What the flux ... capacitor is going on here?
Apparently because he could, a California man named Matthew Riese built a hovercraft from scratch that's modeled after the DeLorean from the "Back To The Future" movies.
That's some serious stuff, as concept cars go, but wait until you see Doc Brown's airboat in action during Major League Baseball action. On Friday night, Riese navigated his inspired hovercraft into McCovey Cove for the San Francisco Giants-Colorado Rockies game. You see, where he was going, he didn't need any roads.
Broadcasters Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow were appropriately amused:
It don't take money, it don't take fame, and you don't need no credit card to ride this ... boat. Here are some details from the pilot himself, who in 2010 used the Kickstarter web site to fund his $5,600 project:
When it is done, the craft will be able to hover on anything flat (asphalt, sand, water, etc), but it will be mostly driven on the San Francisco Bay. The hovercraft is registered with the DMV in California as a boat (it is not street legal). The top speed should be around 45 mph, which is pretty impressive for a vehicle with no breakes (it's not touching the ground, remember!). If you have never seen a hovercraft, the basic concept is that a fan pushes air underneath the middle of the craft and a "skirt" (basically a flexible inner-tube around the perimeter of the craft) traps that high-pressure air under the craft, which lifts it off the ground.
Just imagine if he could get that baby up to 88 mph, like The Doc's time machine. He could go back and watch Matt Cain's perfect game. Or to Tim Lincecum's most recent haircut. Or to Kuiper's one and only major league home run. The first episode of "Swamp People." Just as long as Melky Cabrera doesn't become his own grandfather.
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