Hovercraft ??

[ssc]

Today I took a bike ride from Brookhurst up to Dog Beach and then back to Huntington Beach. Got back to the truck around 1 and I was sitting there at the truck. A large craft was off shore quite a bit. The motors or fans or whatever were very loud and it was hard to see with all the mist/water cloud etc surrounding the craft. By chance did anyone else see this craft? Am I crazy or is there a hovercraft cruising around out there? Perhaps military? I took out my bino's and still couldn't tell what it was. At first I thought it was a giant seaplane, but then hovercraft. WTF?

Cheers, Steve

 

[BSP14]

Probably an LCAC (Landing Craft Air Cushion), “No Beach Out of Reach” for the US Navy and Marines. They are a very common sight off of Pendleton.

Not as smooth a ride as you would think, had the opportunity to ride one over to Catalina in a fire engine.

 

[JB in so cal]

saw the same thing today around 1

 

[Desert Whaler]

Was that You that stopped and talked to me while I was taking pics of it between Brookhurst and Magnolia?

 

[DrunkenSailor]

Lcac out of pendleton. Bad ass toys.

Landing Craft Air Cushion - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Desert Whaler]

My Brother In Law retired Lieutenant Commander in the Navy ran those for years . . . fucker lost most all of his hearing cause of all the noise they make.

 

[ssc]

Sure am glad I wasn't hallucinating. I remember them coming over to Catalina when we had the big fire. I think we need a RDP get together on the bike path. Interesting that we were all there. Around 1, I was sitting next to my truck in the parking lot near Brookhurst eating lunch I bought in HB off main street. DW, that wasn't me. Were you riding a bike? JB, where were you?

Cheers, Steve

 

[gottaminute?]

Was that You that stopped and talked to me while I was taking pics of it between Brookhurst and Magnolia? View attachment 976060

amazing that they are held up with just 4 of these dual inlet fans spinning around 2000 rpm. I balanced every one the fans that was built until we supplied camp Pendleton ( the navy base on the ocean side of the Fwy from the marine base) and Panama city, FL their own balancing machines for maintenance. the balancing tolerance is the weight of a #10 (3/16) stainless AN washer 1 inch from the OD.
and if the hollow stainless shaft had a temperature difference of more than a few degrees, the thermal expansion would "bow" the shaft enough to exceed that balancing tolerance.
WOW. 40 years went by in a hurry.

 

[Wolskis]

I was stationed in San Diego when the first one arrived at Pendleton. The ship I was on had 7 gas turbines and these had two and thought it would be so cool to be on one. I started with the detailer on board my ship, went to the XO and CO for help but in the end the main detailer in DC said I was going to the east coast. Nope, finished my 6 and got out.