"video, photographs and drawings on hovercraft, all of which is available for research by prior arrangement. A number of hovercraft manufacturers have deposited their complete archives with the museum for safekeeping, thus swelling this important repository of information. The museum also contains a large collection of original manufacturers' hovercraft models including the world's first working hovercraft model built by Christopher Cockerell. The museum reopened in January 2016 after being closed for essential structural building work over nearly two years. Shortly afterwards the remaining SR.N4 craft came under threat of scrapping when the site owners, the Homes and Communities Agency, proposed"
"Christopher Cockerell Sir Christopher Sydney Cockerell CBE RDI FRS (4 June 1910 – 1 June 1999) was an English engineer, best known as the inventor of the hovercraft. Cockerell was born in Cambridge, where his father, Sir Sydney Cockerell, was curator of the Fitzwilliam Museum, having previously been the secretary of William Morris. His mother was the illustrator and designer Florence Kingsford Cockerell. Christopher attended the preparatory school of St Faith's. Christopher was educated at Gresham's School, Holt, Norfolk. He matriculated to Peterhouse, Cambridge to read mechanical engineering and was tutored by William Dobson Womersley. He was later to return"
"where Cockerell lived and worked. The Cottage has been demolished, but the garage still stands. The plaque was erected by Friends of East Cowes with financial support from the Big Lottery Fund. Cockerell's workshop, including his left-handed lathe, was gifted to the Lowestoft Maritime Museum on his death in 1999 where it was reassembled and is now on show to the public. Christopher Cockerell Sir Christopher Sydney Cockerell CBE RDI FRS (4 June 1910 – 1 June 1999) was an English engineer, best known as the inventor of the hovercraft. Cockerell was born in Cambridge, where his father, Sir Sydney"
"hovering was by Swedish scientist Emanuel Swedenborg in 1716. The shipbuilder Sir John Isaac Thornycroft patented an early design for an air cushion ship / hovercraft in the 1870s, but suitable, powerful, engines were not available until the 20th century. In 1915, the Austrian Dagobert Müller von Thomamühl (1880–1956) built the world's first ""air cushion"" boat (Luftkissengleitboot). Shaped like a section of a large aerofoil (this creates a low pressure area above the wing much like an aircraft), the craft was propelled by four aero engines driving two submerged marine propellers, with a fifth engine that blew air under the"
"Ship Research and Development Center (NSRDC) near Annapolis, Maryland. The large air-cushion vehicles used today by the US military are largely a product of their design and testing. In his retirement he invented, tested, and patented the Beachbuilder system of beach erosion prevention. Beardsley died 26 November 1998. Melville W. Beardsley Melville Whitnel Beardsley (10 October 1913 in Kansas City, Missouri – 26 November 1998 in Carmel, California) was the American inventor and aeronautical engineer whose pioneering efforts may have contributed to the invention of the Hovercraft. Melville Beardsley was born in Kansas City, Missouri on 10 October 1913, to"
"Melville W. Beardsley Melville Whitnel Beardsley (10 October 1913 in Kansas City, Missouri – 26 November 1998 in Carmel, California) was the American inventor and aeronautical engineer whose pioneering efforts may have contributed to the invention of the Hovercraft. Melville Beardsley was born in Kansas City, Missouri on 10 October 1913, to George and Ella Whitnel Beardsley. His father and grandfather Beardsley were attorneys. He was the third generation of his family to graduate from the University of Illinois, where he took a degree in mechanical engineering. From childhood he was fascinated with flight, and soon after college he joined"
"Hovercraft tank Hovercraft tank, or, officially, the amphibious hovering tank (Russian: ""Земноводный подлетающий танк"") was developed at Moscow aircraft plant #84 in the USSR in 1937 by a group of engineers led by professor Vladimir Israilevich Levkov. Its development never left the mockup stage. First successful experiments with hovercraft in the USSR date back to the mid-1930s and are tightly connected with the name of a talented engineer and designer Vladimir Levkov, who substantiated the possibility of hovercraft as far back as in 1925 in his treatise named ""The vortex theory of the rotor"" (Russian: ""Вихревая теория ротора""). In 1934"
"France. It successfully crossed the English Channel between Calais and Dover on 25 July 1959, 50 years to the day after the historic crossing by Bleriot. In January 1959, the NRDC formed a subsidiary called Hovercraft Development Ltd. Cockerell was the Technical Director and the company controlled the patents which it used to license several private sector firms to manufacture craft under the registered trademark of Hovercraft. Cockerell received an Honorary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 1971. In later life, Cockerell developed many other improvements to the hovercraft, and invented various other applications for the air cushion principle, such as"
"invention made by a Royal Navy officer, C.H. Latimer-Needham, who sold his idea to Westland (by then the parent of Saunders-Roe's helicopter and hovercraft interests), and who worked with Christopher to develop the idea further. The first passenger-carrying hovercraft to enter service was the Vickers VA-3, which, in the summer of 1962, carried passengers regularly along the north Wales coast from Moreton, Merseyside, to Rhyl. It was powered by two turboprop aero-engines and driven by propellers. During the 1960s, Saunders-Roe developed several larger designs that could carry passengers, including the SR.N2, which operated across the Solent, in 1962, and later"
"and Bloomberg TV in 2011. In 2012 on MLB Fan Cave and The Doctors TV show. In February 2012, a provisional patent application was filed for the Hovertrax. The patent was granted in 2014. The Hovertrax was released to the public in 2013. The Hovertrax was the first self-balancing scooter of the type that become known as hoverboards. Shane Chen Shane Chen (, born 10 February 1956 in Beijing, China) is a Chinese-American inventor and entrepreneur based in Camas, WA USA. He is best known for inventing the self-balancing hoverboard. Chen grew up in Beijing, China and attended Beijing Agricultural"
"hovercraft a characteristic rounded-rectangle shape. Typically this cushion is contained within a flexible ""skirt"", which allows the vehicle to travel over small obstructions without damage. The first practical design for hovercraft was derived from a British invention in the 1950s to 1960s. They are now used throughout the world as specialised transports in disaster relief, coastguard, military and survey applications, as well as for sport or passenger service. Very large versions have been used to transport hundreds of people and vehicles across the English Channel, whilst others have military applications used to transport tanks, soldiers and large equipment in hostile"
"C.H. Latimer-Needham Cecil Hugh (""Chookie"") Latimer-Needham (20 Feb 1900 – 5 May 1975) was a British aircraft designer, inventor and aviation author. He is best remembered for the series of aircraft he designed for the Luton Aircraft company and his invention of the Hovercraft skirt for which he was granted a patent. His book, ""Aircraft Design"" proved to be an invaluable reference work for Bill Goldfinch and Jack Best during their construction of the Colditz glider. The Germans were rather careless in providing a copy of the book in the Colditz prison library. Latimer-Needham was educated at University College London"
"as inflatable air cushions, pump-jets and centrifugal fans; these would effectively emerge as a single new form of amphibious vehicle, later known as the hovercraft. Having tested and found substance to his theories during the early 1950s, Cockerell proceeded to approach various aircraft companies and shipbuilders, but had difficult gaining their backing, in part due to a lack of understanding of the technologies involved. Undeterred, his work soon attracted the attention of Lord Mountbatten, the First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy, who arranged for a demonstration of his model to Admiralty representatives and patent officials in 1956. One of"
"of his married daughters. After a visit to his home country in 1975, on return to Canada he suffered a serious heart attack from which he seemed to be recovering, however he died suddenly at his home in Kelowna, British Columbia on 5 May 1975. C.H. Latimer-Needham Cecil Hugh (""Chookie"") Latimer-Needham (20 Feb 1900 – 5 May 1975) was a British aircraft designer, inventor and aviation author. He is best remembered for the series of aircraft he designed for the Luton Aircraft company and his invention of the Hovercraft skirt for which he was granted a patent. His book, ""Aircraft"
"Hoverboard A hoverboard (or hover board) is a fictional levitating board used for personal transportation, first described by author M. K. Joseph in 1967 and popularized by the ""Back to the Future"" film franchise. Hoverboards are generally depicted as resembling a skateboard without wheels. During the 1990s there were rumors, fueled by director Robert Zemeckis, that hoverboards were in fact real, but not marketed because they were deemed too dangerous by parents' groups. These rumors have been conclusively debunked. The hoverboard concept has been used by many authors in various forms of media, for instance in the 1998 film Futuresport,"
"to push the craft forward. The British aircraft and marine engineering company Saunders-Roe built the first practical human-carrying hovercraft for the National Research Development Corporation, the SR.N1, which carried out several test programmes in 1959 to 1961 (the first public demonstration was in 1959), including a cross-channel test run in July 1959, piloted by Peter ""Sheepy"" Lamb, an ex-naval test pilot and the chief test pilot at Saunders Roe. Christopher Cockerell was on board, and the flight took place on the 50th anniversary of Louis Blériot's first aerial crossing. The SR.N1 was powered by a single piston engine, driven by"
"the L-1 hovercraft boat which is sometimes referred to as the first hovercraft boat in the world was designed and built in his laboratory, with the L-5 fast-attack boat soon to follow. It became obvious that there was a great potential in further development of this technology of transportation. Along with civilian vehicles, Levkov also made attempts to employ the technology for military use. In 1937 a group of Moscow aircraft plant #84 engineers under his lead initiated the development of a hovercraft tank, or, as it was named in the original documentation, the ""amphibious hovering tank"". It was loosely"
"armed with torpedoes – for coastal service, and in January 1916 the company received an order for twelve boats, which formed the beginning of a long line of ""Coastal Motor Boats"" delivered to the Royal Navy and later to other navies also. The Hovercraft Museum holds a number of hull models that John Thornycroft used for his experiments, using air-flow as a mean of lifting boats out of the water. The oldest dates back to 1877. John Thornycroft died in 1928 and was widely commemorated for his inventions and engineering skills. His son John Edward Thornycroft (1872–1960) and grandson John"
"SR.N1 The Saunders-Roe SR.N1 (""Saunders-Roe Nautical 1"") was the first practical hovercraft. The concept has its origins in the work of British engineer and inventor Christopher Cockerell, who succeeded in convincing figures within the services and industry, including those within British manufacturer Saunders-Roe. Research was at one point supported by the Ministry of Defence; this was later provided by the National Research Development Corporation (NRDC), who had seen the potential posed by such a craft. In order to test the theories and overall concept, it was decided that the construction of a full-scale craft, designated as the SR.N1. On 11"
"manufacturers adopted as the standard for that country in the 1930s. It was also adopted in New Zealand, Argentina and, with a minor variation, China. Harvey Hubbell Harvey Hubbell II (1857 – December 17, 1927), was an American inventor, entrepreneur and industrialist. His best-known inventions are the U.S. electrical plug and the pull-chain light socket. In 1888, at the age of thirty-one, Hubbell quit his job as a manager of a manufacturing company and founded Hubbell Incorporated in Bridgeport, Connecticut, a company which is still in business today, still headquartered near Bridgeport. Hubbell began manufacturing consumer products and, by necessity,"
"Harvey Hubbell Harvey Hubbell II (1857 – December 17, 1927), was an American inventor, entrepreneur and industrialist. His best-known inventions are the U.S. electrical plug and the pull-chain light socket. In 1888, at the age of thirty-one, Hubbell quit his job as a manager of a manufacturing company and founded Hubbell Incorporated in Bridgeport, Connecticut, a company which is still in business today, still headquartered near Bridgeport. Hubbell began manufacturing consumer products and, by necessity, inventing manufacturing equipment for his factory. Some of the equipment he designed included automatic tapping machines and progressive dies for blanking and stamping. One of"
"James Hargreaves James Hargreaves (c. 1720 – 22 April 1778) was a weaver, carpenter and inventor in Lancashire, England. He was one of three inventors responsible for mechanising spinning. Hargreaves is credited with inventing the spinning jenny in 1764, Richard Arkwright patented the water frame in 1769, and Samuel Crompton combined the two creating the spinning mule in 1779. James Hargreaves was born at Stanhill, Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire. He was described as ""stout, broadest man of about five-foot ten, or rather more"". He was illiterate and worked as a hand loom weaver during most of his life. He married and"
"Charles Joseph Fletcher Charles Joseph Fletcher (December 21, 1922 – April 20, 2011) was an American inventor and the owner and chief executive of an aeronautical equipment manufacturing and engineering company, Technology General Corporation, in Franklin, New Jersey. While a naval aviator he came up with the idea of the ""Glidemobile"", a vehicle using air for support. This was not made public until used in defence in a patent claim from British manufacturers of hovercraft, Fletcher holds over seventy patents. He was born on December 21, 1922, to Horace Fletcher and Florence Romyns. He served as a Lieutenant Commander with"
"Andrew, John, Mary Magdalene, Felix, Petronilla, Stephen, Dorothy, Edward the Confessor and George. Somerleyton was the home of Christopher Cockerell while he invented the hovercraft in his post-war career founding in Somerleyton a boatyard and hire business Ripplecraft — cabin cruisers for hire serving holidaymakers cruising the Norfolk Broads. Unveiled in 2010 the Hovercraft Column commemorates Cockerell's invention during this time. The Waveney runs runs west of Somerleyton giving access to the Broads and a rail swing bridge crosses the river in the south-west. This can be viewed from the end of the un-metalled lane starting south of the 'Duke's"
"developed the technology for hoverboards, and released a video advertising the product on YouTube featuring Christopher Lloyd, Tony Hawk, Moby, Terrell Owens, and others riding hoverboards through a parking lot in Los Angeles. Special effect failures such as incomplete wire removal have conclusively identified the video as a hoax or joke, traced to the Funny or Die website through identification of the cast and public references to the project. Funny or Die later posted a video featuring Christopher Lloyd ""apologizing"" for the hoax. In October 2014, American inventor Greg Henderson demonstrated a prototype hoverboard working on a magnetic levitation principle."
"as well, keeping the channel open. Although there was some deformation of the curtain, the airflow within the skirt was maintained and the lift remained relatively steady. Over time, this design evolved into individual extensions over the bottom of the slots in the skirt, known as ""fingers"". Through these improvements, the hovercraft became an effective transport system for high-speed service on water and land, leading to widespread developments for military vehicles, search and rescue, and commercial operations. By 1962, many UK aviation and ship building firms were working on hovercraft designs, including Saunders Roe/Westland, Vickers-Armstrong, William Denny, Britten-Norman and Folland."
"Elevator who later replaced its linear motor with a cable pull and sold the resulting design for people mover installations all over the world. Hovertrain is a generic term, and the vehicles are more commonly referred to by their project names where they were developed. In the UK they are known as tracked hovercraft, in the US they are tracked air-cushion vehicles. The hovertrain was originally developed by Jean Bertin (1917-1975) in France, where they were marketed as the Aérotrain (1965-1977), before it was eventually abandoned by the French government. It was noticed early on that the energy needed to"
"1955, he had built a working model from balsa wood and had filed his first patent for the hovercraft, No . Cockerell had found it impossible to interest the private sector in developing his idea, as both the aircraft and the shipbuilding industries saw it as lying outside their core business. He therefore approached the British Government with a view to interesting them in possible defence applications. The leaders of the defence groups were not interested in providing funding and put the idea of the hovercraft on the government's secret list. Being on the secret list stopped Cockerell from making"
"the hovertrain. He attended many hovercraft related events, such as the unveiling of many hoverports across the United Kingdom. After a short illness, Christopher Cockerell died at Hythe, Hampshire on 1 June 1999. In later life Cockerell developed the Cockerell Raft, a wave power hydraulic device which may have implications in the future for electricity generation. In his life, the SR.N4 hovercraft ""GH2008 Sir Christopher"" was named after its inventor. It was operated by Hoverlloyd (later Hoverspeed) across the channel from 1972 to 1991. A plaque in Cockerell Rise, East Cowes, Isle of Wight, marks the location of White Cottage,"
"Edward Huber Edward Huber (September 1, 1837, Dover, Indiana – August 26, 1904, Marion, Ohio) was an American inventor and industrialist. Huber established his role in the modernization of American agriculture when he invented a “revolving hay rake” (patented in 1863) that allowed one man to do in three hours what three men could do in a day. Relocating to Marion, Ohio, Huber patented his hay rake and began a full line of agricultural implements. Huber's production lines ran only in second to that of Cyrus McCormick, the inventor of the McCormick reaper. Huber also began to build and market"
"is superconductivity, used by the Slide hoverboard. Several companies have drawn on hovercraft ""air-cushion vehicle"" technology to attempt to create hoverboard-like products but none has demonstrated similar experiences to the kinds of levitation depicted in science fiction films. In the 1950s Hiller aircraft produced the ""Flying Platform"" which was similar to the modern concept of a hoverboard. The Airboard air-cushion vehicle was unveiled in the 2000 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony in Sydney, which was manufactured and sold by Arbortech Industries Limited. Series II was unveiled in 2007. Rumors circulated in 2001 that inventor Dean Kamen's new invention, codenamed ""Ginger"", was"
"LaMarcus Adna Thompson LaMarcus Adna Thompson (March 8, 1848 – May 8, 1919) was an American inventor and businessman most famous for developing a variety of gravity rides. Thompson was born in Jersey, Licking County, Ohio on March 8, 1848. In his adolescence he became a skilled carpenter. In 1873 he began operating a grocery store in Elkhart, Indiana. There he began designing a device to manufacture seamless hosiery. He made a fortune in that business, but failing health forced him to quit it. Thompson is best known for his early work developing roller coasters and for inventing the scenic"
"potential of the hovercraft concept; Saunders-Roe was keen to be awarded a further contract to continue its research. While there was no expressed military need for such an aircraft, it was impossible for the Ministry of Defence to finance further development; however, at Shaw's suggestion, a proposal was made to the National Research Development Corporation (NRDC), an independent public body. On 17 April 1958, Cockerell had his first meeting with the NRDC to present his idea; the managing director, Lord Halsbury, was so impressed that he decided that immediate action was necessary. On the following day, the NRDC board confirmed"