The hovercraft has landed in Whitefish
By LYNNETTE HINTZE
The Daily Inter Lake
Whitefish's new hovercraft rescue watercraft has arrived at City Beach and makes its debut on Labor Day.
A dedication ceremony is planned at 11 a.m. at City Beach and will be followed by a free public barbecue hosted by the Whitefish Fire Department. Demonstrations of the hovercraft will also be given.
The rescue vehicle will be named Julia, after Julia Cassidy of England, who drowned in Whitefish Lake seven years ago in an early April boat mishap.
Longtime Whitefish Lake residents Jim and Lisa Stack and Mike and Marie Shaw donated the $33,000 hovercraft to the fire department.
The versatility and maneuverability of the hovercraft are its biggest selling points. Downwardly directed fans create a cushion of air that supports and propels the vehicle.
With full-reverse thrust capabilities, it can hover in location and rotate 360 degrees. It's those qualities that glamorized hovercrafts in James Bond movies.
The Stacks made the 4,000-mile round trip to Indiana to pick up the rescue watercraft.
"After going through the factory certification course, I would compare it to driving a boat, flying a helicopter and learning to ride a bicycle for the first time," Jim Stack said. "It's a steep learning curve, however after several hours you start to feel quite proficient."
Rescue workers began their hovercraft training Friday morning at Whitefish Lake.
By storing the hovercraft at City Beach, it can be accessed quickly and taken across the sandy beach, into the water and across ice with speeds of up to 60 miles per hour. The average speed is 35 mph.
Nearly $30,000 in donated labor and materials went into the hangar facility at the beach.
Cassidy's family donated $11,000 toward the cost of the building. Cassidy's sister, Claire, will fly to the Flathead from England to attend the dedication.
"The outpouring of public support for this project has been remarkable," Stack said.
Donations have come from LHC Concrete, Allcrete, D.B. Masonry, Northwestern Truss , Weldele & Poplawski, Lilienthal and 14 other contractors. Flathead Electric Cooperative's Roundup for Safety program donated $4,500 for ice suits, helmets and communications equipment.
The general contractor, Curt Comstock of Whitefish Builders, did "a phenomenal job of bringing it all together on schedule," Stack added.
Stack, who lives on Whitefish Lake, was involved with the rescue during which Cassidy drowned. He heard the cries of Cassidy and her companion, Randall Bruckner, and attempted a rescue using a whitewater kayak. It was about midnight when he paddled out, towing a second kayak while his wife called 911.
Stack was able to save Bruckner but not Cassidy.
Whitefish Fire Chief Dave Sipe, remembering the harrowing details of that rescue, told the council in May that a hovercraft could have made the difference.
"There's a good chance we could have saved Julia" if rescuers had access to a hovercraft, Sipe said.
Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com