"Small-scale ferry service started as early as 1962 with the launch of the Vickers-Armstrong VA-3. With the introduction of the 254 passenger and 30 car carrying SR.N4 cross-channel ferry by Hoverlloyd and Seaspeed in 1968, hovercraft had developed into useful commercial craft. Another major pioneering effort of the early hovercraft era was carried out by Jean Bertin's firm in France. Bertin was an advocate of the ""multi-skirt"" approach, which used a number of smaller cylindrical skirts instead of one large one in order to avoid the problems noted above. During the early 1960s he developed a series of prototype designs,"
"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"
"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"
"submerged rails through the shallow coastal waters of the English Channel between 1896 and 1901. An air-cushion vehicle (ACV) or hovercraft can travel over land or water supported by a cushion of air ejected downwards against the surface below it. In principle, a hovercraft can travel over any sufficiently smooth surface: solid, liquid, mixed, or anything in between. Large hovercraft, riding on an air-cushion contained by skirts several meters tall, can deal with obstacles 1 to 2 meters in height. The smallest personal hovercraft are nimble enough to follow some rolling of the terrain. One of the benefits of this"
"The journey time from Dover to Boulogne was roughly 35 minutes, with six trips per day being conducted at peak times. The fastest ever crossing of the English Channel by a commercial car-carrying hovercraft was 22 minutes, which had been achieved by the SR.N4 Mk.III ""Princess Anne"" on 14 September 1995 during the 10:00 a.m. service. In 1972, the first SR.N4s were temporarily withdrawn for conversion to Mk.II specification which would provide for seven further car spaces and 28 more passengers. The first of the enlarged craft, the ""Swift"", entered service at the beginning of February 1973. The capacity increase"
"Dover and Boulogne but later also Ramsgate (Pegwell Bay) to Calais. The journey time Dover to Boulogne was roughly 35 minutes, with six trips per day at peak times. The fastest crossing of the English Channel by a commercial car-carrying hovercraft was 22 minutes, recorded by the ""Princess Anne"" MCH SR-N4 Mk3 on 14 September 1995, The first aircraft to cross the Channel was a balloon in 1785, piloted by Jean Pierre François Blanchard (France) and John Jeffries (US). Louis Blériot (France) piloted the first airplane to cross in 1909. The sport of Channel swimming traces its origins to the"
"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"
"was eventually closed and all buildings completely demolished. Nonetheless, the hovercraft pad, car marshalling area and approach road are all still clearly identifiable. Hoverspeed continued cross Channel hovercraft operation until October 2000, when the last two craft were retired and the era of ‘hovering across the Channel’ came to an end. Hoverlloyd Hoverlloyd operated a cross-Channel hovercraft service between Ramsgate, England to Calais, France. It operated four SR.N4 type hovercraft and was a rival to Seaspeed (owned by British Rail). The origins of Hoverlloyd date back to 1964, when the Swedish Lloyd shipping company investigated the possibility of operating a"
"service closed in 2000 following the opening of the Channel Tunnel (in 1994) and due to the age of the SR-N4 hovercraft. Seaspeed Seaspeed was the joint hovercraft operations of British Rail (under British Rail Hovercraft Limited) in association with the French SNCF. British Rail Hovercraft Limited was established in 1965, under authority given to it by the British Railways Act 1967 and started its first service in 1966. Seaspeed started cross-Channel services from Dover, England to Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer, France using SR-N4 hovercraft in August 1968. The two hovercraft were named ""The Princess Margaret"" and ""The Princess Anne""; the"
"Hoverspeed Hoverspeed, formed in 1981 by the merger of Seaspeed and Hoverlloyd, was a ferry company that operated on the English Channel from 1981 until 2005. The last owners were Sea Containers Ltd; the company ran a small fleet of two high-speed SeaCat catamaran ferries in its final year. Hoverspeed is notable for its part in developing the hovercraft, and ran six SR.N4 Mountbatten class hovercraft and one SEDAM N500 Naviplane. Hoverspeed last operated hovercraft on its Dover to Calais service. They were withdrawn on 1 October 2000 and replaced by Seacat catamarans built by Incat. Throughout its history Hoverspeed"
"Harbour on 6 April 1966 using small, passenger only SR.N6 hovercraft. When the much larger SR.N4 craft, capable of carrying 30 vehicles and 254 passengers, were delivered in 1969, Hoverlloyd moved operations to a purpose built ‘hoverport’ in Pegwell Bay, near Ramsgate. A similar facility was provided east of Calais harbour and was shared with Seaspeed (who operated into Dover on the UK side of the English Channel). Crossing ('flight') times were as low as 22 minutes. Hovercraft operations were prone to disruption and cancellation during bad weather, although this was eased over time by various modifications to the craft,"
"and materials (i.e. welded aluminium structure and diesel engines) rather than the aircraft techniques used to build the earlier craft built by Saunders-Roe-British Hovercraft Corporation. Over 20 million passengers had used the service as of 2004 – the service is still operating () and is by far the longest, continuously operated hovercraft service. In 1966, two cross-channel passenger hovercraft services were inaugurated using SR.N6 hovercraft. Hoverlloyd ran services from Ramsgate Harbour, England, to Calais, France, and Townsend Ferries also started a service to Calais from Dover, which was soon superseded by that of Seaspeed. As well as Saunders-Roe and Vickers"
"proved a practical, fast and relatively economical solution in the Canary Islands but were recently replaced by faster catamaran ""high speed"" ferries that can carry cars. Their replacement by the larger craft is seen by critics as a retrograde step given that the new vessels use much more fuel and foster the inappropriate use of cars in islands already suffering from the impact of mass tourism. Hovercraft were developed in the 1960s and 1970s to carry cars. The largest was the massive SR.N4 which carried cars in its centre section with ramps at the bow and stern between England and"
"Portel) hoverport site remains, albeit long abandoned and derelict. Hoverspeed Hoverspeed, formed in 1981 by the merger of Seaspeed and Hoverlloyd, was a ferry company that operated on the English Channel from 1981 until 2005. The last owners were Sea Containers Ltd; the company ran a small fleet of two high-speed SeaCat catamaran ferries in its final year. Hoverspeed is notable for its part in developing the hovercraft, and ran six SR.N4 Mountbatten class hovercraft and one SEDAM N500 Naviplane. Hoverspeed last operated hovercraft on its Dover to Calais service. They were withdrawn on 1 October 2000 and replaced by"
"crossed the English Channel aboard the ""Élise"", ex the Scottish p.s. ""Margery"" in March 1816, one of the earliest seagoing voyages by steam ship. The paddle steamer ""Defiance"", Captain William Wager, was the first steamer to cross the Channel to Holland, arriving there on 9 May 1816. On 10 June 1821, English-built paddle steamer ""Rob Roy"" was the first passenger ferry to cross channel. The steamer was purchased subsequently by the French postal administration and renamed ""Henri IV"" and put into regular passenger service a year later. It was able to make the journey across the Straits of Dover in"
"subsidiary, Sealink. Those ships capable of carrying rail vehicles were classed under TOPS as Class 99. Sealink was a ferry company based in the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1984, operating services to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Channel Islands, Isle of Wight and Ireland. The joint hovercraft services of British Rail (under British Rail Hovercraft Limited) in association with the French SNCF. British Rail Hovercraft Limited was established in 1965, under authority given to it by the British Railways Act 1967 and started its first service in 1966. Seaspeed started cross-Channel services from Dover, England to Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer, France"
"in the Gulf of Bothnia. The introduction of regular hovercraft services in the form of the SR.N6 attracted worldwide interest. On 24 July 1965, British operator Hovertravel took delivery of their first SR.N6, placing it into service in the Solent area on a route between the Ryde Transport Interchange on the Isle of Wight and Southsea. This route was particularly well suited to hovercraft, as the tidal conditions of the surrounding coastline made berthing ships difficult, as well as a high volume of traffic; by 2012, Hovertravel had become the oldest hovercraft operator in the Western world, continuing to operate"
"Hoverlloyd Hoverlloyd operated a cross-Channel hovercraft service between Ramsgate, England to Calais, France. It operated four SR.N4 type hovercraft and was a rival to Seaspeed (owned by British Rail). The origins of Hoverlloyd date back to 1964, when the Swedish Lloyd shipping company investigated the possibility of operating a hovercraft service. Together with Swedish American Line (owned by Brostroms Rederi AB), the Cross-Channel Hover Services Ltd was registered as a British company in 1965. The name was changed to Hoverlloyd Ltd in 1966. In 1976 Brostroms Rederi AB purchased the entire operation. Hoverlloyd commenced operations from Ramsgate Harbour to Calais"
"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"
"Seaspeed Seaspeed was the joint hovercraft operations of British Rail (under British Rail Hovercraft Limited) in association with the French SNCF. British Rail Hovercraft Limited was established in 1965, under authority given to it by the British Railways Act 1967 and started its first service in 1966. Seaspeed started cross-Channel services from Dover, England to Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer, France using SR-N4 hovercraft in August 1968. The two hovercraft were named ""The Princess Margaret"" and ""The Princess Anne""; the former featured in the James Bond film ""Diamonds Are Forever"". In 1976, work started to considerably lengthen both craft by inserting an"
"across the English Channel in 1954, initially using a fleet of Bristol Freighter twin-engined, piston-powered planes. These were later supplemented and eventually superseded by the larger-capacity, four-engined Carvairs. The Carvair design was based on the Douglas DC-4 piston-engined airliner. It involved raising the aircraft's cockpit ""above"" the fuselage in a 747-style bulge so as to create more space for vehicles and/or passengers on the main deck. It also involved replacing the DC-4's original tail fin with a newly designed, larger DC-7-style fin as well as equipping the aircraft with a Bristol Freighter-type nose-loading cargo door, more powerful brakes and a"
"performance of the craft during the exercise was commended by the services. On 25 July 1959, the 50th anniversary of Louis Blériot's cross-channel flight, the SR.N1 serial G-12-4 crossed the English Channel from Calais to Dover in just over two hours; the crew during this crossing consisted of Captain Peter Lamb (pilot), John Chaplin (navigator) and Cockerell himself. Testing had revealed several interesting tendencies of hovercraft, such as that there was an inevitable delay between the heading of the craft changing and the direction that it was travelling in would change to match. In addition, travelling overland posed more difficulty"
"pioneering new form of transportation, embodied the form of the experimental SR.N1 vehicle, which became widely known as the hovercraft. British manufacturer Saunders-Roe, whom Cockerell had worked with in order to develop viable hovercraft, soon developed several commercially-viable vehicles, such as the SR.N4, a large cross-Channel ferry capable of seating up to 418 passengers along with 60 cars, and the SR.N6, the first commercially-active hovercraft, capable of seating a maximum of 58 passengers. As a result of high oil prices following the 1973 oil crisis and the 1979 energy crisis, the profitability of the first generation of commercial hovercraft was"
"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"
"England, following a demonstration of the C.6 before the British Air Ministry at RAE Farnborough, on 20 October 1925. Britain had become the world centre of autogyro development. A crash in February 1926, caused by blade root failure, led to an improvement in rotor hub design. A drag hinge was added in conjunction with the flapping hinge to allow each blade to move fore and aft and relieve in-plane stresses, generated as a byproduct of the flapping motion. This development led to the Cierva C.8, which, on 18 September 1928, made the first rotorcraft crossing of the English Channel followed"
"Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris, a number of examples have been preserved. Both the British and American restored-to-airworthiness examples, each now over a century old and believed to be the two oldest flyable aircraft anywhere on Earth, are usually only ""hopped"" for short distances due to their uniqueness. Blériot XI The Blériot XI is a French aircraft of the pioneer era of aviation. The first example was used by Louis Blériot to make the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air aircraft, on 25 July 1909. This is one of the most famous accomplishments of the"
"crossed the English Channel in one in 1785. Rigid airships became the first aircraft to transport passengers and cargo over great distances. The best known aircraft of this type were manufactured by the German Zeppelin company. The most successful Zeppelin was the Graf Zeppelin. It flew over one million miles, including an around-the-world flight in August 1929. However, the dominance of the Zeppelins over the airplanes of that period, which had a range of only a few hundred miles, was diminishing as airplane design advanced. The ""Golden Age"" of the airships ended on May 6, 1937 when the Hindenburg caught"
"Eastney and Ryde in 1963/4, carrying 30,000 passengers. It was eventually broken up. SR.N2 The Westland/Saunders-Roe SR.N2 hovercraft first flew in 1961. It weighed 27 tons and could carry 48 passengers. Although only one was built it can be regarded as the prototype for commercial hovercraft, following on from the SR.N1 research craft. It was demonstrated on the Saint Lawrence River, Canada in 1962 and operated by P & A Campbell as a ferry crossing the Bristol Channel between Weston-super-Mare and Penarth in 1963. It was then fitted with deeper (4 ft) skirts to improve its performance in rough seas."
"ABS Hovercraft ABS Hovercraft is a British hovercraft designer and producer, founded in the early 1990s in Chandlers Ford, Hampshire. ABS Hovercraft researched the introduction of new materials to innovate Hovercraft technology. In 1993 ABS created the world’s fastest recreational Hovercraft fully made from advanced composite materials. In 1994 ABS launched the largest Hovercraft entirely made from advanced composite materials, called the ABS M-10, which was built by Vosper Thornycroft in Southampton. The M-10 crossed the English Channel and was the first hovercraft to circumnavigate the Baltic Sea during winter trials in 1994. In 1995 the ABS M-10 was sold"
"in France about 1225, followed by an illuminated depiction in a manuscript of probably also French origin dating to 1240. In navigation, the earliest uses of harbor cranes are documented for Utrecht in 1244, Antwerp in 1263, Brugge in 1288 and Hamburg in 1291, while in England the treadwheel is not recorded before 1331. Generally, vertical transport could be done more safely and inexpensively by cranes than by customary methods. Typical areas of application were harbours, mines, and, in particular, building sites where the treadwheel crane played a pivotal role in the construction of the lofty Gothic cathedrals. Nevertheless, both"
"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"
"each powered by four Bristol Proteus turboshaft engines. These were both used by rival operators Hoverlloyd and Seaspeed (joined to form Hoverspeed in 1981) to operate regular car and passenger carrying services across the English Channel. Hoverlloyd operated from Ramsgate, where a special hoverport had been built at Pegwell Bay, to Calais. Seaspeed operated from Dover, England, to Calais and Boulogne in France. The first SR.N4 had a capacity of 254 passengers and 30 cars, and a top speed of . The channel crossing took around 30 minutes and was run like an airline with flight numbers. The later SR.N4"
"on the Isle of Man (Isle of Man Steam Packet); Birkenhead (Twelve Quays Terminal) to Belfast and Dublin (Norfolkline Irish Sea Ferries – former Norse Merchant Ferries); Fleetwood to Larne (Stena Line) in Northern Ireland; and Heysham to Douglas (Isle of Man Steam Packet). The world's first hovercraft service took place on 20 July 1962 from Leasowe (Moreton) to Rhyl, operated by British United Airways, in a Vickers-Armstrongs VA-3, powered by two turboprop engines. The North West is historically linked with the textiles industry, mainly before the mid 20th century. The Greater Manchester region produces the most economic output according"