A Comparative Evaluation of Three Potential Ice Rescue Vehicles.

• Main Author: Budde,John A
• Other Authors: COAST GUARD WASHINGTON DC OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1982
• Subjects: Snow; Ice and Permafrost; Surface Effect Vehicles & Amphibious Vehicles; Escape; Rescue and Survival; *ICE; *RESCUE VEHICLES; PERFORMANCE(ENGINEERING); FIELD TESTS; GROUND VEHICLES; BOATS; OFFROAD TRAFFIC; COAST GUARD EQUIPMENT; AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLES; AIR CUSHION VEHICLES; AERIAL PROPELLERS; LAKE ERIE; All terrain vehicles; Airboats; *Lake ice; Detroit; Ice; permafrost
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA122202; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA122202

This report presents the results of tests conducted on the Great Lakes during the 1982 winter season. Three vehicles were evaluated as potential replacements for the traditional method of dragging a 14-foot ice skiff by hand across the ice. Two of the craft, the all terrain vehicle (ATV) and the airboat, were subjects of preliminary testing during 1981. Preliminary tests of the air cushion vehicle (ACV) were conducted in Detroit, Michigan in January of 1982. The ACV proved to be unsuitable as an ice rescue platform because of its low payload capability, restricted maneuverability, and susceptability to skirt system damage. Te ATV and airboat were tested together, in side-by-side trials, at Marblehead, Ohio, on Lake Erie, in January of 1982. Based on these trials, this report recommends that the airboat be selected for inclusion in the Coast Guard inventory as the surface ice rescue vehicle.