For three decades the hovercraft was the fastest and most thrilling way to cross the English channel. And back in 1959 The Engineer was present at the birth of a vehicle so new and hard to categorise that it was described simply as a ‘ground-effect aircraft’.
The culmination of six years of work, during which its inventor, Christopher Cockerell, was forced to sell his personal possessions to fund the project, the SR-N1 hovercraft research vehicle was built by Saunders-Roe on the Isle of Wight and ‘flew’ for the first time on the 11 June 1959.
Privileged to witness this landmark event in maritime history, The Engineer wrote: ‘The principle of operation is closely related to that of the jet flap, a pressure difference being sustained by the change in momentum of the jet sheet: the product of “cushion” pressure and hovering height has proved to be, as simple theory predicts, the change of momentum in deflecting the jet sheet into the horizontal plane.’
In the picture, Cockerell is shown pushing the machine while it floats on its cushion of air. The article continued: ‘In the foreground can be seen one of the four propelling nozzles with the control vanes that allow a transverse or vertical component of thrust to be developed. The Yaw vanes at the rear nozzles are extended upward to give directional stability and improved yaw when flying forward.’
A couple of months later, on 25 July, the prototype craft, which was capable of carrying four men at a speed of 28mph (45km/h), made a successful crossing of the channel.
In an earlier article on the topic, published on May 1st 1959, The Engineer outlined proposals from Saunders-Roe for the construction of a succession of manned vehicles, “the next step would be a 30-ton craft to carry 100 passengers over sheltered waters, powered by a Rolls-Royce “ Dart,” and the subsequent, and probably near optimum, model would be a 400-ton ferry for up to 1200 passengers and eighty cars, which, with seven Rolls-Royce “ Tyne “ engines, would attain heights of 6ft and be able to operate regularly over the English Channel.”
Commenting on the potential market for the technology the article continued: “Applications foreseen for these machines are in the smaller sizes, ferrying where high speed is important, as between the Great Lakes cities in North America or to offshore oil rigs, and, for large machines, short sea journeys where traffic is heavy….as in the English Channel.”
“It is predicted that the high cruising speeds will result not only in a popular vehicle, but also in specific costs somewhat lower than those of existing displacement and planing craft,” concluded the article
In the UK, commercial cross-channel hovercraft operations ceased in 2000, although a service still operates across the Solent from Southsea to Ryde on the Isle of Wight. The vehicles are also widely used by the military.
A great article that leaves us wondering where it went wrong. The Isle of Wight crossing is great, but what happened to the potential?
The link did not work.
Thanks Jack – the link’s now been fixed.
There were popular press articles around the launch with graphic pictures of swarms of hovercraft hurtling along motorway type structures with signs indicating “No wheeled vehicles!. Hovering trains fell foul of the inability to change tracks without massive complex infrastructure.
The potential for heavy load movement in confined areas seems to have been a neglected area of potential application.
Energy/fuel consumption and noise was also a contributory cause of low take up.
As a young engineer I had the most thrilling commute across the Solent from Southampton to Cowes every day in a Hovercraft. I remember once at low water spring tide, Calshot bank was well above the water, the passengers were very excited when we were heading to it at full speed and then silenced when we just rode over. We used one as civil engineering platform on tidal flats.
Innovation and Research and development can be very expensive, and to day there simply is not the availability of funds and vision or venture capital to look at new and innovative projects. Yes we all want the finished commercial product, and all the new jobs it brings, but we do not want or will pay for the R&D to get to that stage, so many good ideas never get to the commercial stage.
As a junior engineer in the technical office at Vickers South Marston I had the privilege of working on the VA series of hovercraft. There was great debate at the time as to whether it was a boat or aeroplane; I subsequently produced an aircraft type record as an aircraft for it to ‘fly’ between Wallasey and Rhill. It was powered by Turbomeca helicopter engines, which at the time were suffering from turbine disc failures, so the engine nacelles were wrapped with stainless steel as a precaution. The first flight was by Colquhoun the test pilot at South Marston without the passenger pod. Anyone who flew in it and new any history didn’t sit in the seats between the engines. It returned to the works with the bow in a terrible state. On its last flight it couldn’t return to the slipway and sat on the water over night. The weather got up and the craft was driven against the jetty wall. The test pilot who was flying it and the aerodynamicists who were on the crew took the craft out to try and save it from any further damage. I believe it had some form of splitter plate to enhance the stability of the cushion, and when started to open up he got them off the craft and rode out the weather on his own.
It was such a thrill to cross the channel on the hovercraft and the trip to the Isle of Wight – it was a success just not for UK plc [again]; used now in considerable numbers by armed forces of US, Russia and China. I think civilian use is constrained by the bad weather safety, fuel & noise and the big plus – over water over land versatility is a feature more prized by the military. I’ve seen many fun/sport kit versions over the years. From memory, Cockerell was doggedly persistent. This sort of thing shows how rubbish the patent system is in protecting inventors and their legacy, through the very difficult gestation of getting engineering ideas to commercial product.