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{{Short description|Type of watercraft propelled by an aircraft propeller}}
{{distinguish|airship|flying boat}}
[[File:Air boat.jpg|thumb|An airboat]]
[[File:Airboating 1, Everglades, FL, jjron 31.03.2012.jpg|thumb|right|Airboating is a popular [[ecotourism]] attraction in the Florida [[Everglades]]]]

An '''airboat''' (also known as a '''bayou boat''', '''fanboat''', '''planeboat''', or '''swamp boat''') is a flat-bottomed [[watercraft]] propelled by an aircraft-type [[Propeller (aircraft)|propeller]] and powered by either an aircraft or automotive engine.{{efn|In early [[aviation]] history the term ''airboat'' was applied to [[seaplane]]s or [[flying boat]]s, i.e. aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water surfaces. Early airboats were known as "hydroglisseurs" (airboat in [[French language|French]], {{lit}} "water slider"), hydroplanes, hydrofoils, or other names.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=7h5EAQAAMAAJ Volume 4 (1915-1916) and Cercle du Mononautisme Classique]</ref><ref>[http://www.cmc-retronautisme.fr/librairie.hydroglisseurs.htm Archives historiques]</ref><ref>[https://www.cmc-retronautisme.fr/librairie.hydroglisseurs.htm]</ref>}} It is commonly used for fishing, hunting, recreation, and [[ecotourism]].

Airboats are a common means of transportation in marshy or shallow areas where a standard inboard or outboard engine with a submerged propeller would be impractical, most notably in the Florida [[Everglades]] but also in the [[Kissimmee River|Kissimmee]] and [[St. Johns River|St. Johns]] rivers, and the [[Mekong River]] and [[Mekong Delta|Delta]], as well as the [[Louisiana]] [[bayou]]s and [[Mesopotamian Marshes]].

== Overview ==
The airboat’s characteristic flat-bottom allows for easy navigation through marshes and other shallow bodies of water, including flooded areas. A version is also adapted for use on ice.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

The lack of operating parts below the [[waterline]] makes the craft ideal for rescue operations.<ref name=Chattahoochee /><ref name=Arctic />

The airboat is propelled by a column of air generated by a propeller, with wind speed generated up to {{convert|150|mph|km/h|0}}. Rudders attached to a control stick divert the air to steer.

Airboats generally travel at speeds of around {{convert|35|mph|kn km/h|round=5}}; modified craft can reach {{convert|135|mph|kn km/h|round=5}}.<ref name=Gomes />

Without special adaptations, airboats cannot go in reverse.<ref name=Gomes /> Slowing and stopping an airboat is more difficult than a normal watercraft because it rides on top of rather than in the water.

The operator's seat is typically in an elevated position to maximize visibility.<ref name=Chattahoochee /><ref name=Int />

In the United States, a typical good-quality airboat in 2004 cost between $33,000<ref name=Ice /> and $70,000.<ref>{{Cite web| title = Pre-Owned Airboats| work = American Airboat Corp.| access-date = 2018-07-10| url = http://americanairboats.com/pre-owned-airboats/| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180712025750/http://americanairboats.com/pre-owned-airboats/| archive-date = 2018-07-12| url-status = live}}</ref> In a developing country like Iraq, however, an airboat may be purchased{{when|date=September 2020}} for as little as 2.5 million [[Iraqi dinar]]s, or $2,147.<ref name=العراق />

Because of their specialized design and limited mobility beyond the conditions they are designed for, airboats represent a small fraction of total watercraft. As of December 2017 there were 12,164 airboats, 1,025 of which were commercial, in the state of Florida.<ref name=Gomes /> Airboats are widely used in other [[Gulf Coast]] states, especially [[Louisiana]].{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

===Soviet airboats and aerosleds===
{{main|Aerosled}}
Airboats and airboat-like craft have been used in the [[Soviet Union]] and its successor states since the [[Second World War]] and possibly earlier. Some true airboats—vessels that operated entirely in the water—were used by the Soviet military in [[World War II]]. These true airboats include the NKL-5, a {{convert|1200|kg|lbs|adj=on}} WWII armed boat reportedly capable of speeds up to {{convert|60|kph|mph kn}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=WWII navy information and facts |url=http://wio.ru/fleet/ww2fleet.htm |website=War is Over |access-date=11 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180711233413/http://wio.ru/fleet/ww2fleet.htm |archive-date=11 July 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> However, most Soviet airboats are [[aerosled]]s (referred to as "aerosanis" in Russian). An aerosled is an aircraft propeller driven amphibious vehicle best described as a hybrid of a sled, airboat, and [[ground effect vehicle]]. Thousands of aerosleds were used as cargo and passenger vehicles in [[Siberia]], where they cope excellently, working equally well in the icy Siberian winter and in muddy, marshy conditions of the [[Rasputitsa]] season (similar to the American [[mud season]]), when meltwater and thawing snow makes travel by road impossible. Aerosleds are still in use today.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hanlon |first1=Mike |title=The remarkable part boat, part sled, part ground-effect Tupelov aerosled |url=https://newatlas.com/go/6433/ |access-date=11 July 2018 |work=New Atlas |date=November 6, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180711233928/https://newatlas.com/go/6433/ |archive-date=11 July 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Tupolev A-3 Aerosledge]] is a quintessential example of this type of vehicle; it can reach speeds of up to {{convert|120|km/h|mph|abbr=on|round=5}} on snow and {{convert|65|km/h|mph|abbr=on|round=5}} on water.<ref name="Mcl"/>

== History ==
The airboat was invented in 1905 in [[Nova Scotia, Canada]], by [[Alexander Graham Bell]].<ref name=Kirk>{{cite news |last1=Kirk |first1=Dennis |title=Airboats simplify swampland surveillance |url=https://charlottecounty.floridaweekly.com/articles/airboats-simplify-swampland-surveillance/ |access-date=24 February 2019 |work=Charlotte County Florida Weekly |date=17 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190224231301/https://charlottecounty.floridaweekly.com/articles/airboats-simplify-swampland-surveillance/ |archive-date=24 February 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Anderson /> It first saw military use in 1915, by the [[British Army]] in the World War I [[Mesopotamian Campaign]].<ref name=Gaunt /> Expanded civilian use appeared in the 1930s.<ref name=Kirk />

===Prototypes===
[[File:Ugly Duckling.jpg|thumb|Alexander Graham Bell with his aircraft engine test boat/airboat, the ''Ugly Duckling'']]

The earliest ancestors of the airboat were waterborne vehicles for testing aircraft engines. The first airboat was the ''Ugly Duckling'', an aircraft propeller testing vehicle built in 1905 in [[Nova Scotia]], Canada, by a team led by inventor [[Alexander Graham Bell]]. ''Ugly Duckling'' was a [[catamaran]]-type boat driven by an aircraft propeller hooked up to a water-cooled aircraft engine weighing {{convert|2,500|lbs|kg}}. The makeshift raft-like vessel was unable to move faster than 3.5 [[knot (unit)|knots]]) (approximately 4 miles per hour), though its propeller rotation speed led Bell to believe that the vessel had a theoretical top speed of "thirty or forty miles an hour," comparable to some modern airboats, if drag was completely eliminated.<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Press of Judd & Detweiler, Incorporated| last1 = Bell| first1 = Alexander Graham| author-link=Alexander Graham Bell| last2 = Adler| first2 = Cyrus| title = Aërial Locomotion: With a Few Notes of Progress in the Construction of an Aërodrome| pages=21–26 |date = 1907 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NyoPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA26}}</ref>

Brazilian aviation pioneer [[Alberto Santos-Dumont]] built a similar catamaran vessel for testing an aircraft engine in 1907, which he termed a [[hydrofoil]].<ref name="Cercle" />

The [[Tellier brothers]], French aviation pioneers, made major steps towards modern airboats with their 1907 speedboat ''La Rapière II'' (''Rapier II''). ''La Rapière II'' was an {{convert|8|m|ft|adj=on}} long mahogany speedboat powered by a partially above water aircraft propeller hooked up to a 20&nbsp;hp 4 cylinder [[Panhard-Levassor]] engine. The boat was steered by a conventional rudder in the water, which was hooked up to a ship's wheel.<ref>{{cite report |title=Les hydravions d'Alphonse Tellier |url=https://www.hydroretro.net/etudegh/tellier.pdf |publisher=hydroretro.net |access-date=July 10, 2018 |language=fr |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150306013956/http://www.hydroretro.net/etudegh/tellier.pdf |archive-date=March 6, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> ''La Rapière II'' could achieve speeds of up to {{convert|26|kph|mph kn}} with two people on board and {{convert|25|kph|mph kn}} with 3-4 people on board.<ref name=Cercle /> French financier, balloonist, and aircraft enthusiast [[Jacques Schneider]], of [[Schneider Trophy]] fame, developed and experimented with his own multi-passenger brand of airboat circa 1913–1914.<ref>''History of Aviation'' c.1972 by Kenneth Munson and J. R. Taylor</ref>

===Early airboats===

[[File:ScientificAmerican1917-11-03.jpg|thumb|left|upright|A 1917 ''[[Scientific American]]'' cover depicting a British Army airboat on the [[Tigris River]] during the World War I Mesopotamian Campaign.]]
The first airboats to see any real use date to 1915. The [[British Army]] used airboats, which they referred to as [[Charles de Lambert (aviator)|Lambert]] "Hydro-Glisseurs"," in the [[Mesopotamian Campaign]] of the [[First World War]]. These "Hydro-Glisseurs" were small, flat-bottomed [[Hydroplane (boat)|hydroplanes]] with [[ironclad|metal-clad]] wooden hulls propelled by a large aircraft fan that allowed them to reach speeds of up to {{convert|55|mph|kn}}.<ref name=Fortnight /> They were primarily used for reconnaissance on the [[Tigris River]].<ref name=Gaunt>{{Cite book| publisher = Australian Scholarly Publishing| isbn = 9781925333206| last = Delano| first = Anthony| title = Guy Gaunt: The Boy From Ballarat Who Talked America Into the Great War| date = 2016-09-23| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zkUfDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA184| page=184}}</ref> The first of these airboats, HG 1 ''Ariel'', was constructed using the engine and propeller of a wrecked [[Royal Australian Air Force]] [[Farman MF.7]] biplane and was provided to the forces in Mesopotamia by the [[British Raj]].<ref>{{Cite magazine| volume = 4| issue = 1| title = Reminiscence of the Essen Raids| magazine = Flying| date = January 1916| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7h5EAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA838| publisher = Flying Association at the office of the Aero Club of America| location=New York City}}</ref> Following ''Ariel''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> successful deployment in the campaign upriver to [[Kut]] in 1915–1916, Britain ordered seven purpose-built airboats from [[Charles de Lambert (aviator)|Charles de Lambert]]'s eponymous company ''De Lambert''. Eight of these vessels were in operation in 1917, increasing to nine by the 1918 [[Armistice of 11 November 1918|Armistice]].<ref name=Hall>{{Cite book| publisher = London Constable| last1 = Hall| first1 = Leonard Joseph| last2 = Hughes| first2 = Robert Herbert Wilfrid| title = The Inland water transport in Mesopotamia| access-date = 2018-07-06| date = 1921| url = https://archive.org/details/inlandwatertrans00hall| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151217064633/https://archive.org/details/inlandwatertrans00hall| archive-date = 2015-12-17| url-status = live}}</ref> A dedicated repair slipway for these boats was built at the Motor Repair Dockyard in [[Baghdad]], indicating both their importance to the British war effort and the difficulty of maintaining them.{{r|Hall|page=67-8}}

Following the war, Lambert airboats were used as ferries on the shallow waters of the [[upper Yangtze River]], on the [[Huangpu River]], and elsewhere. Like their military counterparts, these airboats were manufactured in France, though they were assembled in [[Shanghai]]. They had [[draft (hull)|draft]]s of only seven inches and could cruise at up to {{convert|32|mph|kn}}. Lambert airboats were also used widely on the upper [[Missouri River]] and on the marshes of the [[Florida Everglades]].<ref name=Fortnight>{{cite journal |title="Hydro-Gliders" the latest thing in Chinese transportation, expected to open the upper Yangtze to rapid navigation |journal=Far Eastern Fortnightly |date=January 3, 1921 |volume=8 |issue=1 |page=6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kD8uAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA6 |publisher=The Far Eastern Bureau |location=New York}}</ref>

[[Farman Aircraft]], the company that built the engines for the WWI military airboats, began producing civilian airboats in the 1920s. It marketed airboats for use as [[water taxi]]s and as light cargo vessels or [[patrol boat]]s for French colonial governments. Its airboats sold for 25,000 to 50,000 [[francs]] depending on the model, a price that proved too steep for potential buyers; the company pulled out of the boat business by the end of the 1920s.<ref name=Cercle>{{cite web |title=Archives historiques |url=http://www.cmc-retronautisme.fr/historique.hydroglisseurs.htm |website=Cercle du Mononautisme Classique |access-date=6 July 2018 |language=fr |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308221334/http://www.cmc-retronautisme.fr/historique.hydroglisseurs.htm |archive-date=8 March 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Vintage Farman airboat.jpg|thumb|[[Farman]] airboat prototype ''Le Ricocheur'' in 1924. She was capable of speeds of up to 125 km/h (67.5 [[Knot (unit)|knots]])]]

These early European airboats were significantly different from their modern counterparts. Compared to the airboats of today, early European airboats tended to be somewhat larger, had higher [[freeboard]]s, and lacked a protective cage surrounding the propeller.<ref name=Press>{{cite press release |last=Farman |first=Avion |date=1922 |title=Hydroglisseurs Farman |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k353416/ |via=[[Gallica]] |location=Boulogne Billancourt, France |publisher=Farman Aviation Works |language=fr |access-date=2018-07-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180709223749/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k353416/ |archive-date=2018-07-09 |url-status=live }}</ref> They also had a different steering mechanism: early airboats were steered with a [[rudder]] in the water controlled by a [[steering wheel]] with throttle control provided by a [[gas pedal]], like an [[automobile]].<ref name=Hall /> More modern airboats use an [[rudder#Aircraft rudders|air rudder]] controlled with a [[joystick]] for steering.

===Early American airboats===

[[Glenn Curtiss]] is credited with building a type of airboat in 1920 to help facilitate his hobby of bow and arrow hunting in the Florida backwoods. The millionaire, who later went on to develop the cities of [[Hialeah]] and [[Miami]], combined his talents in the fields of aviation and design to facilitate his hobby, and the end result was ''Scooter'', a 6-passenger, closed-cabin, propeller-driven boat powered by an aircraft engine that allowed it to slip through wetlands at {{convert|50|mph|kn}}.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Curtiss |first1=Richard |title=The 1920 Curtiss "Scooter" airboat |url=http://www.curtissway.com/ |website=CurtissWay |access-date=9 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712070558/http://www.curtissway.com/ |archive-date=12 July 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=McIver>{{Cite book| publisher = Pineapple Press Inc|chapter=Chapter 28: Who Invented the Airboat? |url= https://archive.org/details/dreamersschemers0000mciv| url-access = registration| page = [https://archive.org/details/dreamersschemers0000mciv/page/205 205]|isbn = 9781561641550| last = McIver| first = Stuart B.| title = Dreamers, Schemers and Scalawags| date = 1998}}</ref>

Airboats began to become popular in the United States in the 1930s, when they were independently invented and used by a number of Floridians, most living in or around the Everglades.<ref name=Kirk /> Some Floridians who invented their own airboats include [[American bullfrog|frog]] hunter Johnny Lamb, who built a 75-horsepower airboat in 1933 he called the "whooshmobile" and [[Chokoloskee]] Gladesmen Ernest and Willard Yates, who built an airboat in 1935 they steered via [[reins]] attached to a crude wooden rudder.<ref name=Kirk /><ref name=Anderson>{{cite news |last1=Anderson |first1=Lars |title=Lars Anderson: Talking Airboats: Can You Hear Me Now? |url=http://www.gainesville.com/article/LK/20101021/News/604166724/GS/ |access-date=11 July 2018 |work=The Gainesville Sun |date=October 21, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712024845/http://www.gainesville.com/article/LK/20101021/News/604166724/GS/ |archive-date=12 July 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> Willard Yates holds the ignominious distinction of being the first person to die in an airboating accident, when the engine dislodged and sent the spinning propeller into him.<ref name=Gomes /><ref name=Anderson />

An improved airboat was invented in Utah in 1943 by Cecil Williams, Leo Young, and G. Hortin Jensen.<ref>World's First Airboat https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/15109419_1779337522340086_2556976957131532493_n.jpg?oh=dbe23a6b7eb63dce33d92050b0c8f303&oe=59886030{{dead link|date=July 2018}}</ref> Their boat, developed and used near [[Brigham City, Utah]], is sometimes erroneously called the first airboat. At the [[Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge]] in northern Utah, Cecil S. Williams and G. Hortin Jensen sought a solution to the problem of conducting avian [[botulism]] studies in the shallow, marshy hinterlands. By installing a 40-horsepower [[Continental Motors, Inc.|Continental]] aircraft engine, purchased for $99.50, on a flat-bottomed 12-foot long aluminum boat, they built one of the first modern airboats. Their airboat had no seat, so the skipper was forced to kneel in the boat. They dubbed it the ''Alligator I'' as a response to a joking comment from [[US Fish and Wildlife Service]] headquarters that they should "get an [[alligator]] from Louisiana, saddle up and ride the critter during their botulism studies."<ref>{{cite web |title=Tuesday Trivia: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Airboat. |url=https://www.facebook.com/USFWSHISTORY/photos/basw.Abq4Hu2kRuwKw3-ZC6Wx1jQwW10P_poht6F7OJTDsk3TRDKXDAH65SewY8k801qS40Kn9F6olW2_IrTT4E1afhVrKRZYxKoREoL8OR0ubNT2u1eDVaT6J12ClhhXEsOcbMcpA5SUSxg-fXmnwn97fjkcxilzbX53HesQFKLI3TFCupgh_Hn9zU8y6drfJjPV6IRlIuE_P0IAtP8To4YXAMIL.1779337522340086.222239074595906.195628137550649.10201711737110694/1779337522340086/?type=1&opaqueCursor=Abof7QY-PyNliwODFx0LQkj6SCAffo44Si-KrWse7YMB24VB80yFJNZDMxb1tLeiwYaSSL4bqEq4shYgwa6UvYWo5XhO4UHJ7VAcjy1dXFUXi8VKLwjXTsFeWSjyxcfm0wCDN2Iy97LoP9gH3m2lVDF834mU0R7KGzPq9cHiTD4J6v4KSEUtRZY5k2I88JFNQCpgaLz4mHYLGgUKYpkJhM_cecCnIsPXz54EH3LQWmkUW2OmFU3TRbMs0Wf-1k0OWFrlURe14IK2PyAF2FXRDJZGRrXVyvBV77j2S-YjETeSQvCGs5ZVyYMBther6olaeuEVDpuazMwDmM15hcmUoWluVz2HuE-X-8vIjT2QjqWRXXO5iGye0wfDPRO-_N2udBtYS3dlbAt2KgCqzKZowJHMnYwJs281heISLiOxuku3_MgYX1HlVSgq333Vuj3l7QbYCHfUDqL-x5cYmgRdUHDt&theater |website=U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service History -- Facebook |publisher=U.S. Department of the Interior |access-date=6 July 2018 |date=November 15, 2016}}</ref> Their airboat was the first to use an air rudder (a rudder directing the propeller exhaust rather than the water), a major improvement in modern airboat design.<ref name=Deseret>{{cite news |last1=Grass |first1=Ray |title=World's first airboat hatched at Bear River refuge in '40s |url=https://www.deseret.com/2007/3/8/19756274/world-s-first-airboat-hatched-at-bear-river-refuge-in-40s/ |access-date=9 July 2018 |work=Deseret News |agency=Deseret Morning News |date=May 8, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181229174230/https://www.deseretnews.com/article/1117583/Worlds-first-airboat-hatched-at-Bear-River-refuge-in-40s.html |archive-date=29 December 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The purpose of Williams, Young, and Jensen's airboat was to help preserve and protect bird populations and animal life at the world's largest migratory game bird refuge.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Grassland Unit Restoration Project - Phase I |url=http://www.ducks.org/utah/utah-conservation-projects/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge-grassland-unit-restoration-project-phase-i |website=Ducks Unlimited |access-date=10 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712024646/http://www.ducks.org/utah/utah-conservation-projects/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge-grassland-unit-restoration-project-phase-i |archive-date=12 July 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge near [[Brigham City, Utah]], is a wetlands oasis amid the [[Great Basin Desert]] and an essential stopping point for birds migrating across North America. The need for a practical way to navigate a challenging environment of wetlands, shallow water, and thick mud helped inspire Williams, Young, and Jensen to create the flat-bottom airboat, which they initially called an "air thrust boat".<ref name=Deseret /> Designs and subsequent improvements and practical use of the air thrust boats appear to have been a collaborative effort. LeeRue Allen, who worked at the Refuge since 1936, appears to have also been involved and helped to document a history of the events.<ref>{{cite archive |first=Lee Rue |last=Allen |item=Oral History Program |item-url=https://cdm.weber.edu/digital/collection/WSS_OH/id/59 |type = |item-id = |date = 1972 |fonds = |series = |file = |box= |collection = History |collection-url = |repository = |institution = Weber State University |location = Ogden, Utah |oclc= |accession= }}</ref>

Many of the early airboats built at the refuge in Utah were shipped to Florida. Early records show it cost roughly $1,600 to build a boat, including the engine.<ref name=Deseret />

Over the years, the standard design evolved through trial-and-error: an open, flat bottom boat with an engine mounted on the back, the driver sitting in an elevated position, and a cage to protect the propeller from objects flying into them. 
{{clear}}
[[File:Hydrilla verticillata collection LakeSeminoleFL.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[US Army Corps of Engineers]] uses an airboat to collect herbicide-resistant [[hydrilla]] from [[Lake Seminole]] in northern Florida]]

== Manufacture and design ==
Airboat manufacturers tend to be small, family run businesses that assemble built-to-order boats.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} Most airboats are manufactured in the United States, although they are also built in [[Russia]],<ref name=Mcl>McLeavy, Roy, (1982). "Jane's Surface Skimmers", pp 65–67, London, England: Jane's Publishing Company Limited. {{ISBN|0-86720-614-4}}</ref> [[Italy]],<ref>{{Cite web| last = Pearce| first = William| title = Idroscivolanti and the Raid Pavia-Venezia| work = Old Machine Press| access-date = 2018-07-10| date = 2016-01-24| url = https://oldmachinepress.com/2016/01/24/idroscivolanti-and-the-raid-pavia-venezia/| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180712024242/https://oldmachinepress.com/2016/01/24/idroscivolanti-and-the-raid-pavia-venezia/| archive-date = 2018-07-12| url-status = live}}</ref> [[Finland]],<ref name=Arctic>{{cite web |title=New Ideas in Boat Design |url=http://www.airboats.fi/products |publisher=Arctic Airboat |access-date=10 July 2018 |location=Helsinki, Finland |date=2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712020610/http://www.airboats.fi/products |archive-date=12 July 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Torsti tietää, Helsingin Sanomat, 28.3.2010 s. D 7</ref> [[Japan]],<ref>{{cite web |author1=Ko |title=エアボートを、レジャー用として、救助用として、広く日本で普及させたい |url=http://airboat.jp/ |website=Airboats.jp |publisher=Fresh Air Co., Ltd |access-date=10 July 2018 |location=Tokyo |language=ja |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712023444/http://airboat.jp/ |archive-date=12 July 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Australia]],<ref name=Int>{{cite web |title=Airboats International -- About Us |url=https://www.airboatsinternational.com/ |publisher=Airboats International |access-date=10 July 2018 |location=Carrington, NSW, Australia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712024035/https://www.airboatsinternational.com/ |archive-date=12 July 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> and elsewhere. Prior to 1950,  most airboats were manufactured in France by companies and individuals such as [[Farman]], [[Charles de Lambert (aviator)|De Lambert]], and [[René Couzinet]].<ref name=Cercle />{{failed verification|date=September 2020}}<!-- does not support that most airboats worldwide <1950 were mfgd in France -->

Modern, commercially manufactured airboat hulls are made of aluminum or fiberglass. The material used ideally reflects by the type of terrain in which the vessel will be operated; airboats intended for use in icy conditions will have sturdier polymer coated aluminum hulls while some airboats intended for use in marshes will have lighter fiberglass hulls.<ref name=Ice /> Standard hunt/trail boats are {{convert|10|ft|m}} long with a two- to three-passenger capacity. Tour boats can be much larger, accommodating 18 passengers or more.<ref name=Gomes />

Engines are either an air-cooled, 4- or 6-cylinder aircraft or water-cooled, large-displacement, V8 automotive engine, ranging from 50 to over 600 [[horsepower|hp]]. Automotive engines tend to be less expensive due to easier maintenance, readily-available replacement parts, and less expensive (than [[avgas]]) [[octane number|high octane]] automotive gas.<ref name=Gomes /><ref name=Chattahoochee /><ref name=Ice />

At speed, most of the sound produced by an airboat comes from the propeller,{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} although the engine itself also contributes some noise. Modern airboat designs are significantly quieter thanks to mufflers and {{clarify span|text=multi-blade carbon-fiber propellers.|reason= How does a multi blade carbon fiber, propeller damping sound versus a wood or metal propeller?|date=September 2024}}{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}}

== Safety ==
[[File:Air boat - aft view.JPG|thumb|upright|Aft view of a safety cage during operation]]

Airboats are equipped with such safety features as seatbelts and [[flotation device]]s/[[life jacket]]s.<ref name=Ice /><ref name=Gomes />

Over 75 airboat accidents happened in Florida between 2014 and 2017, resulting in seven deaths and 102 severe injuries. Five of these deaths were drownings, and 90 percent of accident victims were not wearing life jackets, even though only 30 percent knew how to swim. Forty percent of injured victims and the only two non-drowning fatalities were flung from their seats in the crashes.<ref name=Gomes>{{cite news |last1=Vi Gomes |first1=Isabella |title=Florida Airboat Accidents Have Killed Seven and Injured Dozens in Recent Years |url=http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/floridas-unregulated-airboat-industry-9903095 |access-date=10 July 2018 |work=Miami New Times |date=December 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180711033138/http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/floridas-unregulated-airboat-industry-9903095 |archive-date=11 July 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to a 2017 analysis by the ''[[Miami New Times]]'', 64% of airboat accidents occurred due to operator error, attributable to one of three factors:<ref name=Gomes />
# a lack of boating education or training;
# a lack of safety equipment, such as seat belts or flotation devices, or a failure to properly use safety equipment;
# or reckless behavior, including [[operating while impaired|drug or alcohol consumption]] and improper lookout.

The engine{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} and propeller of an airboat are enclosed in a protective metal cage that prevents objects such as tree limbs, branches, clothing, beverage containers, passengers, or wildlife, from coming into contact with the propeller.<ref name=Ice /><ref name=Gomes />

Airboats are top-heavy, unstable, and extremely shallow draft, making them prone to capsizing and sinking, particularly in the [[open sea]] or in [[sea state|rough]] or [[violent storm|stormy conditions]].<ref name=SF>{{cite tech report |editor-first=Samuel |editor-last=Enfield |editor2=Burr, R. |editor3=Badgett, R. |display-editors=et al |title=Airboats |number=R-1590.0 |institution=Army Concept Team in Vietnam |date=April 15, 1966 |url=http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/372880.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803080325/http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/372880.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 3, 2020 |location=San Francisco |via=[[DTIC]]}}</ref> Airboats with a "long-belt gear reduction drive unit" and an automobile engine reduce these risks by mounting the engine inside the hull, which lowers the [[center of gravity]].<ref name=Ice /> Some companies and organizations, including Airboat West and the [[Los Alamos National Laboratory]], have built airboats with low centers of gravity for use in windy or rough conditions or in rescues with obstacles such as  low-hanging power lines.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Butterman |first=Eric |date=August 2013 |title=A boat that walks on water |url=https://www.asme.org/engineering-topics/articles/transportation/boat-that-walks-on-water |magazine=ASME |publisher=The American Society of Mechanical Engineers |access-date=2018-07-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712023046/https://www.asme.org/engineering-topics/articles/transportation/boat-that-walks-on-water |archive-date=2018-07-12 |url-status=live }}</ref> Airboats can also be equipped with autoinflation devices that can reduce the risk of capsizing.<ref name=Ice />
 
===Regulation===
Since 2018, the state of Florida requires operators to complete [[CPR]] instruction and a course on airboats run by the state's wildlife commission.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/palm-beach/fl-reg-ellie-law-signed-20180330-story.html|title=Gov. Scott signs 'Ellie's Law' creating new safety rules for Everglades airboat operators|last=Swisher|first=Skyler|work=Sun-Sentinel.com|access-date=2018-04-24|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425115042/http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/palm-beach/fl-reg-ellie-law-signed-20180330-story.html|archive-date=2018-04-25|url-status=live}}</ref>

Florida state law also stipulates that airboats must have an "automotive-style factory [[muffler]], underwater exhaust, or other manufactured device capable of adequately muffling the sound of the engine exhaust", and an [[international orange]] flag that is at least 10" by 12" flying from a mast or flagpole that is at least 10 feet taller than the lowest point on the boat, in order to increase visibility and reduce collisions.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Florida Atlantic University Diving and Boating Safety Committee |title=Diving and Boating Safety Manual |date=February 2014 |publisher=Florida Atlantic University Environmental Health and Safety |url=https://www.fau.edu/facilities/ehs/info/DBSManual.pdf |location=Boca Raton |pages=91–2 |access-date=10 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818181529/http://www.fau.edu/facilities/ehs/info/DBSManual.pdf |archive-date=18 August 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The minimum age to operate an airboat in Florida is 14.<ref>{{cite act |title=The 2010 Florida Statutes (including Special Session A) |type=Statute |number=Title XXIV |date=2014 |article=327.39 |articletype=Chapter |url=http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0300-0399/0327/Sections/0327.39.html |access-date=July 10, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712023216/http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0300-0399%2F0327%2FSections%2F0327.39.html |archive-date=July 12, 2018 }}</ref>

== Rescue ==
[[File:FEMA - 14511 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken on 08-30-2005 in Louisiana.jpg|thumb|A resident is transported by airboat after Hurricane Katrina]]

In recent years, airboats have proven indispensable for flood, shallow water, and ice rescue operations. As a result, they have grown in popularity for public safety uses.

During the flooding of [[New Orleans]] following [[Hurricane Katrina]], August 29, 2005, airboats from across the United States rescued thousands of flood victims.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mercedes |first1=Cheryl |title=LIFE BEYOND KATRINA: Cajun couple rescues hundreds from flooded homes |url=http://www.wafb.com/story/29869303/life-beyond-katrina-cajun-couple-rescues-hundreds-from-flooded-homes |access-date=10 July 2018 |work=WAFB |date=August 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712022411/http://www.wafb.com/story/29869303/life-beyond-katrina-cajun-couple-rescues-hundreds-from-flooded-homes |archive-date=12 July 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> Thirty airboats crewed by civilian volunteers evacuated over 1,100 patients and 4,000 medical personnel and family members from four downtown New Orleans hospitals in less than 36 hours.<ref name=Nawlins>{{Cite magazine |last=Dummett |first=Robert |date=May 1, 2006 |title=The Evacuation of New Orleans After The Levees Broke |url=https://www.fireengineering.com/articles/print/volume-159/issue-5/features/the-evacuation-of-new-orleans-after-the-levees-broke.html |magazine=Fire Engineering |access-date=2018-07-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712023507/https://www.fireengineering.com/articles/print/volume-159/issue-5/features/the-evacuation-of-new-orleans-after-the-levees-broke.html |archive-date=July 12, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> This "[[Cajun Navy]]" morphed into a grassroots volunteer search and rescue organization that has deployed to rescue people during [[Hurricane Harvey]],<ref>{{cite news |title=The "Cajun Navy," which got its start after Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana, has stepped up to the plate once again, this time swooping in to help those in need in the neighboring state of Texas after Hurricane Harvey hit. |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/photos/cajun-navy-start-hurricane-katrina-hit-louisiana-stepped-49470696 |access-date=29 September 2018 |work=ABC News |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929233433/https://abcnews.go.com/US/photos/cajun-navy-start-hurricane-katrina-hit-louisiana-stepped-49470696 |archive-date=29 September 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Hurricane Florence]],<ref>{{cite news |last1=Szathmary |first1=Zoe |title=Hurricane Florence prompts volunteer group America's Cajun Navy to send more than 1,000 people to help |url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/hurricane-florence-prompts-volunteer-group-americas-cajun-navy-to-send-more-than-1000-people-to-help/ |access-date=29 September 2018 |work=Fox News |date=12 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929233503/http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/09/12/hurricane-florence-prompts-volunteer-group-cajun-navy-to-send-more-than-1000-people-to-help.html |archive-date=29 September 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> and other natural disasters.<ref>{{cite web |title=America's Cajun Navy |url=https://americascajunnavy.org/ |website=America’s Cajun Navy |access-date=29 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180930033649/https://americascajunnavy.org/ |archive-date=30 September 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Numerous articles have been published in fire-rescue trade journals such as ''[[Fire Engineering (magazine)|Fire Engineering]]'' and ''[[National Fire and Rescue Magazine]]'' describing the advantages, capabilities, and benefits of using airboats for water rescue operations, and providing in-depth description of actual water rescue incidents, including the flooding of New Orleans.<ref name=Chattahoochee>{{Cite magazine |last=Dummett |first=Robert |date=January 1, 2006 |volume=159 |issue=1 |title=Rescue on The Chattahoochee |url=https://www.fireengineering.com/articles/print/volume-159/issue-1/features/rescue-on-the-chattahoochee.html |magazine=Fire Engineering |access-date=2018-07-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712021311/https://www.fireengineering.com/articles/print/volume-159/issue-1/features/rescue-on-the-chattahoochee.html |archive-date=July 12, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Nawlins/><ref>Rescuing New Orleans – Nov./Dec. 2005</ref><ref name=Ice /><ref>"You Want To Buy A What" - March/April 2004</ref><ref>Saving Lives Across America – August 2004</ref>

Airboats are particularly effective at water rescues in shallow, marshy, or icy winter environments. Airboats are partially [[amphibious vehicle|amphibious]] and can therefore navigate effectively over obstacles, such as partially submerged buildings and wreckage or [[sea ice]], that would stop a normal boat. In ice rescues, use of airboats cuts the average rescue time from 45 to 60 minutes to seven to 12 minutes, according to data from Minnesota fire departments. They are also faster, larger, safer, and more durable than other small boats used in ice rescues.<ref name=Ice>{{Cite magazine |last=Dummett |first=Robert |date=March 1, 2004 |volume=157 |issue=3 |title=The Use of Airboats in Ice and Water Rescue Emergencies |url=https://www.fireengineering.com/articles/print/volume-157/issue-3/features/the-use-of-airboats-in-ice-and-water-rescue-emergencies.html |magazine=Fire Engineering |access-date=2018-07-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712030055/https://www.fireengineering.com/articles/print/volume-157/issue-3/features/the-use-of-airboats-in-ice-and-water-rescue-emergencies.html |archive-date=July 12, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Though airboats are highly effective at water and ice rescues, airboats and [[helicopter]]s do not work well together. Rotor wash from low-flying helicopters can push and even capsize airboats. During post-Katrina rescue operations, a helicopter's rotor wash was reported to have capsized one airboat, and many airboats were blown into the sides of buildings, standing utility poles, and bridge pilings by low-flying helicopters.<ref name=Nawlins />
[[File:U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Riverine Unit Patrols Rio Grande River Border in Air-Boat.jpg|thumb|[[U.S. Customs and Border Protection]] patrols the [[Rio Grande River]] border in an airboat]]

==Military use==
[[File:Hostage Rescue Team of the FBI piloting an air boat at night with night vision goggles.webm|thumb|The Hostage Rescue Team of the FBI piloting an air boat at night with night vision goggles.]]
Airboats are used by various militaries and border patrols around the world as well as by the [[U.S. Coast Guard]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Coast Guard Station Burlington Demonstrates New Airboat |url=http://coastguardnews.com/coast-guard-station-burlington-demonstrates-new-airboat/2010/02/13/ |access-date=11 July 2018 |work=Coast Guard News |date=February 13, 2010 |location=Burlington, Vermont |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712022358/http://coastguardnews.com/coast-guard-station-burlington-demonstrates-new-airboat/2010/02/13/ |archive-date=12 July 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> In addition to the use of airboats by the British Army in the Mesopotamian Campaign of WWI and by the Soviet Union in the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]] of WWII, airboats have been used by the [[US Army]] and [[Iraqi security forces]] in the Vietnam and Iraq wars, respectively.
[[File:MIKE Force Aircat.jpg|thumb|left|[[MIKE Force|US Special Forces]] Aircat airboat in Vietnam]]

During the [[Vietnam War]] the [[Hurricane Aircat]] airboat was used by [[U.S. Special Forces]] and [[ARVN|South Vietnamese troops]] to patrol riverine and marshy areas where larger boats could not go.<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Osprey Publishing| isbn = 9781846031397| last = Rottman| first = Gordon L.| title = Mobile Strike Forces in Vietnam 1966–70| url = https://archive.org/details/mobilestrikeforc00rott| url-access = limited| page=[https://archive.org/details/mobilestrikeforc00rott/page/n52 51]| location = New York| date = 2007-09-18}}</ref> Two of these airboats were also used by the [[Khmer National Navy]] after they were captured from the U.S. Special Forces by the [[People's Army of Vietnam]] (PAVN) in September 1967.<ref>Kenneth Conboy, Kenneth Bowra, and Mike Chappell, ''The War in Cambodia 1970–75'', Men-at-arms series 209, Osprey Publishing Ltd, London 1989. {{ISBN|0-85045-851-X}}. pp. 23</ref><ref>*Kenneth Conboy, ''FANK: A History of the Cambodian Armed Forces, 1970–1975'', Equinox Publishing (Asia) Pte Ltd, Djakarta 2011. {{ISBN|9789793780863}} pp. 239"</ref>

Airboats are also used in Texas and Iraq for border patrol.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Floyd |first1=Faron |title=Whirl Wind Goes to Iraq |url=https://whirlwindpropellers.com/airboats/airboating-in-iraq/ |publisher=Whirlwind Propellers |access-date=10 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180728054530/https://whirlwindpropellers.com/airboats/airboating-in-iraq/ |archive-date=28 July 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> The airboats used in Iraq were supplied by American companies and assembled in Iraq by American civilian contractors, and they are used by both American and Iraqi forces to patrol the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the [[Mesopotamian Marshes|marshes]] of southeastern Iraq, and the [[Shatt al-Arab]] waterway, the latter two of which include parts of the Iran-Iraq border.<ref name=Iraq>{{cite web |author1=Airboatcapt2 |title=Airboats in Iraq |url=https://southernairboat.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=2342 |website=Southern Airboat |access-date=10 July 2018 |date=March 31, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712022153/https://southernairboat.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=2342 |archive-date=12 July 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> Modern Iraqi military airboats are {{convert|18|feet|m}} long, powered by 454&nbsp;hp engines hooked up to {{convert|78|in|m|adj=on}} Whirlwind propellers, and armed with [[M240]] crew-served machine guns.<ref name=Iraq /> 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 county [[Emergency medical services|EMS]] units for rescue of [[Ice fishing|ice fisherman]] and rescue in floods or after hurricanes.

In 2013 the [[Ministry of Oil (Iraq)|Iraqi Ministry of Oil]] purchased 20 airboats for use as personnel transport, patrol, and cable laying and light cargo boats in the rivers and marshes of Iraq.<ref name=العراق>{{cite press release |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=تجهيز زوارق هوائة نهرية |url=http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Supplying-Air-Boats.pdf |location=Baghdad |publisher=جمهوريى العراق وزارة النفط شركة الاستكشاف النفطية |via=Iraq Business News |date=2013 |access-date=2018-07-10 |language=ar |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712022011/http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Supplying-Air-Boats.pdf |archive-date=2018-07-12 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Tourism==
Airboat rides have become popular as an [[ecotourism]] activity in several locations including the Florida Everglades and the Louisiana bayou. A typical airboat tour lasts between 60–90 minutes and carries passengers at speeds of up to 60 miles per hour.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Park |first=Everglades Holiday |title=Everglades Airboat Tours {{!}} Airboat Tours and Rides |url=https://www.evergladesholidaypark.com/airboat-tours/everglades-airboat-tours/ |access-date=2022-03-18 |website=www.evergladesholidaypark.com |language=en}}</ref> Most tour companies employ experienced captains who are able to point out alligators and other wildlife and flora from a safe distance. Most companies promote a very high chance of seeing an alligator on their tours.<ref>{{Cite web |title=New Orleans #1 Swamp Tour |url=https://ragincajunairboattours.com/faqs |access-date=2022-03-18 |website=Ragin Cajun Airboat Tours |language=en-US}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Hovercraft]]
* [[Hydrocopter]]
* [[Hydroplane (boat)]]
* [[Jetboat]]
* [[Rotor ship]], a similar type of vessel using a vertical "pipe" to propel the air

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=1vI8AQAAIAAJ&dq=The+Experiment+horse+boat&pg=PA146 On the propulsion of ships by air propellers]
* [https://oldmachinepress.com/2016/01/24/idroscivolanti-and-the-raid-pavia-venezia/ Italian racing "Idroscivolanti" of the 1930s]

[[Category:Motorboats]]
[[Category:Marine propulsion]]
[[Category:Canadian inventions]]
[[Category:Everglades]]