ACV Designs - Previews Page

The following products are coming soon from ACV Designs!

NOTE: The Mistral II and the Chinook II plan packages have been put on hold. The designer (Ron Fishlock) has been very busy with his new company Airide Technologies.

Mistral II

The original Mistral design

A cruising craft that provides a smooth ride, even in rough waters

Background: The original wooden Mistral was designed by Ron Fishlock before he emigrated to Canada from the UK. This craft was designed to participate in rallies and races held around Britain and as a cruising craft on Southampton’s (some times very choppy) seaway. Ron got his 15 minutes of fame and was interviewed by news papers, Radio and TV when he used his Mistral hovercraft to go to and from work. He worked for Hovermarine in Wolston on the river Itchen and was conducting model hovercraft testing for them on the test tank at NPL/HDL in Hythe. The 1 3/4 miles (4 minutes) water crossing saved him a 15 mile (30 minutes +) drive by car. The Mistral was sold to Robert L.Trillo (Editor of “JANE’S High Speed Marine Craft and Air Cushion Vehicles”) and was used in a Canadian National Research Council report.

The New Mistral II: Ron has now reviewed his design and updated it to reflect two improvements while maintaining the performance and pleasure of the original design. These changes are:

1. The thrust fan is increased in diameter from 24” to 36” to reduce fan noise.
2. Both engines now being specified are Honda, 4 cycle engines because of their low noise emission, low vibration and easy starting.

Basic Specification:

Solid structure: Length 12 ft. x Width 6 ft. 7 ins. with folding sides deployed x Height 4 ft. 7 1/2 ins.
Lift 5.5 hp driving 20” dia. 5 bladed fan, Thrust 20 hp driving 36” dia. 5 bladed fan.
For ease of construction the plan calls for wood & plywood hull although it can be built from structural foam board with laminated FRP skins both sides.
Folding side structures reducing width to 3 ft. 7 ins.
An all around hydrodynamic planning hull.
An HDL Open Loop and Segmented skirt for rough water operations.
Joy stick control operating a single rudder behind the fan.

Chinook II

The original Chinook design

A simple to build fun craft for racing and exploring

Background: The original wooden Chinook was designed by Ron Fishlock after he arrived in Canada from UK. At first, a plan package was made available for schools to build as a class project. After the prototype had clocked up many hours of successful operations it was decided to turn the craft into an all fiberglass product. Three hundred or so of these craft were built in Ontario and sold across North America.

The New Chinook II: Ron has now reviewed his design and updated it to reflect three improvements while maintaining the fun of the original design. These changes are:

1. The thrust fan is increased in diameter from 24” to 36” to reduce fan noise.
2. Both engines now being specified are Honda, 4 cycle engines because of their low noise emission, low vibration and easy starting.
3. A widened cockpit at 29” at seat level from the original 24”

Basic Specification:

Solid structure: Length 11 ft. x Width 5 ft. x Height 4 ft. 2 ins.
Lift 5.5 hp driving 20” dia. 5 bladed fan, Thrust 20 hp driving 36” dia. 5 bladed fan.
For ease of construction the plan calls for wood & plywood hull although it can be built from structural foam board with laminated FRP skins both sides.
An all around hydrodynamic planning hull.
A simple HDL loop skirt for ease of construction.
Joy stick control operating a single rudder behind the fan.