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1970-1979 - 2nd Decade
AACVD8, also known as the Neova 1, was designed, tested and developed, then shipped to the United States in 1976. The craft was used for development, promotion and for competition in American hoverclub events. It was placed in storage in 1986; in 2025 it is still awaiting refurbishing for use in the US Hovercraft Museum.
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| Slope Stability Testing, 1971 A special test rig was designed to study the hovercraft's ability to lift off when on slopes. The craft's center of gravity could be raised along with the slope gradient. |
Water Tank Testing, 1971 Neoteric's test facility in Hastings, Victoria, Australia, located by the sea. In this photo, the 60-ft diameter circular test tank is filled with seawater; 50% of the track is land and 50% is water. An exact 1/3 scale model of the Neova 1 hovercraft, powered by two 220 V, 7 Amp AC electric motors, was used to test max speed, hump performance, and performance in various sea conditions as scaled waves can be generated. The payload and center of gravity of the model were adjustable. The model was equipped with a full and independent electrically controlled reverse thrust system. By far the most useful and productive of all of Neoteric’s early models. It was destroyed in 2024 by rodents that inhabited our Hastings test facility. |
Early thrust reverser testing In this photo, an 8-cylinder Cadillac engine drove multiple axial flow fans with twin bands of stator blades. The device at the end of the duct was a new form of fixed thrust reverser which was being developed as an internal reverser. |
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| Neova 1 twin fans This photo shows the VW-powered thrust and lift machinery module developed for the Neova 1 model. |
Hovercraft skirt testing at Hastings test facility. This upside-down test rig was used to evaluate the performance of various skirt systems. It was also used for stability testing under all load conditions. |
Multi stage fan calibration rig driven by a 180 HP Cadillac V8 engine, tail cone was used to adjust duct pressures. Hastings test facility, Victoria Australia. |
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A complete skirt rebuild was undertaken. The temporary tubular bow and stern sections were removed and replaced. A conventional circular bow section with 45-degree planing sides and thick square stern sections with buoyant foam fill were fitted. The ‘C-skirt’ was trimmed and enclosed along the bottom with a small bag skirt, cushion flow being via a gap between the inner wall of the skirt at the top and the base structure. The bow section of the skirt was also enclosed with bag at the bottom as for the side and stern sections. Several adjustments were made to the venting arrangement until the bag-to-cushion pressure ratio was in the range 1.1 to 1.2. Lateral conical type stability skirts were also added to complement the constrained bag type longitudinal stability skirt. Fig. 1 shows the appearance of this final skirt configuration.
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| Fig. 1: AACVD5 hovercraft testing at our test facility in Hastings Victoria. Toward the end of its life, AACVD5 was carrying 3 persons and had a 2-foot hover height. | AACVD5 hovercraft testing in Hasting tidal mudflat. | Neoteric family day on the Hasting beach. | |||
The AACVD5 was operated intermittently on coastal salt mud flats. The deep skirts were found to be very effective in negotiating the relatively deep mud ditches in the area at low tide, although care had to be taken to enter such depressions with sufficient momentum to climb up the exiting ditch wall. Drag was much higher than that experienced with the early conical and segment skirts and hump almost impossible to negotiate from a standing start. The craft was employed to transport personnel and equipment to an offshore island test site used for early Neova 1 testing. The ability to carry 3 people, or the equivalent weight in equipment, was very useful during this period. Some months later the AACVD5 was cannibalized and the remaining structure disposed of by burning.
Neova technology and patents were marketed.
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| The Original Construction Crew. Left to right: Bernard Sutcher, Sam Ciliauro, Arthur Boyd, Rob Wilson, Laurie Fair. |
The Original Crew. Left to Right: Arthur Boyd, Bernard Sutcher, Rob Wilson, Sam Ciliauro, Laurie Fair. Hastings, Victoria. |
David Atkins developing the Neova 1 design. | |||
Blueprints for the Neova 1 and Neova 2 DIY market were developed and marketed worldwide. Income from these sales supported the company during the early years.
Australian Air Cushion Vehicles Development was discontinued and Neoteric Engineering Affiliates Pty. Ltd. was incorporated in Melbourne Australia.
Publicity and promotions to improve the corporate image were implemented. The company's first major article in Popular Mechanics magazine appeared in 1977. More than 120 articles followed in newspapers and magazines worldwide.
Patent applications were awarded to Neoteric in many countries. The corporate logo was designed and trademarked.
The first Neoteric publicity occurred in Melbourne newspapers and in other Australian media.
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| “The World's First Sports Hovercraft”, 1974 The Herald, Melbourne, Australia 3 July 1974 |
Neova in the news, 1975 Victoria, Australia Jan/Feb 1975 |
Cover story, Society of Automotive Engineers, 1975 SAE Australasia, March/April 1975 |
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| Neova demonstration on rice paddies, 1975 The Weekly Times, Melbourne, 14 May 1975 |
“Air cushion vehicle is ideal” … 1975 Australian Trading News, July 1975 |
Cover story, Australian Seacraft, 1975 Australian Seacraft Power & Sail, July 1975 |
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| “Air cushion vehicle for work or pleasure,” 1975 Australian Trading News, July 1975 |
The Australian Minister for Manufacturing Industry taking a PR opportunity. The Age, 29 July 1975 |
Jumping the Neova 1 off a 2-foot ledge in 1971 at Neoteric Hastings Test Facility, Victoria, Australia 1971 | |||
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| Neova 1 leisure hovercraft on bank of the Yarra River, Melbourne, Australia | Neova 1 operating at speed across the Hastings tidal salt flats. | Neova 1 hovercraft used for fishing, Hastings, Victoria. | |||
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| Neova 1 being used for duck hunting, Hastings test area. | Using the Neova 1 for fishing, Hastings, Victoria. | ||||
The company moved its home office and manufacturing facilities to Terre Haute, Indiana USA and incorporated Neoteric Inc., which also traded as Neoteric USA Inc. and later as Neoteric Hovercraft, Inc.
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| Hovering to the USA, 1976 The Melbourne Sun, 9 April 1976 |
Do-it-yourself hovercraft, 1976 Ledger-Star, 27 May 1976 |
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To view a comprehensive list of additional worldwide publicity about the Neova from 1974-1977, click here.
Neoteric USA began operations in the Fort Harrison Industrial Park warehouse in Terre Haute, Indiana USA. Space was leased from the Eldred family, who played an important supportive role in the early days of Neoteric's progress.
The John Talmage family from Long Island, New York, placed an order for the first Neova 2 hovercraft, giving Neoteric its real start in the USA. Neoteric then undertook the design, development, and manufacture of the first side-by-side seat Neova 2. Neoteric provided hovercraft pilot training to John Talmage when he took delivery of the craft in 1977. This first unit was used to develop the Neova 2 kit and to garner publicity.
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| The original Neova 2 in action at Fowler Park in Terre Haute, Indiana | The original Neova 2 at Fowler park, Terre Haute, Indiana. USA, was constructed of wood and fiberglass. | The first all-fiberglass Neova 2 was delivered in 1982. | |||
Chris Fitzgerald incorporated the Hovercraft Club of America, Inc., produced its newsletter, Hovernews, and expanded the club's membership to 700. See History of the Hovercraft Club of America, Inc.
Neoteric's first comprehensive business plan was developed, the object was to use the plan to solicit investors.
Neoteric developed Neova 2 kits for home DIY construction and promoted them worldwide.
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