On 26 March 1915 he submitted to the Austrian Technical
Committee (Marinetechnisches Komitee, MTK) a paper entitled 'Study of the
construction of a high-speed gliding boat'. The accompanying drawing showed a rectangular
boat with hull dimensions of 16.3 x 6.6 x 0.75m (53.3 x 20.9 x 1.8ft) and a displacement
of 12.25 tonnes (12.05 tons). This was a true hovercraft employing two (or three,
depending on the engines available) Austrodaimler aircraft engines of 120hp each for
surface propulsion, and one 65hp Austrodaimler engine, driving an aircompressor giving
450m^3 of air per minute (15.734 cu ft per min) for hovering. The vessel was designed for
a speed of 32kts an endurance of 550nm and an armament of 4x450mm torpedoes in outboard
containers.
When looking at this first design, one notes some very important features of hovercraft
design. The fan was situated in the forward section of the rectangular hull and produced
an air cushion over the full length of the bottom, allowing the boat to rise nearly 10in.
Skirts at both sides prevented the air from escaping but there were no skirts at stem and
stern. For the machinery Müller faced a problem in the only suitable engines with the
required high power/weigth ratio were aircraft engines. Since 1909 the Östereichische
Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft at Wiener Neustadt had produced the Austrodaimler
engines, designed by Ferdinand Porsche - later become famous as the constructor
of the Volkswagen. These very reliable engines had now been developed to a point
where they had reached 300hp and Müller, therefore, proposed to borrow obsolete 120hp
engines from the Pola Naval Air Station (Seeflugstation Pola).**)
Published at Warship No 17, 1981 |
