The low strain on the tracks means that they are less likely to fail due to damage, and so the chance of derailment is smaller. These magnetic fields are also used to move the train forwards and backwards, similar to a railgun, and allow them to move at very high speeds while causing little strain on their tracks. These trains use electromagnets to create a magnetic field between the train and track, allowing it to float above its tracks. Although they have many uses and a promising future, hovercraft cannot operate over all terrains and do not float as high as the hovering vehicles of science fiction.Īnother form of real-world hover vehicles are maglev, or magnetic levitation, trains. The versatility of hovercraft allow them to be used where other vehicles would have difficulty, like in thick mud, swamps, everglades, and shallow water, and so they are often used as coast guard and search and rescue vehicles. Although these problems do limit the military use of hovercraft it does not prevent these versatile vehicles from seeing use in civilian applications as well, and civilian hovercraft range in size from small one person pleasure craft to massive ferries that can carry dozens of cars and hundreds of passengers. Although they have many advantages hovercraft are also very noisy and are more vulnerable to attack than conventional ground or sea vehicles, and can only operate on fairly level terrain. Hovercraft's ability to move over water and land while carrying heavy loads makes them perfect for military landings on beaches or moving troops and equipment around quickly and efficiently. This carrying capacity comes without sacrificing speed or armament, and it is for this reason that hovercraft see use in many militaries. The ultimate example of this is the Russian Navy's Zubr class hovercraft, which is capable of carrying three main battle tanks or ten armoured vehicles and one hundred and forty soldiers. Although a hovercraft may sound like a light and flimsy vehicle this is far from the truth, with hovercraft being able to carry heavy loads for long distances. In order to provide lift hovercraft use large propellers or fans to push them around, handling more like aircraft or ships than ground vehicles. The air is trapped beneath the vehicle through the use of a skirt made of a flexible material like rubber or fabric, creating a cushion of air that allows the hovercraft to move across the ground and even over water with little difficulty. These vehicles operate by using a number of fans to create an area of high pressure air underneath the vehicle. The oldest and most successful attempts to create hovering vehicles resulted in the creation of the aptly named hovercraft. Despite the difficulty in creating machines that hover above the ground scientists are working to make such a thing possible, and there are several potential ways to go about achieving a similar effect. In most science fiction works the science behind hover vehicles is rarely fully explained, usually with passing references to anti-gravity such as with Star Wars' repulsorlift engines. Unfortunately such craft are also very difficult to make, and there are no current means available to mimic the silent and perfectly controlled hovering of these fictional craft. Hover vehicles have many advantages over conventional wheeled or tracked ones, as they are completely all terrain and thus have a much higher maximum speed and greater maneuverability than their earth-bound cousins. Although they are portrayed as being used in different roles and being built with different technologies the thing that all these machines have in common is their ability to effortlessly hover above the ground. Hover vehicles have shown up in many works of science fiction and taken many forms, including the hover tanks of the Battlezone series, Halo's motorcycle like Ghost, and the well known Snowspeeders from Star Wars.
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