Wild Winter Weather in Texas Prompts Man to Pilot Unusual Vehicle on Public Roads
Texas has had some tough winters over the last few years. many watched as the Ford F-150 Hybrid provided owners with power. While the state’s power grid is still unresolved, some Texans have come up with ways to make the random bouts of inclement winter weather hinder them less. With that in mind, one Texas man was seen ripping his fan boat (or airboat, depending on who you ask) down the road as ice covered the streets. Texas gonna Texas.
A man drove his fan boat down public roads in Texas
In Princeton, Texas, a man was captured on video piloting his fan boat down public roads that were iced over. According to The Drive, Lee Taggart was behind the camera that captured the spectacle, later giving his footage to Fox 4 Dallas-Fort Worth.
Can you drive a fan boat on the road?
If you are unfamiliar with the mechanics of a fan boat, these icy conditions make a perfect situation for the boat to pick up some real speed. While the airboat pilot seems to have pretty good control over his craft, there is a harsh truth to fan boating; they don’t have brakes.
Unlike normal boats, fan boats are uniquely well-suited for gliding along icy surfaces. In fact, it is not uncommon to see fan boats on frozen lakes or rivers in the world’s colder places. However, normal boats benefit from the drag created by the water to slow and even stop them. Fan boats, not having brakes, usually benefit from the same drag from the water, but on ice, the craft keeps sliding long after you’re off the throttle.
While it is certainly illegal (well, it is Texas…), driving a fan boat on icy roads is probably more fun and even less dangerous than driving normal vehicles in these conditions. Especially with this dude behind the sticks. He seems to have it pretty well figured out.
How do airboats work?
Airboats are most commonly found in places like the bayous of Louisianna and the Everglades, places where the water is too shallow for most normal boats. Airboats navigate the shallows using a giant fan that generates so much force that the air pushes the flat-bottomed boat across the top of the water. This also works on ice and snow because the flat bottom slides on the surface.
Normal boats use rudders in the water that turn to force the boat in different directions. Airboats use the same idea, but the rudders are in the air forcing the direction of the fan to blow the boat from left to right. Again, unlike regular boats, airboats do not have reverse or brakes.
Snow in Texas
While our guy on the fan boat made the headlines, Fox 4 also reports that families across north Texas have taken to the streets, fields, and hills to enjoy the ice and snow. Reports of kids sledding behind lawnmowers and even a gentleman riding a picnic table being towed behind a horse. Now that’s Texas for you.
