On the trail of the Hovercraft

[Oakydoke]

....When Hoverspeed ceased Cross Channel Hovercraft services back in 2000, the two remaining craft were taken to Lee on Solent and parked up.

Actually Robert, there were three survivors at the end, when services ceased.

All three, Princess Margaret, Princess Anne and Swift, were taken to Lee-on-the-Solent.

 

Fatadder mentions seeing three at the museum, in post no.12 above.

That would have been in the early days, as Swift was broken up about 4 years after the SRN4's arrived at Lee.

[jcm@gwr]

I've travelled on the SRN4's 3 times, twice (there and back) for a school day trip.

It was exciting for a young teenager in the early '70's, but, looking back, uneventful.

 

The third trip was part of an outward trip with my (step) F-in-L and it was a rough

crossing to say the least. Most of the time the view out of the windows alternated

from 3/4 sky to 3/4 sea! It was so rough, that, at one point my F-in-L's backside

was level with my shoulder as we dropped into a trough between waves.

 

Not surprisingly, he refused to travel back that way and, eventually, we were able

to get transferred to a ferry service.

[Robert]

Thanks for all the responses so far - there are some great stories!
 

I hope no one will mind me adding them to this thread.

 
 Absolutely not!  In fact, I am very pleased you did.  I wanted to show my Son some pictures of the Pegwell Bay hoverport as it was back in the day, but pictures are hard to find.  Thanks for taking the trouble to post them.
 

We thought the trouble was, that they were boats built to aircraft spec'

 
I think you probably hit the nail right on the head there.  Not just for the Sidewall Craft, but also the Hovercraft - Sanders Roe were, of course, used to building aeroplanes and that experience was transferred to the  Hovercraft, making them very expensive to build.  Modern craft are built to marine standards which makes them significantly cheaper to produce.

 

An interesting topic, thanks to all those who have posted. I only travelled by hovercraft twice, Dover/Boulogne and return in 1987, certainly a much quicker crossing than by ferry. Various random recollections: The craft were incredibly noisy;There was a special station at Boulogne for the hovercraft ('Aeroglisseurs'); And the connecting trains to and from Paris were SNCF's Turbotrains.

 
I travelled to Paris by Hovercraft sometime in the 1980s, and this is the way that we got there.  The Hovercraft/ Rail connection was fantastic, you literally cleared customs in Boulogne and got straight on the train.  You can see the remains of the station on Google Maps - although the track has been lifted, the tunnel remains.
 

BP were sponsoring school tech projects to build these infernal devices: doubtless with happy thoughts of the consequent fuel consumption to come. We couldn't really have fun with computers back then, because the school computer access was via keyboard and teleprinter to the mainframe at Hatfield Polytechnic; but I did manage to get the key curve for the skirt design plotted by this means, using the approved equation from the University of Loughborough's light hovercraft design handbook. (Ask for TT6902 if you want to read it, I remember that number because I wrote the letter requesting a copy.) And the skirt worked too.

 
 The Hovercraft museum have the winning entry of the BP schools competition.  It is a wonderfully Heath Robinson contraption with two (I think) Villiers lawnmower engines!
 

Actually Robert, there were three survivors at the end, when services ceased.

 
 Yes - of course.  I had forgotten about Swift.
 

The third trip was part of an outward trip with my (step) F-in-L and it was a rough
crossing to say the least. Most of the time the view out of the windows alternated
from 3/4 sky to 3/4 sea! It was so rough, that, at one point my F-in-L's backside
was level with my shoulder as we dropped into a trough between waves.
 
Not surprisingly, he refused to travel back that way and, eventually, we were able
to get transferred to a ferry service.

They were evil in rough weather! As Mike mentioned earlier, the stretched Super 4s were better than the earlier versions, but nevertheless in rough weather they really shook you about.

 

Still, it is ironic really.  In the 21st Century it takes 90 minutes to cross the channel by ferry, I have done it in under an hour back in the 80s and under half an hour by Hovercraft - I guess that's progress!

Edited September 19, 2016 by Robert

[bgman]

Not forgetting this of course...

 

 

Possibly one of the few Airfix models I didn't make !

[Mike Storey]

The brand new hovercraft on the Solent are much quieter and seem less prone to vibration - I travelled on one about 3 months ago to the Island to see relations - well worth the experience if you are down that way. British built I believe, and just shows what can be achieved with better engineering. I understand the firm concerned is getting serious interest from the far East.

 

What is also interesting is that, despite predictions of their demise, the commercial viability of the Island link has justified such investment. House prices being generally cheaper on the IOW than in mainland Hampshire these days, the hovercraft is proving to be the HST of its day. Whether these commuters work in Hampshire or commute to London is unknown to me. Perhaps this is the answer to the Somerset Levels commuting catchment......? 

[Adrian]

I have piloted small hovercraft (many years ago). Great fun. In the early 80s, there was a race series across Europe and we drove up to somewhere near Spa in Belgium for that round.

 

 

The European events are still running albeit only a couple of events http://europeanhovercraftfederation.org

 

However there is an active GB club http://www.hovercraft.org.uk/racing.htm - well worth getting along to an event - it's great fun. Many many moons ago I built an F3 racing craft. However the speed and precision of the F1 guys is phenomenal.

 

Edited September 19, 2016 by Adrian

[BernardTPM]

A couple of photos of SRN6 024 which we saw whilst on holiday at Leysdown, Isle of Sheppey in the Summer of 1967. Apparently this was a short-lived venture taking people for pleasure rides - a sort of 'souped-up' paddle steamer! There's a brief mention of it in 'On a Cushion of Air' by Robin Paine & Roger Syms, page 182. We didn't actually travel on it. Unfortunately this was the first (and last!!) time Dad ever used Boots Colour slide film so it's taken a bit of work to make these pictures half reasonable:

 

We did take the hovercraft (another SRN6) to the Isle of Wight one year back in the '70s, but I'm not sure if that was photographed or not.

 

[t8hants]

There was also a short lived hover service from Yaverland in Sandown Bay around to Portsmouth Harbour, which I think lasted from 69 - 70.

This long forgotten service did have one moment of fame, as it was used as a filming base for the very mediocre Dean Martin spy movie 'Murder's Row'.

This pile of celluloid was only notable because it had one of the only hovercraft versus hovercraft chases and sea fights, along with the obligatory guns and explosions.

This was far more exciting to watch being filmed than the final screened result. they also threw a car off Culver Cliff, the remains of which are still on the beach - waited all day for that to happen.

 

The hovercraft was also immortalized in song

 

"What's this rumbling that I hear, whats this roaring in my ear, what's this noise that driving everybody daft?

Oh its not artillery or the start of World War Three, its the Westland's SRN super noiseless Hovercraft.  etc, etc

[PhilJ W]

Not forgetting this of course...

 

image.jpeg

 

Possibly one of the few Airfix models I didn't make !

Apparently the kit contained some model cars. 1/144 is not that far out for N scale.

[F-UnitMad]

I went on the SRN-4 as a kid on one holiday we had to Paris, circa 1976 I think. Hoverlloyd seems to ring a bell, & oh how I wanted the Airfix kit afterwards!! Never got it; had to attempt a pretty feeble version in Lego, so couldn't get the curve at the front!!

I recall the ride as very 'up & down' - hard to have a drink without spilling it! - & the view out of the windows wasn't brilliant either. Not only were they quite high (especially as I was small !) but the front ones were always covered in spray.

Memorable yes, but not for the best of reasons!!

[BernardTPM]

Apparently the kit contained some model cars. 1/144 is not that far out for N scale.

Two each of a VW Beetle and a Vanden Plas 1100 - clear, one-piece mouldings. I reworked one of the latter into an ordinary Austin 1100 Mk.II.

[raymw]

If you want a ride on a hovercraft in Somerset, just walk out into the mud at Burnham on sea and start shouting. They may come and get you, or maybe not ... http://burnham-on-sea.com/barb .
 
My sister and brother in law lived on IOW, often went across, taking car, but once or twice went by hovercraft, but not as 'nice' as the ferry. I applied to Britten-Norman to get a job - they weren't advertising, but when I said I had an onc in engineering, they said I would be the second highest qualified person on their books, at Bembridge. They were in a hangar on the airfield, and owned the pub on the front. They had a subsidiary company (cushion-craft, iirc), which made small hovercraft, the design of which I was interested, but I decided not to accept their offer of work in the aircraft side of things.

[jjb1970]

The more modern hovercraft are much more efficient, they use diesel engines and tend to be slower than some of the older types which were extremely fast.

[jjb1970]

There has been quite a lot of interest in wing-in-ground effect craft over the last ten years or so. They are quite efficient if compared to conventional aircraft and much faster than ships.

[Robert]

The brand new hovercraft on the Solent are much quieter and seem less prone to vibration - I travelled on one about 3 months ago to the Island to see relations - well worth the experience if you are down that way. British built I believe, and just shows what can be achieved with better engineering.

 

Yes - they are British built, by Griffon Hoverwork in Southampton.  Most of the World's Hovercraft industry seems to have always been centered around the Solent.

 

A couple of photos of SRN6 024 which we saw whilst on holiday at Leysdown, Isle of Sheppey in the Summer of 1967. Apparently this was a short-lived venture taking people for pleasure rides - a sort of 'souped-up' paddle steamer! There's a brief mention of it in 'On a Cushion of Air' by Robin Paine & Roger Syms, page 182. We didn't actually travel on it. Unfortunately this was the first (and last!!) time Dad ever used Boots Colour slide film so it's taken a bit of work to make these pictures half reasonable:

 

They are nice shots - thanks for posting.  Nice to see the single prop version of the SRN-6.

[Fat Controller]

Quite a lot of my colleagues, on both sides of the Channel, are ex-Hoverspeed, including a former First Officer, crew members and 'ground staff'; they seemed to have enjoyed it, though most were glad to leave once the 'Vomit Comet' started.

Bertin is perhaps better known for his Aerotrain, which used air-cushion technology and jet engines in conjunction with a concrete 'monorail'- the project was abandoned when fuel prices rocketed in the 1970s, but large sections of the track can still be seen parallel to the Nationale between Orleans and Paris.

One use of hovercraft technology that hasn't been mentioned is the movement of large components around assembly buildings.

[PhilJ W]

 

One use of hovercraft technology that hasn't been mentioned is the movement of large components around assembly buildings.

 

They are also used on road trailers for oversize loads to prevent grounding and damage to the roads.

 

[ColinK]

Bay Rescue have at least one hovercraft which they use to rescue people off the dangerous sands in Morecambe Bay.

[Fat Controller]

Bay Rescue have at least one hovercraft which they use to rescue people off the dangerous sands in Morecambe Bay.

The RNLI have several around the southern side of the Bristol Channel, again for mud rescues.

[zephyrman]

I know airfix did a kit of the N4 recently but did anyone make an N5 or N6 kit?

 

 

When the N4 was built at Cowes it was larger than the slipway. Part of the skirt was not on the slipway when they left Cowes! One of the props came off in the factory once. No one was hurt dispite it passing through several buildings!. A mix up between fingertight and tight on shift changeover

 

Thanks

[PhilJ W]

I know airfix did a kit of the N4 recently but did anyone make an N5 or N6 kit?

 

 

When the N4 was built at Cowes it was larger than the slipway. Part of the skirt was not on the slipway when they left Cowes! One of the props came off in the factory once. No one was hurt dispite it passing through several buildings!. A mix up between fingertight and tight on shift changeover

 

Thanks

Airfix made a kit of the prototype (N1?) in 1/72 scale and I do recall there being a kit for a US military hovercraft which looked a lot like an SRN5.

[Robert]

Yes - there was definitely a kit for the SRN-1, but I don't recollect a kit for the SRN-5 or SRN-6.  There was a Dinky Toys, and Matchbox SRN-6 though.

[PhilJ W]

Yes - there was definitely a kit for the SRN-1, but I don't recollect a kit for the SRN-5 or SRN-6.  There was a Dinky Toys, and Matchbox SRN-6 though.

The kit in question was of an American military hovercraft that looked very much like an SRN. It probably was an American copy built under licence and given a completely different designation. The kit itself IIRC was from a Japanese company and was only available in the UK from a few specialist traders.

EDIT There is also this model kit on e-bay # 331937447768

Edited September 23, 2016 by PhilJ W

[jjb1970]

The big USN LCAC hovercraft are extremely impressive beasts. The ultimate hovercraft is probably still the Russian/Ukrainian Zubr class, although I find those to be a bit ugly.

[Mike Storey]

The big USN LCAC hovercraft are extremely impressive beasts. The ultimate hovercraft is probably still the Russian/Ukrainian Zubr class, although I find those to be a bit ugly.

 

Depends what you are looking for. The new UK Griffon hovercraft on the IOW crossing are much quieter, apparently much more reliable and cheaper to operate and, reportedly, faster due to larger cowling and better streamlining, although the official timings have not changed. But they don't carry tanks, which I guess would be a bit of a bummer for a Russian.

 

However, Griffon do produce military craft, one of which can carry a tank or armoured vehicles, and have exported widely, to Belgium, Scandinavia and even to India. Why the Greek navy needs a Russian (made in Crimea so no longer Ukrainian) hovercraft that takes several tanks can only be presumed...