Landshark

An anonymous reader writes "This has got to be, or will be when they actually make one, the coolest amphibious vehicle around. It's a cross between a motorcycle and a jet ski, and it seats three. It can travel at 200 mph on land and 50 mph on water. Just what you need to get you from point A to point B."

Durability?

[TamMan2000]

The combined drive system is really clever, but I wonder how it will hold up... The impeller is mounted on the drive wheel, the wheel moves over the uneven surface of the road, and adsorbs shocks from all the bumps, so what I want to know is: how the heck are you going to build impeller seals that will hold up to that and still hold a tight tolerance?

Re:But WHY?

[Gopher971]

Simple answer - Traffic. i live in Dublin near the coast. To travel to work every morning takes an hour and a half. With something like this I could be in work in 25 minutes by crossing Dublin Bay and travelling up the canal.

Although, somehow I doubt you'd ever get up to 200mph on any road in Dublin!

Gopher

Pointless

[_Spirit]

I really can't see the point of this. It's not interesting or cool from a technical point of view, it's not cool in anything but a mine is bigger/faster than yours and my dick is really big enough, really ! kind of way. Just seems to me like another way to get yourself killed, in a way that might not be efficient but still very fast indeed.

This will have the same problem as the 1960's

[thilmony]

not passing us safety requirements. here's an article about that problem:

http://www.motorway.com/home/articles/amphibicar .a sp

and a picture:

http://www.hemmings.com/images/amphicar.jpg

Fantasy Propulsion

[jvl001]

I don't see how a centrifugal compressor will drive this thing the way it's been illustrated. Normally a centrifugal compressor takes axial flow and turns it into radial flow. According to the website they are using it to take in water upstream of the hub and blast it out a slot at the rear. They way this thing appears to be designed they are wasting an incredible amount of energy just spinning the flow around inside the rear wheel. I hate to think what cavitation will do to this thing.

Note to landshark guys: It aint a turbine unless you're extracting power from the flow. In your case it's just a centrigual pump. Mount a forward pointing scoop that directs flow down the axis of the pump, then collect _all_ the radial flow and direct it out the exit.

PS. You are driving this thing with the equivalent of the guts of an air-raid siren. How appropriate.

Did anyone else find it odd......

[Anonymous Coward]

that the speeds were given in the imperial measurements usually used in the United States (MPH - Miles Per Hour), but the the TLD of the web site is .UK? I would have thought that they would have been given in KPH.

Re:Planned or measured?

[bflong]

It's a Hydrofoil boat on the water. Perhaps the hydrofoil can be tucked up into the body while on land?
It can keep it's center of gravity low and also employ veriable pitch airfoils for downforce while on land.
This is not built like a typical V-Hull Grady White.

Hey, you moved!

[Anonymous Coward]

Now you are just a couple hours from my house.

Re:Don't try it !!

[AGMW]

Now, as I recall, someone did a V8 conversion on a Reliant Kitten (4 wheel version of Robin), and it was mighty quick (Reliants weigh next to nothing!), but this was just some silly fellow being, well, silly really. Normal use proved that they (Robins) were OK, 'cos in general they couldn't go very fast.

Now, the Bond Bug [bondbug.com] was a dangerous little sucker that got a lot of people injured or killed. The problem was it was cheap, fast and marketed at kids who didn't have a clue what to do. Loads crashed. Absoloute Carnage!

Now, why does this Landshark fella have to only have one rear wheel? Two of them could just make it into a car.

Give me a rocket launcher please....

[Proudrooster]

Each year, I take a couple of weeks off and leave the madness of the rat race behind. I arrive at the beach early and setup my beach umbrellas and sand chairs. The goal is to do nothing but squish my toes in the sand and watch the puffy white clouds against the clear blue sky for a single day.

Every year as mid day approaches so do the loud annoying jet skis and their idiot riders who can't seem to follow simple rules like, stay out of the swimming zone and don't get drunk and ride your jet ski. Do they even put mufflers on these annoying devices?

My attempt to clear my mind turns to thoughts of "jet ski seeking rocket lauchers". I hate these things and now I find that they are just going to get bigger, louder, and even more obnoxious.

Next year I have to find a "jet-ski" free lake, if there is such a thing.

Re:Straight line vs. cornering

[drsmithy]

Tricycles (1 front wheel, two back) are quite stable because cornering puts pressure to the side and rear of the vehicle, on the non-stearing wheels. Front only has to apply lateral force to turn. The back has to hold it up.

Trikes are quite unstable and a PITA to drive/ride at any speed. This is because if you lift one of the wheels off the ground, the handling characteristics of the vehicle change dramatically from those that roughly resemble a four-wheeled vehicle, to those that resemble a two-wheeled vehicle. Motorcycle riders (and high speed cyclists) familiar with counter-steering should know what this is like.