I was the last person to pilot the Princess Margret. The museum used our engines to move it into the position it is in now. We also moved the Navy one as well. Good times.
Wow, that's cool. Any chance of sharing pictures from those days? We would learn from seeing them. Please let us know of the link if you can share them... thanks for your time and consideration.
It crossed the channel in 22 minutes! I traveled on it a few times back in the late 70s. We seem to be going backwards with regards to things like this.
British government: let's destroy the hovercraft British government: let's destroy the british car industry British government: let's increase the cost of living for british people British government: let's charge british people to enter british cities British government: let's call british people rac1st British government: let's make british people wear face masks British government: let's encourage british people to hate one other British government: let's encourage british people to riot British government: let's destroy english identity British government: let's destroy london
I still work at the factory in East Cowes on the Isle of Wight where we built the 'N4' and the other models: N5,N6, N7 as we called them. We now specialise in Aerospace components. When these were built the factory was the British Hovercraft Corporation, no longer Saunders-Roe. The costs were partly due to them being built to aircraft standard, with aircraft spec materials. I helped build several N6s for the Middle East and worked on the navy's N7 and repairs on the N4s. We eventually turned to welded craft and fitted diesel engines and these were cheaper to buy and operate and the ones still used between Ryde on the Island and Southsea are later versions built elsewhere. Good days.
I was an apprentice at BHC in the late 60s, while the N4s were being built. I used to skive off from the machine shop next to the large assembly hangar to see the latest progress assembling the first SRN4. Exciting times, but parting off lengths of ally tube all day long to 1.98" +/- 0.007" (I think, drawing N4X-201) on what seemed to be a 1930s lathe did my head in with boredom. The tubes were spacers for the sandwich panels that made up the buoyancy chambers (aka chassis/car deck) that formed the central structure of the giant hovercraft. Six months after my five-year apprenticeship ended I was made redundant with about 150 others due to a lack of orders, but not before I had salvaged (with permission) the control column of the SRN-2, which I still have to this day as a souvenir. There were a lot of problems with the SRN-4 to start with, as it was groundbreaking technology and very much a case of trial and error development. These included: -the bow being smashed in by large waves. At the time the skirt was fixed much lower down, it was subsequently raised to make for better seaworthiness. -the control cabin came loose from the roof -passengers were unable to disembark because the sliding doors at the side got jammed with sand -which also got into the Proteus engines and required better intake filters -a rear propeller came adrift and cartwheeled across the roof, slicing through the engine bay I'm sure there were other dramas but I was just an 18 yo apprentice watching and listening from the sidelines. The worst thing was that we all worked on the damn things for five years but never got taken for a ride.. jeez, there was space enough. Once they were in service I had to go all the way to Ramsgate and pay for a day ticket to Calais!
3:24 Pretty badass of him. You know that's a confident engineer when they're able to stand on a vehicle on it's first serious test run. Like the ancient roman engineers who supposedly stood bellow the arches they helped to design/build when the support beams were finally removed.
I know emperor's and Kings made their architects stand behind what they made, Because if it failed or fell down they were killed. So I can imagine that they feel strongly about what they create.
One of the greatest memories of going to England with my grandparents as a small kid was riding the Concorde of the seas to France, that was back in 83...
I went a couple of times with my family when I was a kid and indeed, great memories! Well, appart from one of the trips on a smaller model (N5/6/7?) when the sea was stormy, the craft was tilting quite a bit and I was scared and a bit seasick! 😂
I also took my family and car over to France about then in a roughish sea. It was like being on a cake walk. I remember being worried about the cars suspension and my kids throwing up everywhere. The ferry is much more relaxing. Unless that is there is a heavy swell and the kids start throwiingup again. Maybe a flight is the answer until there is turbulence and then the kids start throwing up again.
@@legend9335 Must've left a lasting impression on you then. Will I find my car in a heap like car chases in the silent movies, or in one piece. You made it and it's distant, but, fond memories. Same with me. All in all Britain was different then, wish I can turn the clock back.
Thank you. We travelled on the huge SRN-4 a few times. One memorable one was in very high seas, where we were thrown around horrendously and we were very glad to land in France 🤢 Now I am disabled, I dont get around as much. But I would love to visit The Hovercraft Museum to see the wonderful craft again. Thank you again for this very enjoyable video 😊
@@andrewbowser2794 They are sucessfull. Because they do not go deep in water. No friction. They can go fast. Faster than any boat Boat too much wAter too much friction They fly above water. They are successfull.
I travelled on that SRN4, feel quite privileged to have! I was very young, 7 or so, and my parents and made a crude felt-tipped pen tshirt with something like 'we love hovercraft' on it. A steward saw this and invited us to the cockpit, i'll never forget it. Would never be allowed into any kinda largescale public transpit cockpit now!
Especially once the High Speed 1 rail line from London St. Pancras to the Channel Tunnel entrance on the English side opened. Right now, London St. Pancras to Paris Gare-du-Nord is just over two hours on the _Eurostar_ train.
davidryle I took it in 86 and am American as well. Took a regular ferry to Britain and the SRN4 back to France. Got sea sick on the regular ferry but the SRN4 ride was unpleasant as well. But it was exciting.
In Japan they just designed the train to never have a problem, apparently. Not a single fatality in over 50 years... apart from idiots who get stuck in the door because they ran on at the last second.
You had no idea something you rode forty six years ago didn't still function? That's fairly naive to how the world works. (FYI - cassettes, eight tracks, pet rocks, the Concorde, the Space Shuttle, Seinfeld, Quincy - none of these are still functional either, sorry to pop your delicate bubble).
Will Neverforgets the innovation happens on the inefficiency and cost effectiveness now. Countries don't need to impress other countries so much anymore, and gas ain't so cheap those days
@@elias_xp95 Relatively speaking, the concorde wasn't efficient (and even comfortable) enough as a transportation method and the main purpose of the aircraft was not to impress people, but to, you guess it, transport people.
Just found your channel. Just watched Concorde... I have been on both the Concorde and several times the Hovercraft. Both made me cry with their beauty. The hovercraft started its engines one by one till all four were at high speed. Then it turned away in respect and went into the water. I am so proud and lucky to have been on both and at times like these, those memories raise my spirits. Thank you for your Videos - Very enjoyable and informative. Take Care... RIP those on Concorde who died...
I missed my chance to go on the hovercraft as I am too young. I wonder what current technologies will end up with obituaries like this in the future? I wonder what trips I should take my daughter on?
Yeah, I first went on a Hovercraft out of Ramsgate Harbour proper (about a 30min ride around the bay on what I think was an SNR 5 or 6 in around 1967). Then Pegwell Bay started up and we went on Sure (a huge, noisy Hovercraft) from there to Calais. Couldn't see much out of the windows though.
@@bertiesworld I remember pegwell bay and it's hover terminal, taking the Swift, Sure and Prince of Wales to Calais. Across the Goodwin Sands. As a 9 year old I couldn't believe it. Captain announced the speed of 60 something knots. Also took one from Dover about a week before they discontinued the service. Happy memories of a thrilling machine.
I was a frequent passenger in the 80's from Dover to Calais. I enjoyed the trip much more than the shopping and sadly the journey was too quick. Often wondered what happened to this wonderful invention and thanks for this video, explains a lot. BTW the quickest journey I experienced from Dover to Calais was 22 minutes.
I'm from a village just outside of Dover and you could hear these beasts firing up and making the trip across the channel 9 miles away, as a kid fishing off the admiralty pier I used to spend hours watching these great crafts dock in and out, so impressive they were
They were amazing machines...i remember traveling across from dover to calais when i was 15.that was 33 years ago..i remember it was a sunny day and all the way across it cast a rainbow as it went because of the mist it threw up as it went along...what a shame they are no longer being used....it was a fantastic experience never thinking it would be finished a few years shortly after my journey...loved it...
I took an SRN.4 from Dover to Boulogne when I was a kid in the late 60's (I went to Britain/France on vacation with my parents). I thought it was extremely cool... But I remember it vibrated very badly. But it was very fast and I was impressed by the way it just ran right up the beach and then settled down to unload.
Both the SR-N4 Mountbatten-class cross-channel hovercraft (Princess Anne and Princess Margaret) are at the Hovercraft Museum at Lee-On-Solent now. Princess Anne, as shown in the film, is in a bit of a state having had her 4 Rolls-Royce Proteus engines and propellers and drive gear removed when she was taken out of service, along with a number of interior fittings. Fortunately the lift engines were left in place and I remember watching them hauling her up the ramp at Daedalus with heavy recovery trucks to position her at her current site. Princess Margaret, however, remains largely complete and as she retired from service, and I understand that a large number of the parts removed from Princess Anne which were retained as spares for Princess Margaret are also there as well which will immensely aid in the restoration of Princess Anne. Princess Margaret is officially still for sale and is being maintained in a serviceable condition by the staff at the hovercraft museum but it seems unlikely that she will be sold on (it is nearly 20 years since she retired from service) so she may well remain preserved at the museum for future generations to view. Of course, if you have a very large bath or garden pond and a similarly large wallet you might fancy having a toy that absolutely no-one else on earth has to play with... The footage of the SR-N1 with the skirt was also shot at HMS Daedalus, which, as well as being a Fleet Air Arm airfield and home to the Solent coast guard and search and rescue operations, was home to the Royal Navy hovercraft operations unit. It used to be a fairly common sight for the sea front road to have traffic stopped on it as a hovercraft crossed the road to launch or returned to base from operation. It was a sight that, I believe, was unique in the UK and very probably in the entire world. Hovercraft were, of course, ideally suited to roles as amphibious assault vessels though their relatively low payload capacity made them more suited to landing infantry such as the Royal Marines rather than armoured fighting vehicles so eventually the project was shelved in the more financially straitened times, though a lot of people feel that the project was shelved prematurely as it was only very shortly after this that the technological and developmental break-throughs that allowed the development of the ZUBR were made. Sadly another British innovation that went begging due to political shortsightedness...
Both the Anne and Margaret entered the museum under their own power, it was the Swift you were thinking of, it was hovered not by its own lift engines, but by 3 diesel powered fan units connected by wooden air ducting mounted on the car deck. It's a great pity that the Swift and the princess Margaret are no longer in existence.
Cleetus is a large TH-camr who builds drag cars. He once held the world record for the fastest stickshift GM car, and has a multitude of other vehicles, and even his own speedway.
Yes. it was the end of duty free sales that was the nail in the coffin for the cross channel hovercraft. without these sales , they could not make a profit
Kirk Johnson not really it was pretty common for ferry routes. For example to this day the Finland-Sweden ferries make their profit on duty free (due to Finland finagling to get the autonomous Åland region of Finland recofnnized as special tax zone, when Finland joined EU. If you visit Marienham port and go to international waters, hey presto, you are eligible for tax free status since it is concidered to be outside the EU tax zone). In turn they sell the ferry tickets on dirt cheap and even on loss lead just to get people on the ship and specially in to the tax free shop.
Kirk Johnson Taxes in Europe are really high I used to live there and frankly I have no idea where the tax money was going because the host nation we lived in seemed really underdeveloped compared to the USA.
I was on the hovercraft on the last day that it flew and it was the duty free sales that put the final nail in it's coffin, at the same time the spares for it were unobtainable even at top prices
The last thing I expected was to see a TotalBiscuit comment on this video, I was never a big fan of you I tuned into your videos once in a while but where every you are now whatever your doing I wish you the best my fellow gamer, God bless you and your family
Great video - thanks. I remember using them in the 80s for "booze-cruises" - they were just so much quicker than the ferry. But I can see why they couldn't compete with the tunnel. One more fantastic British innovation that was ahead of it's time that has died ahead of it's time sadly.
I grew up near Ramsgate where Hoverlloyd ran the SR-N4 to Calais. As a kid, watching these beasts arrive/depart was a thrill, and as a teenager we used them a couple of times. Chuffed to have lived through that time.
I rode it back in Nov. 1976 from Calais. A 3 day storm had just abated but the Channel was still chancy and the winds were as high as allowable for it to cross. In the middle of the Channel one engine died and we had to hover for 20 to 30 minutes while they worked on restarting it, weaving and bobbing in the wind. Many barf bags were filled.
About the speed limit across the English/French Channel. Remember how British Minis won the Monte Carlo 3 times, and were "disqualified" by changing the rules about car's lighting, because they knew Minis, with their sideways-on engine design, had the radiator at the SIDE, "breathing" air through slots in the wheel arch.So that meant the grill at the FRONT was just ornamental.So they were able to fit lights across the grille! They seized on this, and disqualified the Minis.Pathetic.
Such a shame that the hovercraft was scrapped!😕 Never went on one myself, but my parents, who were always sea sick, actually travelled on her, without adverse effects! 👍👍👍👍
Not on this scale, but there's still a regular hovercraft service between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight... even though the new pair that were introduced last year have been withdrawn UFN due to mechanical problems.
I understand that is the last scheduled hovercraft service in the world. Hydrofoils are getting scarce too. Soon the only fast ferries will be wave piercing catamarans.
That reminds me of my Student days in Portsmouth - caught the Hovertravel service (Portsmouth to Ryde) there and back a number of times. More expensive than taking the Wightlink ferry (but far more fun, especially in bad weather). I believe this is the only scheduled hovercraft service in the World now.
I mean it was the 1950s, they hadn't really seen anything like it before so it's method of propulsion looked alien, thus "flying saucer". I agree it's a silly name in hindsight because it doesn't even go through the sky, it's a water based vehicle but it's understandable given it was a new method of propulsion and the shape of the thing.
Karlen Bell There was a historical craze for the phrase "flying saucer." It's not bait buddy, it's a damn nickname for floating circular boat. Seems to fit pretty good.
I have three goals in life, (1) fly to New York on Concord, (2) Cross the Channel in a Hovercraft, and (3) Watch a live Space shuttle launch... Guess I'm fooked.
I was actually on the final journey across the channel, along with two members of senior P&O board members... The waves were pitching +/- 7ft and it was the most terrifying thing I've ever done. The execs decided that day that it wouldn't run again - even the return was cancelled and we had to get a ferry... I'll save you from the horror I saw when I tried to use a toilet!
With the 787-type planes coming out, it's more popular and costs about the same to fly smaller planes to more routes, rather than funneling everyone into one giant plane.
@@pandahsykes602 It's always about the money people might make from talking up climate change, never the money people are making right now by denying and maintaining the status quo.
Uhmmmm, who’s outselling Boeing so much that they can’t deliver their products for 4 years ? Fact: both Boeing and Airbus are heavily government subsidised and protected.
Went from Dover to Calais on a hoovercraft in the early eightees. In around 30 minutes or so we hoovered to France and yesss it was a great experience for a young boy aged 12 or 13. The take off and arrival were both also very special and almost unreal.
Yeah, like stones for weight. I can see it now, a glass box under a spotlight with a large oval dark blue river stone. This is the Stone standard of weight.
I crossed the channel westbound in this vessel during a fierce winter storm. The flight took well over an hour, and all flights after that were cancelled for the day. Being an insensitive twenty-something, I may have been the only person in the passenger lounge who wasn't sick. There was one pane in the front wall of glass that remained clear enough to look out at small coastal ships that were wallowing in the heavy seas. I was amazed at our speed, and at how such huge swells were smoothed out by the skirt. It would have been a very different ride at normal cruising speed in a calm sea, but I loved every second of my experience. What a machine!
Leo Sanderson yes the one which travels between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight is smaller. But it still carries passengers, and Cockrel lived and worked on the IOW
This is an amazing video. I grew up in England and remember taking the hovercraft from England to France on school trips in the late 70s early 80s...it was such a thrill.. better than the tunnel these days...thanks again. Great video of brilliant technology that is still not lost, and still effective.
Speaking of ground effect, have you seen the video, of a Piper APACHE, try to land at ST BARTS? He should have aborted, & go around, he wound up on the beach & water , do find it !
I saw a hovercraft come into Dover when I was down there seeing Hastings Battlefield.... I was miles away & to see this roar into sight was impressive. But it was bloody loud.
Took the Hovercraft across the Channel around about 1975. Incredibly rough seas that day. People who _never_ got seasick found out what it was like for those who did. (I was a quick learner on that count.) But wouldn't have missed it.
I was on it four times in the early 70's ( two return trips to France with my parents ) It was a bit cramped , no deck to walk around , very noisy and limited duty free . We used it because my dad always got very bad sea sickness on standard ferries thanks to a problem with his inner ear , but never felt sick on the hovercraft. They were quicker than the ships but when I got old enough to do the trip on my own I preferred the ferry . I would love to be able to bring my own kids for a trip on it but like the Jetfoil that used to sail from Dublin to Liverpool , it's just a fond memory . Cheers for the vid.
is there anything better than this channel? like this reminds me of how the history channel used to be. just accurate information precisely delivered and real footage to add to it. i just love it
Did anyone else make the amazing Airfix model? It had tiny VW beetles that you painted and glued onto the car deck. Unfortunately mine got filled with match heads and tissue paper and met a spectacular end in flames at the end of the back garden...the Dinky Merryweather fire engine’s hose tried valiantly to quench the flames but to no avail....
Stuart Hall Yes I remember the excitement of Christmas morning and unwrapping a huge 747 that I’d been after for years!! By Boxing Day the water slide transfers were on and it met a truly spectacular end strung up from the silver birch at the end of the garden!! I blame a combination of being obsessed with Thunderbirds and Trumpton!!! Happy times!!
@@wcatfn7928 Yes would have loved to have gone on it too- making the model made me realise how huge that hovercraft was! Sadly all of the great British engineering projects that I had models of seem to have made their final to the scrapyard including Concorde and the Advanced Passenger Train (although that was always a disaster!)
So happy I had the chance to go on one in 96. Went on holiday to the UK with the family (myself 10yo back then) and we drove from Germany to the channel and took the Hovercraft. To this day I can pretty well remember how epic it was standing on the beach and seeing these HUGE "boat" coming right at you. I will probably never forget this, impressed my younger self so much. Sad they are not in service anymore.
I absolutely loved using this. So fast and you sat on the sand dunes waiting for it. Beautiful machine. 50 knots unless the weather was bad when they slowed down and all the sick bags came out!
James Baxter guess I'll never make it, I dont even have enough money to go out. But hey at least james baxter replied my comment, I'm happy enough, I think..
I remember having crossed the Channel on one such behemoth back in 1989. The feeling on board was that of being on an airplane, with a key exception: the noise level was much higher! Nevertheless, the ride was remarkable: it was gliding smoothly on the 3ft swell, it was fast and, more than anything else, there was this sensation of being on board a truly exceptional machine. Back then, there was this fleeting feeling that the civilian hovercraft were already past their peak, however, and I boarded on one of these knowing that I wouldn't have many more opportunities to do so. 30 years later, I'm so glad I was given at least this one occasion!
Someone landed an unmanned spacecraft on a comet a few years ago but wore a loud shirt which was deemed cissexually incorrect and all the media talked about was that shirt. He was forced to apologize and still was berated afterwards. No-one remembers his name or what comet he landed the spacecraft on, but they do remember that shirt. In such a culture who wants to be an innovator? Beter stay low and quiet and make no waves. Unless you fill all the PC checkboxes then you're OK. Oops OK is problematic today as well..
I was extremely privileged to fly on this Mountbatton Class Hoverspeed to Calais, on my trip of a life time, from Dover Hovercraft port in 1989. I did three weeks through Europe ending up at my hotel in Vienna, for Christmas. I took my nearly new Vauxhall cavalier on board, then went up the little staircases up to the cabins. I still remember to this day, the noise of the panels vibrating on the ceiling!!.....I really miss these. 30 minutes and was in Calais disembarking, just loved the experience.
I was on the Boulogne - Dover several times and there is one thing you never hear mentioned. On the last trip we had 6 meter waves, that was I think the maximum the Hovercraft was allowed to fly in (yes they did not sail, but flew)... anyhow I have never ever had a more rough crossing in my life. The passengers were literally spewing and being sick left and right, I could just hardly keep it in myself.
Exactly hehehe... it was still the coolest thing you can imagine though :) The best part was watching them come ashore and take off again. Thunderbirds are GO!
Same here. I was in a flight (I loved that they called it a "flight") across the channel in the mid 1980s, and it was insane. Sometimes the craft looked like it was going sideways at a 45-degree angle. People being sick all over the place. Luckily, I wasn't seasick, perhaps because I was awed by the whole experience. What a ride!
So people water molecules are among the largest objects in the world apparently where is out literacy? A small hydrofoil uses gallons per mile of fuel to travel at subsonic speeds. Clever to blow at scale but SCALE is the issue here. Although cheap crap container ships do nothing most of there life BUT churn water. Neverclassified is the fact that around the same number even potentially mass not that that matters are head on at you. So you have a choice. Litrrally futily paddle at water or duh leap frogs probably are real animals we have yet to be inspired beyond childhood games by. It takes hours get around planet when water is smoother then land duh. Land had mountains and valleys galore you practically need to use freakishly inefficient as well wheels ON LAND! NOT SO for ocean!! Now it takes a long time to slow down a thousand miles per hour for say a dozen container ships so trailered to get around planet in a tenth of the cost doing doing so slowly imposes. Such a small trailer costs too much but to demonstrate a few billion invested in at most a few hundred has no risk. Because yanking back the thousand miles per hour one might coast down to need not occur frequently maybe dozens or fewer yanks North America to China being needed. There is essentiallu no need to get above atmosphere to go fast for free. You just have to borrow money and disrupt to open the world and end wage inequality. Round trip intercontinental travel need not have food service or even toilets. Yanking uncaps traction speed limits. The earth is too small to justify cheap speeds but five thousand miles per hour is disruptive for now DUH.
Thanks. A few years ago I tried to research these ferry boats. I had ridden on one in my younger years, and when I went to research them, very little info was available about them. This is a decent overview, although I wish more had been stated about the craft, its performance, and the ferry routes. I would have liked to see more landings and launchings and more interior shots.
There is still a hovercraft passenger service in between the isle of wight and Southsea (near Portsmouth), which is in the UK btw. They might run in other places too but I'm not sure.
I was the last person to pilot the Princess Margret. The museum used our engines to move it into the position it is in now. We also moved the Navy one as well. Good times.
Wow, that's cool. Any chance of sharing pictures from those days? We would learn from seeing them. Please let us know of the link if you can share them... thanks for your time and consideration.
Is it at Lee on the solent now?
This is very interesting ! I saw her few times at Dover
That is cool, you should consider a video sharing the story!
Marcus Ades I was on the trip also. We must be the same age. That’s soo cool
To have this video pop up is because Cleetus McFarland just purchased a scat hover craft. Amazing machines...
So I'm not the only one here because of Cleetus??
Whaaaaa
Yup
Yee yee!!
Haha wtfff😂
It crossed the channel in 22 minutes! I traveled on it a few times back in the late 70s.
We seem to be going backwards with regards to things like this.
I can remember crossing the Channel on one, it was very noisy and there was a dreadful stench of paraffin.
Seem 2 slate anything british.....we have made nearly every important invention. But u wouldn't realise it hearing the media.
It's because now it's all about fuel efficiency I supposr.
British government: let's destroy the hovercraft
British government: let's destroy the british car industry
British government: let's increase the cost of living for british people
British government: let's charge british people to enter british cities
British government: let's call british people rac1st
British government: let's make british people wear face masks
British government: let's encourage british people to hate one other
British government: let's encourage british people to riot
British government: let's destroy english identity
British government: let's destroy london
or the fact that you now have a tunnel that can get ppl across even faster
I still work at the factory in East Cowes on the Isle of Wight where we built the 'N4' and the other models: N5,N6, N7 as we called them. We now specialise in Aerospace components. When these were built the factory was the British Hovercraft Corporation, no longer Saunders-Roe. The costs were partly due to them being built to aircraft standard, with aircraft spec materials. I helped build several N6s for the Middle East and worked on the navy's N7 and repairs on the N4s. We eventually turned to welded craft and fitted diesel engines and these were cheaper to buy and operate and the ones still used between Ryde on the Island and Southsea are later versions built elsewhere. Good days.
I worked at gkn in cowes for a year too!
Rock on baby. Great days.
I was an apprentice at BHC in the late 60s, while the N4s were being built. I used to skive off from the machine shop next to the large assembly hangar to see the latest progress assembling the first SRN4. Exciting times, but parting off lengths of ally tube all day long to 1.98" +/- 0.007" (I think, drawing N4X-201) on what seemed to be a 1930s lathe did my head in with boredom. The tubes were spacers for the sandwich panels that made up the buoyancy chambers (aka chassis/car deck) that formed the central structure of the giant hovercraft. Six months after my five-year apprenticeship ended I was made redundant with about 150 others due to a lack of orders, but not before I had salvaged (with permission) the control column of the SRN-2, which I still have to this day as a souvenir.
There were a lot of problems with the SRN-4 to start with, as it was groundbreaking technology and very much a case of trial and error development. These included:
-the bow being smashed in by large waves. At the time the skirt was fixed much lower down, it was subsequently raised to make for better seaworthiness.
-the control cabin came loose from the roof
-passengers were unable to disembark because the sliding doors at the side got jammed with sand
-which also got into the Proteus engines and required better intake filters
-a rear propeller came adrift and cartwheeled across the roof, slicing through the engine bay
I'm sure there were other dramas but I was just an 18 yo apprentice watching and listening from the sidelines.
The worst thing was that we all worked on the damn things for five years but never got taken for a ride.. jeez, there was space enough. Once they were in service I had to go all the way to Ramsgate and pay for a day ticket to Calais!
@@DerekGM6 Memories eh!
@@DerekGM6 great story. Did you continue your career in engineering?
3:24
Pretty badass of him. You know that's a confident engineer when they're able to stand on a vehicle on it's first serious test run.
Like the ancient roman engineers who supposedly stood bellow the arches they helped to design/build when the support beams were finally removed.
PTNLemay Smh, no one probably press "Read More"
PTNLemay engineers have a tendency to be overly confident in their own abilities
@@getfnsed9808 Wrong.
I know emperor's and Kings made their architects stand behind what they made, Because if it failed or fell down they were killed. So I can imagine that they feel strongly about what they create.
One of the greatest memories of going to England with my grandparents as a small kid was riding the Concorde of the seas to France, that was back in 83...
i love how now you have shirt sponsors
kinda makes sense. that was a smart move by him.
He's sure to clinch the world's ugliest shirt award at this rate. Hope the prize is worth it.
I thought he was wearing it for a bet!
they should give him better shirts
From the Phyllis Diller collection.
Rode on this in '84. Yeah, noisy and a lot of vibration, but I loved it and consider myself lucky to have experienced it. Thanks, good memories.
I went a couple of times with my family when I was a kid and indeed, great memories! Well, appart from one of the trips on a smaller model (N5/6/7?) when the sea was stormy, the craft was tilting quite a bit and I was scared and a bit seasick! 😂
Same here, but in '82 liked the stewardesses rolling their Duty Free trollies just like in an aircraft. Yes indeed thanks, good memories
@Baron Von Grijffenbourg Was an awesome experience indeed. Inside an atmosphere of a Jumbo Jet with a salty sea breeze permeating the seating area.
I also took my family and car over to France about then in a roughish sea. It was like being on a cake walk. I remember being worried about the cars suspension and my kids throwing up everywhere. The ferry is much more relaxing. Unless that is there is a heavy swell and the kids start throwiingup again. Maybe a flight is the answer until there is turbulence and then the kids start throwing up again.
@@legend9335 Must've left a lasting impression on you then. Will I find my car in a heap like car chases in the silent movies, or in one piece. You made it and it's distant, but, fond memories. Same with me. All in all Britain was different then, wish I can turn the clock back.
Thank you. We travelled on the huge SRN-4 a few times. One memorable one was in very high seas, where we were thrown around horrendously and we were very glad to land in France 🤢 Now I am disabled, I dont get around as much. But I would love to visit The Hovercraft Museum to see the wonderful craft again. Thank you again for this very enjoyable video 😊
th-cam.com/video/aTfDtUFiquY/w-d-xo.html
Holy shit warn somebody when you cut in Anyone wearing that shirt! Like a countdown ticker or something.
I nearly fell out of my chair...
Mans a straight up savage with that thing. Where do you suppose the batteries go??
Reminds me of Austin Powers the spy who shagged me 🤣
No warning could prepare you for that shirt. He must have lost a big bet.
Thanks for making me laugh out loud
very interesting - as for the shirt, well I now need counselling
Savage comment😂😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣
Hahaha lmao that’s on the money!
Can't focus on anything but the shirt
You made me watch to the end!!! And yea, therapy now needed!!
@@andrewbowser2794
They are sucessfull. Because they do not go deep in water.
No friction.
They can go fast.
Faster than any boat
Boat too much wAter too much friction
They fly above water. They are successfull.
Who's here after Cleetus McFarland got his Scat?
Hahaha, I didn't even think of that.
Not because of it but yes I have seen that video.
I've seen this video like a year ago but gave it a watch again.
Big *FAN* (pun intended) of Cleetus 😎🤘🦅
LOL...you got our number man..
I do not freebase cocaine
Some of the best content on TH-cam!
Jacob Tabor Also the most underrated.
funny, i thought the very same thing, this is pretty nice stuff and also well made
True .
Shirt was worth a comment, content and polished delivery earned a like. Thank you!
I travelled on that SRN4, feel quite privileged to have! I was very young, 7 or so, and my parents and made a crude felt-tipped pen tshirt with something like 'we love hovercraft' on it. A steward saw this and invited us to the cockpit, i'll never forget it. Would never be allowed into any kinda largescale public transpit cockpit now!
I feel privileged to have rode across the channel in 1971. I'm and American and had no idea it was no longer in service. A shame.
Especially once the High Speed 1 rail line from London St. Pancras to the Channel Tunnel entrance on the English side opened. Right now, London St. Pancras to Paris Gare-du-Nord is just over two hours on the _Eurostar_ train.
davidryle I took it in 86 and am American as well. Took a regular ferry to Britain and the SRN4 back to France. Got sea sick on the regular ferry but the SRN4 ride was unpleasant as well. But it was exciting.
I dont trust bullet trains. If boat has problems you jump off and get saved. If train has problem you DIE
In Japan they just designed the train to never have a problem, apparently. Not a single fatality in over 50 years... apart from idiots who get stuck in the door because they ran on at the last second.
You had no idea something you rode forty six years ago didn't still function? That's fairly naive to how the world works. (FYI - cassettes, eight tracks, pet rocks, the Concorde, the Space Shuttle, Seinfeld, Quincy - none of these are still functional either, sorry to pop your delicate bubble).
I loved the Hovercraft and Concorde... The world of technology was more daring back then
Will Neverforgets the innovation happens on the inefficiency and cost effectiveness now. Countries don't need to impress other countries so much anymore, and gas ain't so cheap those days
The concorde were completely shit glad they died
@@ziegfeld4131 The Concorde was an engineering marvel and in no way 'shit'
Now the big powers have many safety regulations that hinder taking daring chances with innovative technology.
@@elias_xp95
Relatively speaking, the concorde wasn't efficient (and even comfortable) enough as a transportation method and the main purpose of the aircraft was not to impress people, but to, you guess it, transport people.
Just found your channel. Just watched Concorde... I have been on both the Concorde and several times the Hovercraft. Both made me cry with their beauty. The hovercraft started its engines one by one till all four were at high speed. Then it turned away in respect and went into the water. I am so proud and lucky to have been on both and at times like these, those memories raise my spirits. Thank you for your Videos - Very enjoyable and informative. Take Care... RIP those on Concorde who died...
Ah m8, I once took a return journey across the channel as a kid, and the nostalgia just hit me like a brick
i had a few school trips on the hovercraft to the isle of white... i feel the nostalgia too
I never did, but I had a Matchbox SRN6.
I missed my chance to go on the hovercraft as I am too young.
I wonder what current technologies will end up with obituaries like this in the future?
I wonder what trips I should take my daughter on?
I don't have the Matchbox Hovercraft but I have the Lego set #6473.
Thanks to those sharing channel crossing stories. They sound great.
Marc Browne you can still go on one from Portsmouth to Ryde. They even built a brand new one only last year.
August of 1991 during my month long stay in the UK we took one across to Calais, was amazing.
Yeah, I first went on a Hovercraft out of Ramsgate Harbour proper (about a 30min ride around the bay on what I think was an SNR 5 or 6 in around 1967). Then Pegwell Bay started up and we went on Sure (a huge, noisy Hovercraft) from there to Calais. Couldn't see much out of the windows though.
@@bertiesworld I remember pegwell bay and it's hover terminal, taking the Swift, Sure and Prince of Wales to Calais. Across the Goodwin Sands. As a 9 year old I couldn't believe it. Captain announced the speed of 60 something knots. Also took one from Dover about a week before they discontinued the service. Happy memories of a thrilling machine.
I was a frequent passenger in the 80's from Dover to Calais. I enjoyed the trip much more than the shopping and sadly the journey was too quick. Often wondered what happened to this wonderful invention and thanks for this video, explains a lot. BTW the quickest journey I experienced from Dover to Calais was 22 minutes.
I'm from a village just outside of Dover and you could hear these beasts firing up and making the trip across the channel 9 miles away, as a kid fishing off the admiralty pier I used to spend hours watching these great crafts dock in and out, so impressive they were
The best narrator. Top notch presentation and content.
Other notes: Wicked shirt!
I remember seeing these come into port near Dover when I was a kid. That was always an impressive sight!
a) this was a cool video. thanks!
b) having a "featured shirt" is a brilliant and non-disruptive way to do sponsorship. I like this model!
They were amazing machines...i remember traveling across from dover to calais when i was 15.that was 33 years ago..i remember it was a sunny day and all the way across it cast a rainbow as it went because of the mist it threw up as it went along...what a shame they are no longer being used....it was a fantastic experience never thinking it would be finished a few years shortly after my journey...loved it...
That was 1983..i think...
Truly an amazing venture you were able to experience! Cheers to a good story. I wish these were still common use.
I took an SRN.4 from Dover to Boulogne when I was a kid in the late 60's (I went to Britain/France on vacation with my parents). I thought it was extremely cool... But I remember it vibrated very badly. But it was very fast and I was impressed by the way it just ran right up the beach and then settled down to unload.
Both the SR-N4 Mountbatten-class cross-channel hovercraft (Princess Anne and Princess Margaret) are at the Hovercraft Museum at Lee-On-Solent now. Princess Anne, as shown in the film, is in a bit of a state having had her 4 Rolls-Royce Proteus engines and propellers and drive gear removed when she was taken out of service, along with a number of interior fittings. Fortunately the lift engines were left in place and I remember watching them hauling her up the ramp at Daedalus with heavy recovery trucks to position her at her current site. Princess Margaret, however, remains largely complete and as she retired from service, and I understand that a large number of the parts removed from Princess Anne which were retained as spares for Princess Margaret are also there as well which will immensely aid in the restoration of Princess Anne. Princess Margaret is officially still for sale and is being maintained in a serviceable condition by the staff at the hovercraft museum but it seems unlikely that she will be sold on (it is nearly 20 years since she retired from service) so she may well remain preserved at the museum for future generations to view. Of course, if you have a very large bath or garden pond and a similarly large wallet you might fancy having a toy that absolutely no-one else on earth has to play with...
The footage of the SR-N1 with the skirt was also shot at HMS Daedalus, which, as well as being a Fleet Air Arm airfield and home to the Solent coast guard and search and rescue operations, was home to the Royal Navy hovercraft operations unit. It used to be a fairly common sight for the sea front road to have traffic stopped on it as a hovercraft crossed the road to launch or returned to base from operation. It was a sight that, I believe, was unique in the UK and very probably in the entire world. Hovercraft were, of course, ideally suited to roles as amphibious assault vessels though their relatively low payload capacity made them more suited to landing infantry such as the Royal Marines rather than armoured fighting vehicles so eventually the project was shelved in the more financially straitened times, though a lot of people feel that the project was shelved prematurely as it was only very shortly after this that the technological and developmental break-throughs that allowed the development of the ZUBR were made. Sadly another British innovation that went begging due to political shortsightedness...
Both the Anne and Margaret entered the museum under their own power, it was the Swift you were thinking of, it was hovered not by its own lift engines, but by 3 diesel powered fan units connected by wooden air ducting mounted on the car deck. It's a great pity that the Swift and the princess Margaret are no longer in existence.
Wasn't expecting this video to be presented by Lord Varys.
this comment deserves far more likes
@@SanCA1812 Maybe, but many people don't get the reference. Like me.
@@sirius4k fair enough. But if you ever have some free time, do yourself a favor and watch game of thrones! You won't regret it
@@SanCA1812 meeh.. not interested. The hype killed it for me.
@@sirius4k the hype is an illusion
I wonder how many real hover craft enthusiasts are asking themselves who the hell is cleetus 😂
Facts
Cleetus is a large TH-camr who builds drag cars. He once held the world record for the fastest stickshift GM car, and has a multitude of other vehicles, and even his own speedway.
And if you're into that kind of thing, you should check it out.
...just another slack jawed yokel!
@@sdusb1243 we know Einstein
"Sales from tax free sales were making more money from sales than ticket receipts" This really is a stunning observation.
Yes. it was the end of duty free sales that was the nail in the coffin for the cross channel hovercraft. without these sales , they could not make a profit
That was the case for many ferry routes between EU countries in the 1990's.
Kirk Johnson not really it was pretty common for ferry routes. For example to this day the Finland-Sweden ferries make their profit on duty free (due to Finland finagling to get the autonomous Åland region of Finland recofnnized as special tax zone, when Finland joined EU. If you visit Marienham port and go to international waters, hey presto, you are eligible for tax free status since it is concidered to be outside the EU tax zone). In turn they sell the ferry tickets on dirt cheap and even on loss lead just to get people on the ship and specially in to the tax free shop.
Kirk Johnson Taxes in Europe are really high I used to live there and frankly I have no idea where the tax money was going because the host nation we lived in seemed really underdeveloped compared to the USA.
I was on the hovercraft on the last day that it flew and it was the duty free sales that put the final nail in it's coffin, at the same time the spares for it were unobtainable even at top prices
that shirt is next level brah
I took my car over to France on the hovercraft several times, wonderful crossing.
Now, all we need is a hovercraft aircraft carrier.
Fartonaut We need hovercraft shoes
That would be awesome take your jets anywhere you want
Thanks for a really interesting video
TotalBiscuit Rip man. :'(
F
The last thing I expected was to see a TotalBiscuit comment on this video, I was never a big fan of you I tuned into your videos once in a while but where every you are now whatever your doing I wish you the best my fellow gamer, God bless you and your family
Why does the narrator have a reptile looking face?
@@sireugenecourtney5797 becues he's a reptilian not a Human
Great video - thanks.
I remember using them in the 80s for "booze-cruises" - they were just so much quicker than the ferry.
But I can see why they couldn't compete with the tunnel.
One more fantastic British innovation that was ahead of it's time that has died ahead of it's time sadly.
Is that a shirt you are wearing? or were you attacked by 70's wallpaper?
It's the new camouflage for beachgoers
@@simonframpton2554 put a yellow wig on,sunglasses, a cigar..how's about that then?
@@nihilistcentraluk442 nice,you have a sense of humor too
I immediately paused the video when I saw it to find this comment.
Its called batek, famously use in some of SEA countries..
That shirt makes you look like an Austin powers villian 😂 yeah baby
A white cat would topped it off.
It's mojo baby!
Preparation H
One billion dollars, sticks up pinky :p
*OH* *_BEHAVE_*
I grew up near Ramsgate where Hoverlloyd ran the SR-N4 to Calais. As a kid, watching these beasts arrive/depart was a thrill, and as a teenager we used them a couple of times. Chuffed to have lived through that time.
I rode it back in Nov. 1976 from Calais. A 3 day storm had just abated but the Channel was still chancy and the winds were as high as allowable for it to cross. In the middle of the Channel one engine died and we had to hover for 20 to 30 minutes while they worked on restarting it, weaving and bobbing in the wind. Many barf bags were filled.
5:35 when you break a record, but you "break a law" to do it and it "doesn't count"
I know right? So stupid. What's the point in setting a record if there's a speed limit? We're just automatically limiting the record. It's ridiculous.
About the speed limit across the English/French Channel. Remember how British Minis won the Monte Carlo 3 times, and were "disqualified" by changing the rules about car's lighting, because they knew Minis, with their sideways-on engine design, had the radiator at the SIDE, "breathing" air through slots in the wheel arch.So that meant the grill at the FRONT was just ornamental.So they were able to fit lights across the grille! They seized on this, and disqualified the Minis.Pathetic.
That's stupid...
@@nygelmiller5293 That was so unfair. However, the perfidy sounds British.
Watching this video makes me feel privileged to be one of those that crossed the channel on one of these.
Same here. 😊
smokin shirt and great episode!
Nice shirt. I think I saw Jefferson Airplane headed that-a-way.
Shakes McTremens 70s wallpaper..
Shakes McTremens You mean Jefferson Hovercraft
Such a shame that the hovercraft was scrapped!😕
Never went on one myself, but my parents, who were always sea sick, actually travelled on her, without adverse effects!
👍👍👍👍
Claire Papadatos there are smaller ones between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, bit noisy but so fast.
Can't break the record because it's against the rules/law. This is brilliant!
Your videos always brighten my day! Thank u paul
Not on this scale, but there's still a regular hovercraft service between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight... even though the new pair that were introduced last year have been withdrawn UFN due to mechanical problems.
I understand that is the last scheduled hovercraft service in the world. Hydrofoils are getting scarce too. Soon the only fast ferries will be wave piercing catamarans.
Thanks. :) On my to-do list. www.hovertravel.co.uk/
That reminds me of my Student days in Portsmouth - caught the Hovertravel service (Portsmouth to Ryde) there and back a number of times. More expensive than taking the Wightlink ferry (but far more fun, especially in bad weather). I believe this is the only scheduled hovercraft service in the World now.
Colin Jones Not surprising, when engineering fell victim to Politcal Correctness and profiteering the results were predictable.
So what do you think that people could find politically incorrect about a hovercraft?
The hovercraft passenger ferry still runs from Southsea to Ryde.
I think they were built on the island too.
3:10 The Flying Saucer, wow, how original, it just goes to show how the media back then also liked "clickbait titles."
I mean it was the 1950s, they hadn't really seen anything like it before so it's method of propulsion looked alien, thus "flying saucer". I agree it's a silly name in hindsight because it doesn't even go through the sky, it's a water based vehicle but it's understandable given it was a new method of propulsion and the shape of the thing.
Technically , it is a saucer and it is flying. But I get your point.
Karlen Bell There was a historical craze for the phrase "flying saucer." It's not bait buddy, it's a damn nickname for floating circular boat. Seems to fit pretty good.
Jay Bee Yes but the British one actually worked ha ha!!
Your mom is click bait.
This was gold. Brillant episode!
Who needs an Uber when you’ve got a Zubr?
Zubr-class LCAC = Beast!
Comment of the year award
LAWL, good one mate
Uber should have a fleet of Hovercraft in cities on the water or with rivers and bays.
Skyace 95 who needs an uber when its driver is a robber?
Awesome, i've been on that hovercraft when i was young!
Kidney transplant
Since then, the hovercraft has progressed in leaps and bounds - which is why it's so uncomfortable to ride in (Copyright ISIRTA)
But we didn't used to say Awesome in those days.........
Timecop1983 do you know why it isnt there any more.
Didnt hear the reason or cause from that snobist
Timecop1983 I
I have three goals in life, (1) fly to New York on Concord, (2) Cross the Channel in a Hovercraft, and (3) Watch a live Space shuttle launch... Guess I'm fooked.
Those are all pointless and stupid anyways.
you need a new bucket 🤣
Having built and flown small hovercraft in the past, this brings back some great memories :) .
Ford Transit hovercraft anyone?
top gear did it
Hover van
Pazza_M140i 1-qQ
#HoverVan
I wonder what car you drive? 🤔
I was actually on the final journey across the channel, along with two members of senior P&O board members... The waves were pitching +/- 7ft and it was the most terrifying thing I've ever done. The execs decided that day that it wouldn't run again - even the return was cancelled and we had to get a ferry... I'll save you from the horror I saw when I tried to use a toilet!
It wasn't supposed to run when the swell was over 3ft high.
and now it will be the Airbus A380 that will be discontinued. Europe really has great engineers but lousy investors.
@@pandahsykes602 :Way better ROI on sociopolitical virtue signalling, than in creating/inventing things that Really work, sadly.
As if they can stop it.
With the 787-type planes coming out, it's more popular and costs about the same to fly smaller planes to more routes, rather than funneling everyone into one giant plane.
@@pandahsykes602 It's always about the money people might make from talking up climate change, never the money people are making right now by denying and maintaining the status quo.
Uhmmmm, who’s outselling Boeing so much that they can’t deliver their products for 4 years ?
Fact: both Boeing and Airbus are heavily government subsidised and protected.
Spoilers: Jackie Chan Killed it at the end of Rumble in the Bronx.
Loved that scene.
Yeah the first time i now this vehicle exist is in this movie.
Taka hiro know
"Are you OK?" "NO!" :)
VICIOUSVICTOR TEE Nope. I saw the movie on old You tube.Lamborghini kills that Orca of rubber skirt.How dude?
Went from Dover to Calais on a hoovercraft in the early eightees. In around 30 minutes or so we hoovered to France and yesss it was a great experience for a young boy aged 12 or 13. The take off and arrival were both also very special and almost unreal.
When I was little I had an SRN-4 Matchbox car toy. Too bad I never got to ride on a real one.
Helium Road Did you use it to carry your toy cars across a carpet?
I wish, but it wasn't to scale, it was the same size as all other Matchbox cars.
I know... I had one too. In fact, I think almost everybody in my peer group had one but the little propellors were usually missing.
www.70er-matchbox.de/m_1972_oi_hovercraft_nr_72_matchbox.jpg
Yes that's the one, I guess it wasn't a full-size 4 model but still way out of scale.
I'm living on Volga and I can see machines like this every winter
In Russia, Craft hover You.
In this video I was simply astounded by Hover Crafts and hardly noticed the shirt.
Thank you for mentioning metric units.
johaarup Fuck off
For those outside of the US and UK.
It uses both.
Yeah, like stones for weight. I can see it now, a glass box under a spotlight with a large oval dark blue river stone. This is the Stone standard of weight.
That's how the Metric system was as well for a LONG time.
One official meter stick kept in a vault at a specified temperature.
I always thought that hovercraft could do away with the TeeVee show "Ice Road Truckers".
Thought the same thing. More than 19 loads in 4 months.
They'd have to clear a WIDE roadway, and the things were NEVER economical for carrying loads.
Quite expensive per pound carried, low total capacity.
I crossed the channel westbound in this vessel during a fierce winter storm. The flight took well over an hour, and all flights after that were cancelled for the day. Being an insensitive twenty-something, I may have been the only person in the passenger lounge who wasn't sick. There was one pane in the front wall of glass that remained clear enough to look out at small coastal ships that were wallowing in the heavy seas. I was amazed at our speed, and at how such huge swells were smoothed out by the skirt. It would have been a very different ride at normal cruising speed in a calm sea, but I loved every second of my experience. What a machine!
can make a video about the replacement vessels you mention @7:06
He doesn’t mention how the hovercraft is still used for passenger travel between the Isle of Wight and Portsmouth
It's not there out of service in Portsmouth there is way smaller ones
Leo Sanderson yes the one which travels between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight is smaller. But it still carries passengers, and Cockrel lived and worked on the IOW
Actually is Southsea nrt Portsmouth
Saint Vader no it is Portsmouth, the service is called Ryde - Portsmouth
@@MikeWoody335 £18 return. Worth the quick ride on it.
This is an amazing video. I grew up in England and remember taking the hovercraft from England to France on school trips in the late 70s early 80s...it was such a thrill.. better than the tunnel these days...thanks again. Great video of brilliant technology that is still not lost, and still effective.
GEV (Ground Effect Vehicle) would be interesting topic to cover.
Yes, I was just thinking that. Caspian Sea Monster! Very interesting machines.
Da ! Ekranoplan for the win(d)
And aérotrain / hover trains.
And SWATH ships...
Speaking of ground effect, have you seen the video, of a Piper APACHE, try to land at ST BARTS? He should have aborted, & go around, he wound up on the beach & water , do find it !
Great story on a cool machine
I remembered seeing one of these in a Hongkong movie, almost forgot this technology existed, amazing.
I remember seeing this whenever I went over to France on the ferry.
I'm a Hovercraft fan and liked the concept, but they had cheaper competition that drastically reduced their usefulness - thanks for the great update.
Hovercraft "fan," hehe, I see what you did there
I loved going on these! Always so exciting and getting to France really quickly.
I saw a hovercraft come into Dover when I was down there seeing Hastings Battlefield.... I was miles away & to see this roar into sight was impressive. But it was bloody loud.
I beg to differ... The shirt is louder :p
Took the Hovercraft across the Channel around about 1975. Incredibly rough seas that day. People who _never_ got seasick found out what it was like for those who did. (I was a quick learner on that count.) But wouldn't have missed it.
I, too, travelled on a Hovercraft in about the same year as you.
It was exciting, and I expected that there would be many more to come. Alas.
I was on it four times in the early 70's ( two return trips to France with my parents ) It was a bit cramped , no deck to walk around , very noisy and limited duty free . We used it because my dad always got very bad sea sickness on standard ferries thanks to a problem with his inner ear , but never felt sick on the hovercraft. They were quicker than the ships but when I got old enough to do the trip on my own I preferred the ferry . I would love to be able to bring my own kids for a trip on it but like the Jetfoil that used to sail from Dublin to Liverpool , it's just a fond memory . Cheers for the vid.
I hear they were constantly full of eels.
It is no more. It has ceased to be...
...it is an ex-hovercraft!
Before I watched the video I had to look for this comment. I’m happy now.
it was just a scratch
nbvw3, you are charged with maliciously publishing a false English-Belgian phrase book.
How different D-day would have looked with Zubers as landing craft.
is there anything better than this channel? like this reminds me of how the history channel used to be. just accurate information precisely delivered and real footage to add to it. i just love it
I loved that shirt, I really do. It just shocked me a little.
Did anyone else make the amazing Airfix model? It had tiny VW beetles that you painted and glued onto the car deck.
Unfortunately mine got filled with match heads and tissue paper and met a spectacular end in flames at the end of the back garden...the Dinky Merryweather fire engine’s hose tried valiantly to quench the flames but to no avail....
Those were the days! Airfix aircraft were fantastic to burn too as they left a very realistic, acrid, black smoke trail across the back garden!
Stuart Hall Yes I remember the excitement of Christmas morning and unwrapping a huge 747 that I’d been after for years!! By Boxing Day the water slide transfers were on and it met a truly spectacular end strung up from the silver birch at the end of the garden!! I blame a combination of being obsessed with Thunderbirds and Trumpton!!!
Happy times!!
I’ve seen the model, but I can’t remember if it was the 1:72 scale version.
@@wcatfn7928 Yes would have loved to have gone on it too- making the model made me realise how huge that hovercraft was!
Sadly all of the great British engineering projects that I had models of seem to have made their final to the scrapyard including Concorde and the Advanced Passenger Train (although that was always a disaster!)
So happy I had the chance to go on one in 96. Went on holiday to the UK with the family (myself 10yo back then) and we drove from Germany to the channel and took the Hovercraft. To this day I can pretty well remember how epic it was standing on the beach and seeing these HUGE "boat" coming right at you. I will probably never forget this, impressed my younger self so much. Sad they are not in service anymore.
I'm a simple man, I see a new Curious Droid video in my feed, I click.
The Solent hovercraft still runs and is booked out in the summer.
Been on that many times Portsmouth-Ryde, IoW
I absolutely loved using this. So fast and you sat on the sand dunes waiting for it. Beautiful machine. 50 knots unless the weather was bad when they slowed down and all the sick bags came out!
I live minutes from the Hovercraft musuem and that SR-N4 is enormous! It sits in front of the gates and is a beast!!!
It should have gone up the ramp, then along the A2 all the way up to London
Given the state of the A2/M2 it would have been a smoother ride!
I travelled from Calais to Dover by Hovercraft in August 1984. It was a very good experience. The onboard service was nice. :)
I've always been fascinated by hovercraft since the first time I read about it, Thanks for making this video.
Wish I could ride one, someday.
Dennis Bunjamin be in the military or go to a place that they use one
Go to the Isle of Wight! Last public operating hovercraft service in the world still going.
James Baxter guess I'll never make it, I dont even have enough money to go out. But hey at least james baxter replied my comment, I'm happy enough, I think..
Where do you get all this incredible old content for your videos?
I remember having crossed the Channel on one such behemoth back in 1989. The feeling on board was that of being on an airplane, with a key exception: the noise level was much higher! Nevertheless, the ride was remarkable: it was gliding smoothly on the 3ft swell, it was fast and, more than anything else, there was this sensation of being on board a truly exceptional machine. Back then, there was this fleeting feeling that the civilian hovercraft were already past their peak, however, and I boarded on one of these knowing that I wouldn't have many more opportunities to do so. 30 years later, I'm so glad I was given at least this one occasion!
I remember that hovercraft very well when we went on a school trip from Calais to Dover, Almost everyone was vomiting :)
Lucky you. The time I crossed the Channel on a school ski trip to Austria we took the regular ferry. Everyone was vomiting for much longer.
Christ that shirt is so loud the earth's core will still be ringing in 22 years time 🤨
It's still less loud than that hovercraft.
Someone landed an unmanned spacecraft on a comet a few years ago but wore a loud shirt which was deemed cissexually incorrect and all the media talked about was that shirt. He was forced to apologize and still was berated afterwards. No-one remembers his name or what comet he landed the spacecraft on, but they do remember that shirt. In such a culture who wants to be an innovator? Beter stay low and quiet and make no waves. Unless you fill all the PC checkboxes then you're OK. Oops OK is problematic today as well..
I was extremely privileged to fly on this Mountbatton Class Hoverspeed to Calais, on my trip of a life time, from Dover Hovercraft port in 1989. I did three weeks through Europe ending up at my hotel in Vienna, for Christmas. I took my nearly new Vauxhall cavalier on board, then went up the little staircases up to the cabins. I still remember to this day, the noise of the panels vibrating on the ceiling!!.....I really miss these. 30 minutes and was in Calais disembarking, just loved the experience.
So good
I was on the Boulogne - Dover several times and there is one thing you never hear mentioned. On the last trip we had 6 meter waves, that was I think the maximum the Hovercraft was allowed to fly in (yes they did not sail, but flew)... anyhow I have never ever had a more rough crossing in my life. The passengers were literally spewing and being sick left and right, I could just hardly keep it in myself.
Exactly hehehe... it was still the coolest thing you can imagine though :)
The best part was watching them come ashore and take off again. Thunderbirds are GO!
Same here. I was in a flight (I loved that they called it a "flight") across the channel in the mid 1980s, and it was insane. Sometimes the craft looked like it was going sideways at a 45-degree angle. People being sick all over the place. Luckily, I wasn't seasick, perhaps because I was awed by the whole experience. What a ride!
True. Thank God I wasn't affected but my poor old Dad literally turned green. On both crossings.
So people water molecules are among the largest objects in the world apparently where is out literacy?
A small hydrofoil uses gallons per mile of fuel to travel at subsonic speeds.
Clever to blow at scale but SCALE is the issue here.
Although cheap crap container ships do nothing most of there life BUT churn water.
Neverclassified is the fact that around the same number even potentially mass not that that matters are head on at you.
So you have a choice. Litrrally futily paddle at water or duh leap frogs probably are real animals we have yet to be inspired beyond childhood games by.
It takes hours get around planet when water is smoother then land duh.
Land had mountains and valleys galore you practically need to use freakishly inefficient as well wheels ON LAND!
NOT SO for ocean!!
Now it takes a long time to slow down a thousand miles per hour for say a dozen container ships so trailered to get around planet in a tenth of the cost doing doing so slowly imposes.
Such a small trailer costs too much but to demonstrate a few billion invested in at most a few hundred has no risk.
Because yanking back the thousand miles per hour one might coast down to need not occur frequently maybe dozens or fewer yanks North America to China being needed.
There is essentiallu no need to get above atmosphere to go fast for free.
You just have to borrow money and disrupt to open the world and end wage inequality.
Round trip intercontinental travel need not have food service or even toilets.
Yanking uncaps traction speed limits.
The earth is too small to justify cheap speeds but five thousand miles per hour is disruptive for now DUH.
Thanks. A few years ago I tried to research these ferry boats. I had ridden on one in my younger years, and when I went to research them, very little info was available about them. This is a decent overview, although I wish more had been stated about the craft, its performance, and the ferry routes. I would have liked to see more landings and launchings and more interior shots.
This was really interesting. I wondered what had happened to the hovercraft and now I know. Thank you very much.
There is still a hovercraft passenger service in between the isle of wight and Southsea (near Portsmouth), which is in the UK btw. They might run in other places too but I'm not sure.
Jesse Librack-Balroop Thanks very much for this information. I thought that the hovercraft was a thing of the past but I am glad that it is not.
I still have the airfix kit
Watching old time footage: mmh, interesting.
Shirt appears: go to comments, immediately.
Exactly 😂🤣 😂💯 man. Literally did that...still crying laughing...oh God🤣😂🤣😂