When we ship our soldiers off to war or overseas to protect our freedoms, we want to make sure every little piece of the puzzle is in place… that’s where self-taught inventor Chuck Ligon comes in.
Self-taught expert in surface engineering, Ligon first started experimenting with a non-skid surface for skateboarders trying to achieve the best ride. His product appealed to riders… especially for those participating in the downhill long-board races. But it wasn’t a very lucrative demographic.
Ligon turned elsewhere – to the military – to market the peel-and-stick surface he developed several years ago, which now has a U.S. patent pending and a trademark.
The video on the landing page of his website, shows the vertical landing aircraft F35B, landing on the aluminum ceramic deck coating. “The same surface material Silvagrip uses, but in a patent pending peel and stick.”
This futuristic jet can take off from very short runways, then land like a helicopter. The jet has been successfully tested on the USS Wasp, but a big problem is the heat generated by the jet engine as it descends vertically. Ligon says his product takes care of the issue.
With the peel –and-stick product, the military can also save in labor and cost, Ligon says.
Based in Thailand during the Vietnam War, Ligon spent 69 to 73, as an aircraft electrician helping to repair fighter jets. He’s spent 15 years as a service engineer and has a passion for all things military.
The U.S. Navy, which Ligon sees as a major client, has been using a resin-based, non-skid, peel-and-stick surface made by 3M to make areas on its ships less slippery.
However his product has a longer lifecycle which is a huge draw for military clients and it can withstand the heat unlike the resin-based products now being used. In fact the Navy has been testing out his product, for two years now, on a guided-missile destroyer.
The Silvagrip product also has non-military uses, for example at the VA, it can be used on hospital steps, on oil rigs, on police and fire boats, and on ferries—virtually anywhere a nonskid surface is needed.
With the successful testing that the Navy is reporting with the product, Ligon says he’s now ready to expand the business. That’s where Military Starter comes in. Ligon says instead of using the typical crowd-funding sites, he feels more at home with one that serves the military community. Besides, that’s where it all started for him – to combine his true passion with a product that can help those men and women protecting us, just seems like the best fit for him.
The immediate goal is to raise $300,000 to cover the cost of a waterjet cutting system to satisfy the needs of each Military vessel, which would require different shapes for the peel –and-stick surface.
For more information visit Chuck Ligon’s Military Starter Project
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