There’s no better symbol of Florida ingenuity than the airboat—part chaos, part control. It’s a rattling, roaring swamp chariot built to defy nature and somehow belong in it at the same time. Equal measure of airplane, fan, and flat-bottomed boat, it’s the kind of machine only Florida could perfect.
The very first airboat-like craft was built in 1905 by none other than Alexander Graham Bell, who called his invention The Ugly Duckling. Designed for Arctic exploration, it wasn’t actually built for swamps, but the idea took root anyway. And in Florida, it evolved.
So who built the first Florida airboat? That depends on who you ask. Some point to Glenn Brunson of Miami in the 1920’s or 30’s, who bolted an aircraft engine onto a boat and changed swamp travel forever. Others credit Johnny Lamb of Belle Glade, who was customizing aircraft engines for swamp work by the 1940’s. Meanwhile, pioneer families in Redland and Glades were building their own backyard rigs with surplus plane parts and stubborn determination. There are even stories that Seminole and Miccosukee hunters were among the first to adapt early designs for gator hunting, combining traditional knowledge with modern tech to navigate terrain where no motorboat dared go.
Like the waters they travel, the airboat’s true origin is as murky as the swamp. But there’s no denying its legacy. Today, airboats are used for everything from cattle herding and search and rescue, to scientific research, conservation efforts, subsistence hunting, and of course, the booming Everglades tour industry.
Loud, fast, and undeniably Florida—what began as a backyard experiment is now a fixture of our cultural identity, as woven into the fabric of the Sunshine State as gator tracks in the marl.
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