The revolutionary new mangrove-mowing hovercraft developed for a Regional Council by Fieldmaster had a unique need for ground contact. In order to preserve the life on the estuary surface which vehicles would destroy, mowing equipment has been mounted on the front of a hovercraft. The difficulty is that traditional hovercraft skid and slide having no ground contact – what this solution required was a floating contact point at the front to provide directional stability.
LEP proposed an upturned mushroom shape, moulded from polyurethane, which would have the right friction characteristics and not wear quickly. The product has been successful, giving the customer the only hovercraft in the world that can do donuts!