Hovercraft are fun, but not many people can afford the experience. While there are toys to fill the void, some are just, well, toys. Enter the AEROGO Hovercraft Remote Control Toy. From the Hong Kong-based product design and development team Premier Craft, the AEROGO is a STEM RC hovercraft that offers genuine hovercraft performance in a scaled-down package for hobbyists and makers.
It is pitched as a customizable STEM-oriented build that users can assemble, tune, and modify themselves. That’s just a pretty marketing term because before ready-to-run RC models became popular, that was basically what we did. So, in a way, AEROGO is going full circle.
Anyhoo, headlining the feature list is a dual-brushless setup capable of pushing the RC hovercraft to speeds of up to 80 km/h (50 mph). The motors can spin at up to 20,000 RPM, offering the thrust needed to skim across a variety of surfaces, including water.
The AEROGO boasts a triple-rudder steering system and high-torque digital servos, paired with a 2.4 GHz radio system with a claimed 10 ms ultra-low latency and an astounding range of 350 meters (1,150 feet).
I think another cool highlight, IMHO, is the design, which is modeled after real hovercraft but with a dose of Cybertruck vibe. It is built in 1:12 scale, by the way, and runs on a 3S 11.1 V Li-Po battery with up to 2,200 mAh capacity.
The AEROGO Hovercraft is not just a toy that lets you realize your wildest desire to drift on a cushion of air across a variety of surfaces; it is also a cool educational engineering project that encourages kids and adults alike to build, customize, and experiment with different configurations.
If you are intrigued by hovercraft, the AEROGO RC Hovercraft should be right up your alley. The AEROGO is currently being funded on Kickstarter, where it has garnered nearly 290 backers contributing more than US$70,000 in funding, smashing its modest funding goal of US$3,189. So, yes, the campaign is a go. This means a pledge effectively constitutes a pre-order.
However, this being a crowdfunding campaign, it comes with risks. Projects may be delayed, not delivered as specified, or, God forbid, fail to deliver altogether. So, it is up to you to assess the risks. If you are comfortable enough with the risks and all, the AEROGO can be reserved for 1,403 Hong Kong dollars or, according to Kickstarter, about US$180. The campaign has 24 days to go.
You can check out the AEROGO in action here.
Images: Kickstarter.
