Word: spectras
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...cushion vehicle, the Spectra I, looks something like a funland bump car with a big fan on the back. It is powered by two engines-"one for up," in the words of MHV's promotional brochure, "and one for over." The first inflates Spectra's black vinyl skirts and forces air to seep out from under them, providing a cushion that suspends the craft above the surface; the second turns a propeller that thrusts the vehicle forward. Only 10 ft. long and 6 ft. wide, Spectra I weighs 450 Ibs. and costs between...
...price should include driving lessons: piloting a Hovercraft is almost as tricky as flying a plane. Steering is controlled by a wheel (connected to air rudders) and the direction in which the driver's body leans, but Spectra tends to drift out disconcertingly on turns. "The first feeling you get on our craft," MHV's President Geoff Voyce cheerfully concedes, "is one of sheer panic...
...That was the instant impression of TIME Correspondent Robert Lewis, who test-drove a Spectra last week. "But after a while," reported Lewis, "you begin to get the hang of Spectra. It has a very distinct maneuvering capability, even if it does drift in the turns. To be sure, the craft is not built for slaloming in the forest; even experts require at least a 20-ft. clearance to allow for drift. Nor would you want to stray very near railroad tracks or city streets: the decibel level from the two loud engines makes it impossible to hear any approaching...
...that deteriorates rapidly in damp climates, a carburetor that gums up in salt water, and the vehicle's tendency to eject its driver over the bow when it is stopped quickly in water. But he expects to have the troubles ironed out in time to manufacture 10,000 Spectras in 1970 and claims already to have orders for 8,000. "People literally get freaked out by the Spectra," he says, and prophesies that one day "the Hovercraft will do away with the wheel...
...same group of scientists maintains a laboratory to duplicate the sun's heat for a few millionths of a second. By studying gases' spectra on earth at these high temperatures (roughly 10,000 F.), they can interpret the sun's spectra detected by the Harvard telescope...