A hovercraft
for Halloween To help mark All Hallow’s Eve (a.k.a. Halloween) in the U.S. on Wednesday, October 31st, this week’s Green Girl column "hovers" on the supernatural.
I know you’re probably thinking I’ve consumed too much candy, but it’s true —a John Deere hovercraft actually exists. Sure, it seems like a far cry from farm equipment and that’s why you won’t find it listed in any product catalog or on the lot of your local dealership. Nothing Flies Like a Deere? Somewhat spaceship-like, this rusting, rotting hulk of scrap metal ties to John Deere by way of Alexander "Rusty" Hewitt, son of William and Patricia Hewitt. Rusty’s mom was a granddaughter of John Deere, and his dad served as President of Deere & Company from 1955 to 1982. The adventurous young man raced it up and down the Rock River near Silvis, Illinois, on acreage that was once part of Friendship Farms and is now home to the golf course named Tournament Players Club at Deere Run. Patterned after a March 1971 Popular Mechanics article for the Yellow Jacket, the hovercraft was built apparently with help from a John Deere factory in Moline. The PM story boasted the machine could be built for $400 and plans were available for $15. According to the article, the little air-cushion vehicle hovers at five inches and goes up to 50 mph.
It’s unclear how long Rusty raced the craft but it was retired long ago and left to rust until it reappeared 30 years later…this time in an eBay auction listing! Lost and found This summer, owner Bill Daugherty of Geneseo, Illinois, decided to part with the rusty lawn ornament as he had no plans to rebuild (let alone race) the ship. He’d acquired it along with several other unique pieces of history from the Hewitt family estate sale years earlier. Bidding began slowly at $350, but then a war broke out between two hover-nuts and the auction eventually ended at $1,425 after 26 bids were placed. The winning bidder went to look at the craft in person and was dismayed at its state of disrepair. He opted out of the transaction, leaving the hovercraft to the second-place bidder, a military man from Maryland. Happily hovering on cloud nine Consumed by thoughts of hovercraft for more than 30 years, Air Force Airman Dave Evartt had begun to design his own craft. After years of studying the Yellow Jacket design, he’d managed to locate the original —Ýa California craft that was rebuilt by Kirk Swaney in Oregon. Then he got an email from a hovercraft enthusiast group who pointed out the eBay auction for the John Deere ship. Dave was on cloud nine at the sheer thought of owning a Yellow Jacket! Bidding was up to $600 when he first placed his bid, but another hovercraft fan ran it up to $1,400 before Dave was forced to opt out of the bidding. Disappointed, he sent a congratulatory email to the winner and tried to get the lost opportunity out of his mind.
Going once...going twice Then he got a second chance… Because the original auction winner chose not to complete the sale due to worries about the restoration required, seller Bill Daugherty emailed runner-up Dave asking if he’d be interested in it.
The one-of-a-kind John Deere hovercraft left its home in rural Illinois on the back of a tractor-trailer bound for a military base in Maryland. Looking like an Air Force experiment itself, the craft arrived in Dave’s driveway on August 28. Upon closer inspection, Dave found a long list of necessary repairs. From missing engines to frozen fans and stuck controls, the ship was in dire need of some TLC. Dave went to work repairing the fans first, painting the blades bright yellow. He even located the engines originally used in the Yellow Jacket and ordered a pair at $575 each, plus $75 each for the mufflers. He designed his own motor mounts and had them fabricated.
As of this writing, he’s still working on the controls but is pleased with his progress. His goal is restore the craft to its original "classic" condition but with recent standards as necessary. Because it’s impossible to determine the original paint scheme, Dave plans to leave the skin unpainted aluminum, but will paint the nose and accent the rudders with a green horizontal stripe, bordered with yellow (similar to the Air Force and airlines). He also hopes to add the caption, "Nothing FLIES like a Deere." Wouldn’t it be great to see the John Deere hovercraft racing on the Rock River once again? Good luck, Dave, on making your dream come true. We Deere fans are behind you (or should I say "under" you) 100 percent!
TextÝ © 2001 Brenda Kruse. |
Dave could hardly contain his
excitement at his second chance! Trying to disguise his definite interest (and drool on
the keyboard), he hoped for a reasonable price given the expense of shipping it to
Maryland. Negotiations ended at $800 for the craft and $500 for shipping. Dave agreed and
jumped for joy for days!
