They certainly are niche, but I would consider "ferry" pretty niche, too.
And hovercraft are sorta inherently stuck with not being fast enough to be aircraft or quiet enough to be cars.
One the other hand, the current world sail speed record is just over 65 knots, and the lunatics who set it did it by coming up with a new design for a hydrofoil, when hydrofoil design was supposed to be mined-out known art with a century of effort behind it. So maybe someone will have an implausibly bright idea about air cushions.
no subject
And hovercraft are sorta inherently stuck with not being fast enough to be aircraft or quiet enough to be cars.
One the other hand, the current world sail speed record is just over 65 knots, and the lunatics who set it did it by coming up with a new design for a hydrofoil, when hydrofoil design was supposed to be mined-out known art with a century of effort behind it. So maybe someone will have an implausibly bright idea about air cushions.