Buyers line up for hovercraft

Nelson's Rudy Heeman was to spend today glued to his computer in anticipation of a flurry of last-minute bids for his flying hovercraft.

Bidding closes tonight at 8.32pm on Trade Me, and by 9am today the price had reached $27,400, with the listing having attracted 232,698 views. The reserve price was $20,000.

Mr Heeman has had to take a crash course in typing in order to answer the hundreds of questions pouring in. He said this morning he had not expected the media storm, and that many people from Atawhai had told him they would miss seeing the hovercraft flying on the Haven.

Mr Heeman is keen to develop the design, but needs to sell the machine to raise enough cash to do so.

- © Fairfax NZ News