What are the only two ways to stop.......?

Question

A hovercraft floats on a cushion of air. The lack of friction means there are no brakes. How do you stop a hovercraft?

Answer 1

Turn it off or run into something.

Answer 2

Here's a best answer from a few weeks ago by user Belmyst...

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Traditional hovercraft have limited "braking" power
Some use "skirt drag" or deflate the front cushion to lower the nose, Reduce power until there's no "hover" (not recommended - can make a mess of the skirt" or swing it around 180 degrees & give it full thrust - thrustpower acts a s a braking system.
Newer hovercrafts are being produced with a reverse thrust system for more effective braking.
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To elaborate on thrust reversing systems, there are a few methods being used. Some manufacturers and homebuilders have used vanes and cowling to reverse thrust, but their effectiveness is limited and they both cause serious stability issues by introducing adverse pitch and yaw (up and down and side to side motion that you don't want). Thrust reverse "buckets" similar to those found on turbofan engines are the best way to brake. They are mounted on either side of the thruster, whether its a jet engine nacelle or a fan shroud, and swivel into the air stream when activated. They catch some of the air and deflect it forwards to brake the hovercraft. The advantage is that the hovercraft continues its normal motion and maintains steerage so stability is much better.

Answer 3

When you turn off the air flow it drops down onto the water or ground and the friction on those surfaces will slow it down very quickly.

Answer 4

You could fan/blow air into the other direction but not enough to cause you to go backwards.

Answer 5

It would have to be blowing air in all directions, so it cant go foward backward or any direction.

Answer 6

Throttle control.