Century

2000	To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the World’s First Hovercraft Race, planning was begun for HoverWorld Expo 2004 in Canberra, Australia.
1961 – present	Neoteric Australia provided technical services, prototype components and occasional manufactured parts as well as experimental testing and model building.  Neoteric operates its testing facility at Hastings, Victoria, Australia to the present day.  A new Hovertrek model test program took place in 2001.
2001 – present	Neoteric developed, tested, manufactured and marketed its Hovertrek model with a range of 70 options, including 65HP and 100HP engines as well as fuel injected versions.
2001	Chris Fitzgerald was appointed Chairman of the World Hovercraft Championship 2002; he brought the event to Terre Haute, Indiana USA.
2002	Neoteric sponsored and organized WHC 2002, which became the world's most successful and largest gathering of hovercraft enthusiasts in history.
2002	Neoteric Hovercraft, Inc. experienced considerable growth. Hovercraft were purchased by the U.S. Department of Justice, Border Patrol; state airports; U.S. National Parks; and emergency, police, and fire agencies throughout the world.
	Two rescue hovercraft were purchased by Anchorage International Airport. A fleet of five hovercraft were purchased for an environmental survey project in Kuwait. Two rescue hovercraft were purchased by Ministero dell'Interno in Italy
2003	Chris Fitzgerald founded the World Hovercraft Organization, a not-for-profit organization to represent and serve as an information resource for the international hovercraft/air cushion vehicle world.
	Neoteric hovercraft were purchased by US National Parks in Big Bend, Texas and Lake Amistad National Recreational Area.
	Planning continued for HoverWorld Expo 2004 for Canberra, Australia.
	Company goals were set to reach 2000 units per year within 3 years.
	Factory and machinery upgrades continued. A search for a Production Manager was launched.
	Development continued for HoverWorld Expo 2004 and the World Hovercraft Organization. Fitzgerald visited Australia three times during 2003 in May, August, and November.
January 2003	Chris Fitzgerald traveled to Italy for acceptance trials with the Department of the Interior.
May 2003	Neoteric’s single-user manufacturing system was upgraded to a dynamic, web-based system.
	A comprehensive rewriting and redesign of the Neoteric web site was commenced.
June 2003	Neoteric purchased its own dedicated web server and developed a co-hosting relationship.
August 2003	Neoteric began the development of Hovercraft Training Schools and established a web site, HovercraftTraining.com
	David Atkins designed logos for DiscoverHover!, Hovercraft Training, World Hovercraft Organization, and HoverWorld Expo. These were later refined by Aaron Hogan.
September 2003	The World Hovercraft Organization's DiscoverHover International School Hovercraft Program was founded and the DiscoverHover.org web site was launched..
	AutoCAD online design service was established from Neoteric Engineering Affiliates Pty. Ltd. in Melbourne, Australia.
October 2003	Fitzgerald attended a conference at the British Hovercraft Museum in Southampton, England to present a paper on hovercraft promotion.
	Fitzgerald traveled to Kuwait to train and organize those conducting a country-wide coastal survey using Neoteric Hovercraft.
January 2004	Negotiations began with Igor Lavrov, President of Christy Hovercraft, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation for a Neoteric dealership in St. Petersburg. Since then, Christy Hovercraft has participated in numerous trade shows, performed demonstrations over a huge variety of different terrains, and has submitted a vast number of photographs for Neoteric to use on their website. Extremely capable technically, Lavrov has also set and documented speed records in Russia. By these enthusiastic efforts, he has produced a considerable number of orders.
February 2004	Development began on a 6-passenger Hovertrek utilizing a 100 horsepower liquid cooled Hirth engine. This work was commissioned by long-time customer Tom Dienhart of Wisconsin USA.
	Former Neoteric dealer, High Tech International S.r.l. of Gorgonzola, Italy, began a process of unauthorized copying and manufacture, using splash-mold techniques, of Neoteric products. This company also continues to plagiarize copyrighted content from the Neoteric website. This violation of copyright law is apparent on the web site http://www.hovercraft.it. HTI continues to manufacture and sell, primarily to government agencies, rescue hovercraft that are unauthorized copies of several Neoteric models.
	Neoteric Hovercraft Inc. has no affiliation with HTI, or with other hovercraft companies in Italy who are marketing copies of Neoteric designs. Neoteric Hovercraft, Inc. does not condone, authorize, or support HTI, its president Carlo Guido Passoni, or Matteo Passoni.
	A dealer contract had been previously signed with HTI and both Matteo Passoni and his wife, Tatiana Rasskazova, received hovercraft training in October 2001. HTI acquired two dealer demonstration units from Neoteric, but subsequently purchased used Neoteric models in the US marketplace and shipped them to Italy.
March 2004	Chris Fitzgerald visited Canberra and Melbourne, Australia to organize HoverWorld Expo 2004 and to conduct a press conference when the HoverWorld Expo Official PaceCraft arrived in Australia after shipment from Neoteric Hovercraft USA in January 2004.
May 2004	Chris Fitzgerald conducted a joint hovercraft training seminar with the company RevCor in Carpentersville, Chicago, Illinois USA.
June 2004	DiscoverHover.org released the first set of free hovercraft construction plans.
	Over a period of ten years, a web-based manufacturing system containing 15,000 lines of code has been written by company employees. This purpose-built information management system should position the company to experience rapid expansion.
July 2004	Neoteric president, Chris Fitzgerald, traveled to Jecheon City, South Korea for dealer negotiations and training. Fitzgerald also demonstrated the Hovertrek Rescue Deluxe Model #3626 to Korean National Fire Authority at Kyungpo Beach, Kangnung Province, South Korea. More Photos …
Korean National Fire Authority Hovertrek rescue hovercraft, South Korea, 2004
August 2004	British adventurer Robert Hodson visited Neoteric for two weeks to undertake light repairs during his two year excursion crossing the United States from east to west via rivers, dams, lakes and seas. Read more about it here.
October 2004	The National Capital Authority in Canberra, Australia declined the opportunity to stage HoverWorld Expo 2004. To read more click here.
	Neoteric president, Chris Fitzgerald, driving the Hovertrek prototype, competed in the first endurance race in more than 25 years and took third place. This was a practice event staged by the Hovercraft Club of America, Inc. in order to develop a practical scoring system for the development of future hovercraft endurance racing. More about endurance racing.
	Bryce Woods, Neoteric Hovercraft dealer in New Zealand, visited company headquarters for sales negotiations.
November 2004	South African Neoteric dealer, Winstone Jordaan, visited Neoteric for pilot and assembly training. During the same month JJ Youn, Neoteric Korean dealer, visited for sales negotiations.
December 2004	Neoteric Hovercraft, Inc. experienced rapid worldwide sales growth, and meeting timely delivery schedules became a challenge.
February 2005	Neoteric technical director, Robert Wilson, visited from Neoteric Australia for two months to assist with production planning and with engineering refinements.
	Neoteric launched the new Work in Progress section of its web site. Updated weekly, this section gives customers, as well as site visitors, access to extensive step-by-step photo galleries of their hovercraft proceeding through Neoteric's hands-on custom manufacturing process.
April 2005	Neoteric contracted with retired airline training pilot Robert Rossier to produce hovercraft training manuals along with a PowerPoint presentation for hovercraft pilot training. This project is ongoing.
August 2005	Robert Wilson, Neoteric technical director, again visited for production consultation and began development of a rotary engine powered Hovertrek.
	Neoteric's first 6-passenger Hovertrek was shipped to South Korea. Development time exceeded 2000 man hours.
October 2005	Neoteric contracted with Rotamax in Ohio USA to supply a proof-of-concept engine for evaluation. This initiated a long-term testing and development phase.
February 2006	DreamAir Co. Ltd. president Jong Jun Youn visited Neoteric to discuss the status of his current orders.
June 2006	Ralph Weas joined Neoteric as Business Manager for the purpose of helping to expand the company and meet demand.
July 2006	An electrically operated deployment system for an ADCP was developed for the hovercraft to be used by the US Bureau of Reclamation to survey the Yakima River in Oregon.
	A private company, Lakemaster Lake Maps, of Minnesota, purchased a hovercraft for sonar mapping of lakes in North America, including Canada.
August 2006	Neoteric Technical Director Robert Wilson visited Terre Haute, Indiana USA headquarters for new engine development, product development, testing, and to assist with organizing the factory for increased production capacity.
	Tristan Linck produced curriculum guides for DiscoverHover, which continued to grow and exceeded 2000 participating students, teachers, and schools from throughout the world.
	Futurist Extreme Fun President Winston Jordaan, Neoteric's dealer in South Africa, achieved his first sale, for a 4-place Inline Deluxe to Natal Nature Conservation.
	Hovercraft pilot training continued and a comprehension test and student pilot surveys were added to the training regimen. Photos of training and certified pilots may be viewed on HovercraftTraining.com.
	The World Hovercraft Organization continued to be funded by Neoteric Hovercraft, who produces its free e-mail and online quarterly newsletter, HoverWorld Insider, publishing a wide variety of news pertaining to the world light hovercraft industry. As of August 2006, HoverWorld Insider had more than 18,000 subscribers worldwide.
December 2006	The newly-developed body mold for the Hovertrek 6, Neoteric’s six-passenger hovercraft, was completed and placed in production. See Hovertrek 6 photos here.
	Neoteric’s manufacturing facility was expanded, with three new mezzanines, a new spray booth and a new sanding room in the Fiberglassing Division.
February 2007	Neoteric President Chris Fitzgerald traveled to Australia to train the company’s first Australian customer, Frederick (Ted) Crocker from Geelong in Victoria. Mr. Crocker purchased the unused HoverWorld Expo Official PaceCraft, which had been stored in Australia since 2004, which he will use for duck hunting.
	Hovercraft pilot training Neoteric’s first Australian customer received pilot training from Chris Fitzgerald at Neoteric’s test & training facility in Hastings, Victoria. More photos here
	While in Australia, Chris Fitzgerald met with co-designer engineers David Atkins and Robert Wilson concerning Hovertrek design upgrades and production/manufacturing improvements.
	Testing continued on evaluating and improving a new rotary-powered hovercraft. Robert Wilson began full-fledged design and model construction of a new Hyper Performance Hovercraft for racing. This machine will utilize technology developed by Neoteric in the early years (1960s and early 1970s) but never used until now. The anticipation is that this machine will continue to ensure Neoteric’s forefront position and set a new high mark for this burgeoning new industry.
April 2007	David Atkins returned to the US to undertake design improvements, to upgrade seating and lighting, and to assist with corporate planning.
July 6, 2007	Legal Action: Neoteric received a Demand to Cease and Desist from lawyer Gary P. Barket of Little Rock, Arkansas USA on behalf of PhD Ing Matteo Passoni, General Manager of Hi Tech International Srl of Gorgonzola-Milan, Italy concerning a Trade Disparagement of Hi Tech International. HTI's demands included a $20,000 cash payment, removal of HTI and its principals from the Neoteric website, and altering the history section to exclude the names of Matteo Passoni, Tatiana Rasskazova, and Carlo Guido Passoni.
July 2007	Neoteric demonstrates the Hovertrek 6 Rescue craft to a delegation from India.
	Hovertrek Demonstration
October-November 2007	The Indianapolis Fire Department purchases a Neoteric rescue hovercraft. A local politician criticizes this use of funds, triggering a flurry of news stories in the Indianapolis Star, WTHI television news in Terre Haute, and Fox 59 and WISH TV 8 in Indianapolis (here), as well as WISH TV anchor Eric Halvorson's blog entry of 31 October, 2007.
February 2008	Christyhovercraft president Igor Lavrov, Neoteric’s dealer in Russia, visited Neoteric for pilot and dealer training and business discussion.