Bus Amphibie (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGOy1GYhJsI#)
that is just cool
Boy that would get some looks at the reservoir when driving it down the boat ramp lol.
About 8.5 feet wide, appears to be about 11-12 feet tall, rides high and level in the water with very little draft. Humm. How is it stable? Appears to have passengers, yet has very little or no roll. Doesn't ride stern low in the water, yet has two rear axles. Humm.
Seems to me that for it to have such a shallow draft and to ride level fore and aft and to have passengers that would appear to add top weight, then the thing would have to have more draft or displacement to ride stable? I would NOT ride in it...appears to be a death trap.
No visible escape hatches. No visible life jackets. Did anybody see a prop or jet?
HB of CJ (suspicious old coot)
I think that's a white liferaft container in the back above the stern door. I agree, it doesn't look too seaworthy. Doesn't the front (the bow?) look slightly DUKW-ish? Even if it looks like a DUKW and floats like a DUKW, it seems iffy to me as well.
John
These things are quite well established now - in fact the one in the video actually looks pretty dated.
I can't comment on the escape hatches etc, except to say that those issues must be considered acceptable by the necessary authorities (I'm not necessarily referring to the one in the video, but rather similar bus ferries being used in the UK where safety standards are mind-bogglingly strict and rigidly enforced).
On the stability issue - in fact, although it's often assumed that width gives stability, that's not really the case at all - the length of a vessel is by far the most important factor in determining it's stability, and in this respect the bus ferry obviously score highly. Plus I expect it's got a lot of weight low down in the chassis, beneath the waterline - although the high body above the water isn't ideal, it's the centre of gravity that actually matters rather than the physical height. Think of a classic sailing yacht - narrow and very high, but very stable due to it's length, and with a very low centre of gravity due to a big keel. Modern yachts - shorter, wider, smaller keels - are fundamentally much less stable than the old-timers.
Long, narrow, probably taller but low CofG due to big keel = stable:
(https://busconversionmagazine.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fintheboatshed.net%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2007%2F03%2Fcsc001_truant_in__tent1.jpg&hash=1c7b9ca8ee1d6e9003e58e83a70c4ac05f5fd366)
Short, wide, probably less tall but higher CofG due to small keel = less stable:
(https://busconversionmagazine.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eyb-boats.com%2FPhotos_bateaux%2F5%2F7%2F2%2F9%2F__572910-1_400.jpg&hash=1da42ce37468e55d4f9f76c3625c40dc0f710071)
Jeremy
I want one - that would be the ultimate go-anywhere mobile home! *grin*
The "hull" appears to be running around 3 feet deep. 3'H X 8'W X 40'L X 7.43 gal per cubic foot X 8.25 pounds per gallon...58,845 pounds. Seems a low CG is likely, and most likely quite stable.
What struck me is that the US would have built something like that 50 years ago and it would have been well recieved. Today it would be totally impossible to even suggest such a thing. The insurance alone would likely be enough to kill the concept.
That is indeed very interesting. I would love to see the specs(I tried to find them) but I would imagine that the thing was built on a FREIGHTLINER chassis. I looks like it's pretty satabe in the water and you have to remember that it is not really meant to be used in the water long term.
Quote from: CrabbyMilton on September 30, 2011, 03:48:28 AM
I would love to see the specs(I tried to find them)
I believe this is the company that builds the ones used here (based on what I've seen on the TV news - I've never seen one in person):
http://www.amfibus.com/ (http://www.amfibus.com/)
Jeremy
Video of one of the buses built by the company mentioned above:
the Floating Dutchman (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGOfBMgGz9o&feature=player_profilepage#)
I remember reading a story about a guy who bought a vehicle(WWII style) similar to one of these at an auction. He parked it in the lake near his summer cottage since he planned to take his wife and son for a ride on the thing the next day. Well, to his horror and disappointment, he found that the thing had sunk at his pier. They pulled the thing out of the water and found the cause. The duck QUACKED. Couldn't resist that one. :)
Here's a similiar example. http://www.terrawind.com/terrawind.htm (http://www.terrawind.com/terrawind.htm)
The Terrawind is currently for sale on Ebay. They took out the engine and prop for water use so it can now only be driven on land and they still want $600k for it - insane!