Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/06/08/restoring-a-1965-flymo-hov.html
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Flymo, all fun and games until a hillside!
Yeah, I want one too.
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I was about to make a crack about this being, clearly, from the same era as lawn darts, only to discover that Flymo is still in business and still producing hovering mowers.
Mostly for people with very, very level lawns, I’m guessing… 
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Funny, their web site has a query for “How big is your lawn?” but, not for “How level is your lawn?”.
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clearly, from the same era as lawn darts
Totally off topic… I did not know about the “lawn dart effect” … 
… have to ask my Dad’s buddy, an F-104 pilot, about that…
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I used these working at a golf-course doing turf maintenance. These were what we used for the very steep surfaces where ride-on or other wheeled mowers are impractical or too dangerous. Hillsides were exactly where we used these 
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Are you typing with your hands or speech to text right now? 
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I recall seeing a Flymo being used at the end of a rope on a steep grassy embankment.
It looked odd, but seemed to work perfectly well.
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'Zactly!
But with just a single operator.
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AKA the “widowmaker”, “flying coffin”, “ground nail” (tent peg) in Germany, the “lawn dart”, “aluminum death tube” in Canada, among other less-than-flattering nicknames.
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What’s the down side to these things? Clearly, there must be one, or you’d see one in every suburban garage.
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I am intact!
There were some injuries I seen there. Most were from carelessness with the equipment, some were from being in line of fire (or bad bounces) from golf-balls. Nothing serious, no missing limbs or appendages thankfully.
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Nope. Dublinish!
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They are a pain to handle, and loud. A tendency to go with gravity so you need to use your upper body strength to keep it in line. Also when not running, they don’t “hover” so you have to lift & carry to where you want to take it. Wheels roll if the engine is on or not.
ETA: Also, generally don’t have a bag, so if you’re bagging your clippings, they aren’t what you want.
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Didn’t something like 1/3 to 1/2 of all F104s built end in a fatal crash?
It has to be some kind of record for product design!
Also, weren’t the pilots were required to take Ritalin?
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Figures vary for different air forces, but the overall results are chilling. It would be safer to be hospitalized with Covid-19.
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Once the German aircrews got the right training (during the period they had so many crashes the Spanish Air Force, flying the same planes on the same missions in the same weather over the same terrain, crashed none) their accident rate dropped to the typical range for jet fighters in the Sixties.
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On the golf course I worked at, they were used only on steep mounds that would get scalped if you used a wheeled mower that would bottom onto its frame at the top, or tend to dig in its wheels at the bottom. The weight and the fact that you either have to keep it running so it floats or carry it from one place to the other make it a terrible choice for anything else. You generally need a strapping youngster for these jobs.
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