AirScout™

Africa-Tuff, Powerful & Versatile

Relaxed seating for 6 guests and 1 or 2 pilots, capable of 95 km/h top speed with plenty of low-end torque for climbing obstacles or running dry ground, grass, rocks, sandbanks, floating debris, logs or river banks. Marine grade all aluminium hull, aircraft riveted, fully decked, 3/8″ polymer on bottom & sides. Built Africa-tuff for safaris, bird watching, fishing, a day out with friends and lots of awesome fun!

Different deck configurations provide capacities for applications such as law enforcement, transport and search & rescue.

[Show as slideshow]

What you want to know:

The hull itself is 16′ / 4,877 mm and the overall length from the grass rake to the tip of the rudders 20’9″ / 6,325 mm.
At a width of 7’9″ / 2,362 mm she’s a stable platform – and comfy – for 2 benches of 3 seats in a row.
She packs a 418 / 6.85 l Waterthunder EFI running up to 650 hp / 478 kW, swinging 4 Sensenich ‘R’ blades!
Designed for 2 side-by-side rear operators and 6 passengers, we’ve tried her with a load of 18 people on board.

Guess what?

Dry ground, shallow water and even xtra-sticky mud, she handles it all without the slightest hesitation.

What about safety?

Well, we like our guests and customers to stick around long enough to come back for more.
That’s why we built a full deck-over and packed it with rigid GeoFoam blocks to provide in excess of 100% buoyancy.
The underside is coated with UHMW polymer to protect the hull from scrapes and minimize the risk of punctures.
And because you never know, there is an automatic bilge pump in there, too.

How can I do this to the environment – how green is this?

The hull is made of aluminium – it doesn’t corrode, and it is fully recyclable.
There are no moving parts in the water, so you don’t churn up the ground, you don’t chop up vegetation and you don’t make burger meat of unforeseen encounters.
Aluminium is also extremely light-weight – which makes for excellent fuel efficiency. The big engine we use is on there to get you where you’re going – and outta there real quick when you have to.
Back-up power is an essential safety feature in fast-moving water, when you have to deal with waves, dense vegetation, dry ground, and in any emergency you might run into. Yet, with all that, expect to use no more than about 10 gallons in a half-day. That is a fraction of your average small plane, which runs at 20-25 gallon per hour.
The engine runs a closed-circuit cooling system – there’s no water intake, and no discharge back into the environment.

So why would you want to do this?

Consider your alternatives: none.
Only a helicopter will get you where we can go. If you can afford one, and service one, and fuel one, and never worry about CO₂ emission on it – by all means, get a helicopter.
If, for whatever reason, you cannot – then, for the price of a cool bakkie, get an AirScout™.
It’s more fun, much easier to pilot, and might save you a few bucks, too.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/Nqha7_noz44&rel=0]