#Firefighters: Win a FREE Rescue Hovercraft Flight Training Course at #FDIC 2017

Neoteric Hovercraft, Inc. is honored to be the only rescue hovercraft exhibitor at this year's #FDIC International. And at Booth 2704, they’re giving away something important to first responders: a chance to for you to experience how a hovercraft improves the speed and success of your rescue operations – and lets you save lives safely.

Be sure to stop by Neoteric’s Booth 2704 and register to win one of three FREE Rescue Hovercraft Pilot Training Courses, valued at $1,575 each. Winners will be notified by May 8, and you can schedule your training course at your convenience. This is the ideal way for you to see first-hand how a Neoteric hovercraft keeps you above the danger – not in it.

Win a FREE Rescue Hovercraft Flight Training Course at Neoteric Hovercraft Booth 2704 at #FDIC 2017

If you still rely on boats, ropes, airboats and other equipment for ice, mud, swift water and shallow water rescues, you’ll definitely want to visit us at Booth 2704 to watch videos of hovercraft rescue operations - and see for yourself how a hovercraft safely and easily flies you into areas that absolutely no other vehicle can reach.

Neoteric is the world’s original and most experienced light hovercraft manufacturer; and their rescue hovercraft are in operation in more than 50 nations. And Neoteric offer the only rescue hovercraft that gives you the ability to brake and back up – critical in rescue operations.

That’s why HovercraftTraining Centers trains exclusively on Neoteric Hovercraft!

Read what your fellow first responders say about their Neoteric Rescue Hovercraft …

Perry-Clear Creek Fire Department, Indiana:

"We once had to carry a 300 lb. person on a backboard across some questionable open ice. Sure, we wear rescue suits for things like this, but they are not made for long hikes over open ice. If we get hurt while performing a rescue, all we've done is become another victim. It’s times like that when a hovercraft comes into play. The hovercraft is like a life insurance policy for our guys - that's what it boils down to.”

North Muskegon Fire Department, Michigan:

"Our hovercraft have saved more lives that all our fire engines combined. Since 1985, more than 255 people have been rescued from Muskegon area lakes using the hovercraft. More than half of them would have drowned not having the hovercraft as a safe rescue tool."

Mansfield Fire Department, Texas:

"The benefit of having the hovercraft is we do not have to send our personnel into the water to retrieve victims. It can also hover over logs, car tires and any other debris, unlike boats, that could be a hazard in the water. A hovercraft is the answer to a faster rescue - a safer rescue."

Central Fraser Valley Search & Rescue Society, Canada:

"The hovercraft gets us into areas that, before, we weren't able to reach, areas that our jet boat can't get into because we ingest debris into the impeller. And the hovercraft saves us a lot of time."

Read more about Neoteric on the FDIC website ...

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HTC Grad Demonstrates Rescue Hovercraft to Poland Fire Rescue

After completing hovercraft pilot training at HTC, Michal Przybylski launched his own company, Tecnotek Polska, to become a Neoteric Hovercraft dealer in Poland. Tecnotek Polska is actively engaged in demonstrating the hovercraft’s value in rescue operations to fire departments and other rescue agencies throughout Poland – and their response has been extremely positive.

Here, Michal exhibits the HoverTrek’s capabilities to Fire Rescue agencies in Bytom, located in southern Poland …

Tecnotek Polska’s 6-passenger Neoteric Rescue HoverTrek™ ...

Even before the hovercraft flies into action, it attracts attention while still on its trailer ...

Michal launches the hovercraft to display it in action to the audience ...

Of major interest to the first responders was the HoverTrek’s reverse thrust, which allows it to brake, fly backwards and hover in place – making it an exceptional ice and water rescue vehicle ...

After seeing the hovercraft in action, Fire Rescue (STRAZ) officials were eager to jump on board for a flight …

A first responder takes a spin …

Then he literally takes a spin, made possible by the craft’s reverse thrust system ...

The demo gave first responders a hands-on opportunity to experience how hovercraft outperform other rescue vehicles …

Seeing the Rescue HoverTrek™ in action draws an even larger audience …

Michal reports that the feedback he received from this demo is “incredible.” Officials were extremely impressed by the hovercraft’s capabilities, and the attending Fire Rescue departments are in the process of writing grants to help them purchase a Rescue HoverTrek™. 

Once again, HTC training serves to make the world a little safer!

See Tecnotek Polska practice ice rescue techniques with Fire Rescue in Poland …

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First responders: Is a hovercraft right for you?

There’s no better way for first responders to determine if a hovercraft will suit their rescue needs than to undergo a training course at HTC – just like Chris Kleppe and Sean Geib.

Chris (Supervisor) and Sean (Assistant Supervisor) are in charge of the University of Wisconsin Lifesaving Station in Madison. Established in 1909 on 10,000-acre Lake Mendota, the Station is a safety and rescue operation for both the University and the city of Madison. 

Sean Geib (left) and Chris Kleppe (right) receive their Hovercraft Pilot & Maintenance Certifications

from HTC Senior Instructor Chris Fitzgerald.

But, as Chris explains, “We have no ice rescue capabilities at the Lifesaving Station – none whatsoever. We need to have some way to get out there to someone who might be in trouble – especially the ice fishermen because they have to travel across unsafe ice to get to the safe ice to fish. ATVs won’t do that. Once we saw a fisherman out on a hovercraft - okay, the light went on.”

Sean adds, “And you’d be surprised how many people will walk out onto unsafe ice. Close to the lake is the University with more than 40,000 students from all over the world. Some of them are familiar with ice, but many aren’t, so they do high-risk things we just can’t believe. And with global warming, we’re getting more and more days of thin ice and more risk.”

The pair describes why they decided to undergo training before buying a hovercraft: “The more training you have, the better you’re equipped to help someone out in emergency situations where your adrenaline is running high. We both also understood that a hovercraft is not a boat; this is something completely outside our realm of knowledge, so we decided it would be both advantageous and fun to get the training.”

“And we’re here to have some questions answered, too,” explains Sean, “Not only from the operational standpoint but to see if it will be compatible with our facility, since we have no flat spaces and no ramps.”

Fittingly, Chris and Sean’s training on a frigid January day showed them exactly how a hovercraft operates on ice. Check out the photos of their flight training session below, then read what they had to say after completing their training course …

After a morning of classroom instruction, Chris Kleppe learns how
to fuel the hovercraft at the Wabash River training site.

Next, Sean inspects the skirts as they learn to conduct a thorough preflight inspection.

With HTC instructor Chris Fitzgerald at the controls, Chris Kleppe is ready to launch
on the partially-frozen river for his first flight instruction session.

Now behind the controls, Chris Kleppe sees first-hand why a hovercraft is the only vehicle
able to travel safely and easily over thin or broken ice.

Now Chris learns how to fly the craft over water.

During their flight training sessions, both Chris (piloting the craft) and Sean (waiting back on shore for his session) receive constant feedback and instruction from their HTC instructor via wireless headsets.

After returning to Wisconsin, HTC received the following email from Chris Kleppe describing their training experience:

“We both felt the training was very important. Floating on air is the best way to describe how it felt to me. Certainly the feeling was completely different than any other vehicles that I have piloted. Most surprising was the need to think way ahead of any maneuver that was made. Without the training, I could foresee a future disaster by way of a crash. To anyone trying to pilot the craft with no training I would say, ‘DO NOT DO IT.’ Plain and simple.

The hovercraft would be a useful tool for the Lifesaving Station during the freeze up and thaw out of the lake when the risk of someone going through the unsafe ice is very high. To perform winter lake safety work on Lake Mendota, I feel the hovercraft would be essential.”

First responders: Is a hovercraft is right for you? …

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Rescue Hovercraft Training: Prairieton Fire Department

David Phelps and Ben Cottrell of the Prairieton, Indiana Fire Department have joined first responders throughout the world who rely on hovercraft for rescue operations. After purchasing a Neoteric rescue hovercraft from the Vigo County Emergency Management Agency, their first order of business was to sign up for training at HTC.

David and Ben had taken the craft on a couple of trial runs before their training course. David, a 50-year veteran of the of the department, whose father was on the department as well, says, “It’s not rocket science, but it’s something you need to train to do. We had an opportunity to use it on a water rescue, but I opted to wait until we get our training. I think training is the most important thing there is about anything, especially firefighting. We want to be sure we know how to do everything properly and not hurt anyone – or ourselves!”

After completing their course, Ben (left) and David (right) receive their hovercraft pilot and maintenance certification from HTC president Chris Fitzgerald (center) …

Classroom training completed, David and Ben start pilot training at the HTC training site at the Wabash River. From proper technique for unloading a craft from its trailer, to flying on water and land, to maintaining the craft between runs, all HTC courses cover every aspect of operating a hovercraft … 

Wireless headsets allow constant communication between the instructor and all trainees during flight training at HTC … 

Flight instructor Chris Fitzgerald launches the craft onto the Wabash River for the first training run, with Ben in the passenger seat … 

Ben quickly takes over the controls on the river, with Chris Fitzgerald providing continuous instruction … 

At the end of his flight training, Ben easily transitions from water to land as he flies the hovercraft up the boat ramp … 

Now in the hands of trained, knowledgeable pilots, the Prairieton Fire Department will use their hovercraft for flood and ice rescues. “There’s a lot of flooding in our area; we’ve rescued a lot of people from stranded vehicles and flooded homes. We've had a lot of ice rescues, too,” Dave explains.

First responders: 

Learn how hovercraft can make your job easier, safer and more effective -

Take an HTC Test Flight or Training Course

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