Unconventional Vehicles

Unconventional Vehicles — page 5 — AIRBOARD PERSONAL tm HOVERCRAFT manufacturer Arbortech date of production 2000 2007 Once upon a time the personal hovercraft was advertised in the back of comic books But was it real Errr It wasn’t until the opening ceremony for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney Australia that it finally showed its face Millions of viewers were captivated There it is The personal hovercraft To be specific it was the Airboard Personal Hovercraft Fill it up with gas hop on board and hover 8 inches 20 centimetres above the streets cruising at speeds up to 15 miles 24 kilometres per hour Sweet Simply shift your weight to turn which you’ll need to do to avoid large puddles sand and other non-solid surfaces that the Airboard’s motor can’t handle And wait it runs out of gas in just one hour Sorry I can’t hear you over all the noise this thing is making Um does the price tag really say 14,000 Oy 6

Unconventional Vehicles — page 6 — still want one I certainly won’t stop you You can occasionally find used Airboards for sale on eBay for as little at 2,900 Free local pickup included ode to the airboard Hover here hover there Hover in your underwear You can hover down the street but only if the street’s concrete The four-stroke engine loudly roars Sorry Mom no time for chores I’m lifting up I’m moving free But why is everyone looking at me Are they mesmerized by my hover stance Or is it because I have no pants As seen in the back of comic books from the 1960s and 70s Well sort of The ad asked you to send 3 50 for plans and a photo Awesome Yes I was that kid in the 70s who sent off his allowance money for hovercraft plans And yes I’m still waiting for them to arrive 7 powered by personal hovercraft float on air around your house or school it really might or might not work your parents vaccum cleaner motor Send all your allowance money for fake plans 454 Fake St Fake CA 90214

Unconventional Vehicles — page 7 — AIRBUS BELUGA manufacturer Airbus date of production 1992 1999 airbus beluga Bubous is the word that comes to mind when I look at this airplane The A300-600ST Super Transporter more commonly referred to as the Airbus Beluga is used to carry airplane parts big airplane parts from one Airbus assembly location in Europe to another We’re talking entire fuselages wings and tails all loaded into the upper deck of the airplane through its massive forehead Five of these planes have been flying around since the 1990s but what will they do when airplanes get even bigger I guess they’ll need to build an even bigger Beluga Oh wait they are Coming soon the Beluga XL 8

Unconventional Vehicles — page 8 — open wide Although the Airbus Beluga is a variation on the standard A300 airliner which can seat 266 passengers this cargo plane flies with just two pilots and an engineer The rest of the 184-foot 56-metre beast is simply a gigantic carrying case In addition to haul ing Airbus parts the Beluga has also been chartered to transport relief supplies entire helicopters modules for NASA and even once an oversized painting from the Louvre beluga whale versus beluga airplane An adult beluga whale weighs 3,000 pounds 1,400 kilograms on average A Beluga airplane weighs 191,000 pounds 86,600 kilograms A beluga whale can swim backward A Beluga airplane cannot Move backward I mean It can’t swim in any direction A pushback tractor is used to move the airplane in reverse The beluga whale’s forehead changes shape when it makes sounds The shape of the Airbus Beluga’s head does not change shape unless you consider opening the cargo door Beluga whales eat up to 60 pounds 27 kilograms of food a day The Airbus Beluga consumes up to 9,095 U S gallons 269 litres of fuel in a single flight The Beluga whale is threatened by oil and gas development The Airbus Beluga is threatened by a lack of oil and gas development 9

7

PAGE 7 OF 96

The only kids' eBook subscription service that offers thousands of high-quality books from well known publishers like HarperCollins, National Geographic and others.

JavaScript Required

Whoops! We're sorry but Epic doesn't work properly without JavaScript enabled. Check your web browser's settings to make sure it's enabled.