HoverWorld Expo 2004 comes to Australia

16 March 2004
MEDIA ADVISORY

Chris Fitzgerald, Chairman of the World Hovercraft Organization, is currently in Australia to finalize plans for HoverWorld Expo 2004, an international event scheduled for 28 December 2004 - 3 January 2005 in Canberra.

Mr. Fitzgerald will conduct a media conference next week in Melbourne, where the HoverWorld Expo 2004 "Pace Craft" will be unveiled, and members of the Australian Hovercraft Federation will perform hovercraft demonstrations. An invitation to the conference will be issued to the media within the next few days.

HoverWorld Expo 2004 is designed to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the world's first hovercraft race, held in Canberra 14 March 1964. Mr. Fitzgerald, then of Melbourne, was the youngest competitor in the 1964 historic event.

HoverWorld Expo 2004 is sanctioned and supported by the National Capital Authority, Australian Capital Tourism, the Royal Aeronautical Society, and the Australian Hovercraft Federation.

This all-inclusive event is an expansion of World Hovercraft Week 2002 in the US, in which 18 nations participated, and will encompass the following:

- The first World Championship Hovercraft Endurance Race
- Historic Pioneers' Race among the original 1964 competitors
- Model and human-powered hovercraft races
- The Hovercraft World Speed Record Challenge
- 28th International Symposium on Air Cushion Technology
- 2nd World Symposium on Hovercraft Rescue
- The launch of DiscoverHover, an international school hovercraft program
- "Tech Talks" throughout the week by the world's foremost hovercraft experts
- Special exhibits at the National Science & Technology Centre and other venues throughout Australia

Mr. Fitzgerald will maintain an office in Canberra 18-24 March at Australian Capital Tourism, during which time he will be available for interviews. His contact information while in Canberra is as follows:

Direct Telephone: (02) 6205 0029
ACT Switchboard: (02) 6205 0666
Email: hovermail@neoterichovercraft.com

To make advance arrangements for an interview with Chris Fitzgerald, please contact: marketing@worldhovercraft.org

For further information about HoverWorld Expo 2004, please visit www.HoverWorldExpo.com and www.DiscoverHover.org.

Mr. Fitzgerald's credentials include:

- Service in the Royal Australian Air Force Air Training Corps
- Organizer/Chairman, World Hovercraft Championship 1989 and 2002, USA
- Founding member, World Hovercraft Federation
- Founder, Neoteric Engineering Affiliates Pty. Ltd., Australia
- President, Neoteric Hovercraft, Inc. USA
- Founder/Past President, Hovercraft Club of America, Inc.
- Founder, North American Hovercraft Manufacturers Association
- Judge, Emmy Award-winning Junkyard Wars
- Co-author, "Light Hovercraft Design"
- Recipient, Rotary International Foundation Award

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