This Flying Hovercraft Has A ‘Jesus Pin’

“It’s called the ‘Jesus Pin’–if the pin comes out, you see Jesus.”

Naturally, that’s a statement from the inventor of a flying hovercraft.

New Zealander Rudy Heeman spent many tens of thousands of dollars and more than 800 hours to make his amazing invention that appears to satisfy both a wish to fly and a wish to die: an inflatable dingy with wings that reaches speeds of 98km/hour 1.5 metres above the water. And, like any good do-it-yourself project, it also uses parts from the family car, barbecue and scooter.

Calling it a “hoverwing”, Heeman explains that it works using a “wing in ground effect”–aerodynamic principles that let a speedy machine like a hovercraft actually take flight.

Heeman built the hoverwing in his spare time over the last 11 years (during his other time, he’s a mechanic in the city of Nelson). He told the local newspaper that he wouldn’t let his daughter watch his first test flights in case something went horribly wrong. After watching this video, one can only imagine what “horribly wrong” might look like.

[Nelson Mail via Huffinton Post]