November 1960: the Rhoades hover scooter

Innovation was in short supply at the 1960 Cycle and Motor Cycle Show, but The Engineer managed to track down an exhibit from the West Midlands that passed muster and one from the US that continues to enthral to this day.

Held at Earls Court in London and opened by transport minister Ernest Marple, the show was held to celebrate the Golden Jubilee the defunct British Cycle and Motor Cycle Industries Association.

Despite the occasion, The Engineer’s reporter said ‘the exhibits include few innovations among cycles and motorcycles in the strictest senses of the terms’, although a Hover Scooter brought to the UK by Rhoades Incorporated did appear to be worthy of a mention.

The American invention combined a hovercraft with a scooter powered by a 250cc twin cylinder 2-stroke motorcycle engine.

“Its relationship to a cycle is that it is steered in the corresponding way by developing bank, although the rider’s movement is exactly the opposite, i.e. to tighten a turn he leans out on a cycle and in on a Hover Scooter,” The Engineer said. “Having no wheels, the cushion-rider has no stability in yaw at other than high speeds, when the tail fins become effective, and so a yaw control is provided.”