They were marvellous. Rode only once on a cross channel hovercraft in 1984. Physically - like sitting on a washing machine. Personally - amazing, such a change from the 75 minute Townsend Thoresen /Sealink shopping and booze "experience" 😊
I'm old enough to be able to remember the first SR-N1, and "Airfix" made a model also! I hate the waiting for a ferry, or a similar - train, so in my home Denmark we have only built real bridges or tunnels and we are now building a proper Tunnel for trains and cars to ride for themselves during the 19 km below to Germany! As now 77 I may not be able to experience it, but I still hope to be able to drive under Fehmarnbelt! Finn. Denmark
I lived in Dover, my main recollection was their noise which filled the town. I also saw the landing of an early experimental saucer design hovercraft close to the Prince of Wales pier on a Sunday. Quite a crowd gathered. Later when it took off it turned round and its backdraft lifted a huge murmer of Sunday hats into the air wafting them onto the waters of the wet dock behind.
That would have been the srn1. The first hovercraft. Christopher cockerell, the inventor was on that test flight. He actually had to move around to act as ballast. It was shortly afterwards that they realised that in that form hovercrafts were only seaworthy in very calm conditions so that's where the skirt was developed. The srn2 which was designed without a skirt originally was redesigned to have one before it was put into service.
When my sister lived in northern France I frequently used the Dover Calais service. On one occasion we left Calais, hit a squall a couple of km out and bounced around for around 90 minutes with everyione except the stewardesses (who seemed to be made of sterner stuff) throwing up. After all that we ended up back in Calais and had to get the ferry. The Dover Oostende jetfoli service was great though they frequently cancelled it for 'operational reasons' which I suspect meant not enough passengers.
I travelled several times from England to France aboard these large hovercraft as a teenager in the 1970's. There were two routes - Hoverspeed (owned by British Rail and SNCF - French Railways) from Dover and Hoverlloyd (a private company) from Ramsgate. The services were operated as 'flights' with flight numbers and airline style tickets. Seating on board was similar to economy class aircraft seating (but without seat belts) with two seating areas one on each side of the hovercraft with the cars in the middle. The average crossing time was around 30 minutes. I liked the hovercraft but, unlike the ferry which took around one and a quarter hours on the shortest crossing (Dover to Calais), you had to remain seated on the hovercraft like on an aircraft with no walking around or sitting outside on the deck, no bars or restaurants or duty free shops to wander around. If you take away the thrill and excitement of travelling on a hovercraft, I think I have a preference for the ferry.
Brilliant as ever mate! I come from East Kent, between Pegwell bay and Dover, we saw it as a noisy bus, that you couldn't see out the windows, but meant you could get yer duty free quickly!
My Dad treated me to a pleasure flight on a Hoverlloyd SRN-6 while we were on holiday in Kent in the 60s. I can't remember whether it was on "Swift" or "Sure". Maybe 20 minutes out and back from Ramsgate. It was noisy and rather bumpy but very exciting. The tickets were like flight coupons, as the video said. I've still got them.
Very good overlook over the history and financial background of these exceptionally well built machines! They had their time - lasting for decades - but their economical basis vanished over time. The operators did an outstanding job in maintaining and operating, I never rode on one myself, but the sheer numbers give me goosebumps. I think there would still be economical vaiable applicatons for new silent hovercrafts, but we live in a time, that focuses on all the wrong things draining the power from brilliant and corageous engineers and entrepreneurs.
I'm from Northern France and I rode on the big Seaspeed beasts 3 separate times when I was a kid. 2 of the crossings were on smooth water, but the 3rd was a little rougher and, wow, it was a rollercoaster ride! I miss those giant awesome loud beasts.
Was on these just about every month during the time I lived in the U.K. Noisy, not very comfortable and the spray made the windows to be all "milky" from the salt water and almost impossible to see out. But fast. And "landing" on the beach was always interesting.
Yes. But as a 12 year old I loved it and after a helicopter flight to the Scilly isles I only had Concorde and the Space Shuttle left on my bucket list. Sadly I never managed either, but 1984 was different time with more optimism.
17:45 The mention of Kleiwort Benson merchant bank and 14:31 the view of its City office block at 20 Fenchurch Street where the "Walkie Talkie" stands today.
Excellent Ruairidh! We used to sit front right going to France if there was a slight swell, it was fun. We also used to travel on a Boeing hydrofoil to Belgium which was also a 'flight'. That was was when there were choices...
Travel on one with a car from France to Dover in the mid 80s. Have to say the ride was a bit bumpy. But it was memorable because when waiting with my car to board, a squadron of Black Watch who were also waiting in their coaches (supposedly returning from Germany back home) got off their transport and performed a impromptu bagpipes Tattoo for the waiting car passengers. Relisg.
I went on the hovercraft a few times in the 80s and early 90s Someone in the comments described the experience as "traveling on a washing machine" which is a pretty good description However my last trip on it in i think 92 was a day trip from a special offer in a newspaper (cant remember which) It was midweek late winter/early spring. Misty day and flat calm. It was probably the best trip i had on it
I recall crossing from Pegwell Bay on a school trip in the mid 1970s. Somewhat choppy on the way out the vibration & sea state induced considerable nausea - the only saving grace being that the flight was over quickly! The Hoverlloyd' stewardesses were very attentive to the passengers afflicted.
I remember travelling across the channel on the Princess Anne in the early 70's. I was so disappointed it wasn't Swift. Swift was in a information cutaway book that I had. We went from Pegwell Bay, Ramsgate to Calais. It was amazing going across the Goodwin Sands when the tide was out. My main memory was the noise and the spray on the windows obscuring any views. A wonderful and lucky experience.
As mentioned by many others, highly informative, interesting and part of our long lost engineering skills by British owned companies that added to our national pride
I spent two summer holidays in southern England with my parents and sister, over 40 years ago. The first time was with the giant SR.N4 hovercraft. What a smooth ride! Or flight, or whatever. The second year was with a ship, a normal ferry. A bit of a bumpy ride and I got sick.
I used to deliver hover speeds duty free to them to there little buildind next to the pad on right side Aldders international. in 80s and 90s in Dover and watchmaking these craft fly bit like concorde was always amazing to watch. U could only drive across the pad with the traffic lights.
Living on the south coast, i used to belong to the hovercraft society. They used to charter srn4s for trips to goodwin sands where smaller hovercraft on the car deck would fly out and whizz round the sands. Also had an opportunity to visit the flight deck. Its interesting how the can control these craft like put the front and rear pylons in opposing directions with the pitches of the front and rear. Oropellers in opposing pitches which would cause the craft to move sideways.
I've never found a picture of a coach actually being on the hovercraft. However, I worked with a guy that said he used to put them on there. This would probably have been for National Holidays and he said that, due to the size restriction, they could only use the smaller Bova Europa. Whilst he had many photos of his long career, he he didn't have one of the coach on there.
I crossed the Channel by hovercraft shortly before the services closure with my Citroën XM on board. I still own a vibrating brush model hovercraft bought on that trip. Once a boy always a boy I guess. Happy memories.
I rode the hovercraft in the early '70s, put my Austin Mini van on it. A disadvantage was that outward visibility was nil, sand and water blew up onto the windows right away.
Awesome machines. The obsession with profits always kills these amazing ventures. When man learns to see beyond money and pursues dreams and fantastic ideas for the joy and satisfaction of pursuing them then we will get somewhere without the hindrance of profit or loss. Your quoting of monetarist figures is such a bore in the face of the joy and delight these incredible craft invoked in travellers. Some great footage. 👍
Milton J Friedman built the gruesome idol of Shareholders First economic model. It was beta tested in the U.K. before its final development as Reaganomics. Both of which were made into permanent conditions and resulting in terminality for the U.S. and U.K. The obsession with profits is driven exclusively by paying the sacred shareholders first and foremost. Further elaboration is not possible on yeau touhbe and for reasons that one should know by now.
@@neiloflongbeck5705 The neoliberal economic model that determines price vs value is badly flawed. Much of the spending is for parrrassitic drains, like interest and counterproductive regulations. Both take capital away from modernization and improvement.
For transportation fans, they sold cheap day trip tickets, just cross and immediately back, weren't allowed to pass customs. Did this as a kid! I think bumpiness depended a bit on where you would sit.
I think it would help to explain that the purpose of such trips was duty free shopping and the savings made on tobacco and alcohol purchases would more than cover the cost of the trip.
I was fortunate to ride on one the cross channel hover craft even though the ride was making passengers uncomfortable and sick due to rough weather. Very different to the rock steady hydrofoil I rode on when visiting Sydney one time albeit in finer weather.
Cockerell did his early development work on hovercraft in Suffolk. The village of Somerleyton has the "hovercraft column" that's a tribute to Cockerell. A top the column is a sculpture in 1:1 scale of Cockerell's prototype test model. Somerleyyon has been called the birthplace of the hovercraft (I grew up in one of the next-door villages). By the way, the plural of hovercraft is hovercraft, the same as the plural for aircraft and sheep, i.e. no "s" on the end.
Always wanted to travel on one of these, too late now though😂been told they were very noisy & made you sea/air sick though! Another very interesting video, thank you 😊
@@CaymanIslandsCatWalksyep I’m off the the Isle of Wight from Southsea next year just in case Hovercraft disappear completely soon and I don’t miss out. Went on the big SRN4 to Calais back in the eighties as a kid and was sick on both legs of the journey, so hoping for better on the shorter IOW crossing!
i would of been maybe 5 years old when the srn4's were retired, so i sadly never got to see them in action. i did see the two survivors together before the princess Margaret was scrapped, through the fence. i have also since been to visit the sole survivor and been on board, and it's a truly impressive machine. i will say however, when i went the weather was awful , the car hangar had multiple leaks that buckets were catching, the back of one of the passenger cabin floors was collapsing, and even after all this time, the cabin STANK of cigarettes and was nicotine stained. as much as i want to see the last srn4 preserved long term, with the condition it was in when i visited, i am skeptical of how much longer it will be around for. it did solidify my want to travel on a hovercraft though, so in that same week i decided to take the hovercraft from south sea to ryde and back, and coming up onto the hover is an absolutely surreal experience!
I regret not taking the hovercraft. I took the ferry instead because that was cheaper and I wasn't in a hurry. I assumed the hovercraft would always be an option 😕
I remember travelling in 1968 from Dover to Calais with my late parents and the sea was so rough that it took off on a big wave and thumped back down in the trough, causing mum to be violently sick 🤮
In my eyes, the SR N6 was the best looking craft ever. It just looks right. Nice proportions and technically probably the best craft of the lot. Bigger is not always better.
As far as I'm aware, Westland only got involved in hovercraft when it merged with Saunders-Roe as part of the consolidation of the UK aviation industry in the 1960s. The hovercraft interests of Saunders-Roe hovercraft division of Westland and those of Vickers Supermarine were merged into the British Hovercraft Corporation in 1966.
The opening of the Channel Tunnel more than just killed the Hoverspeed service. It ended up severely cutting in the airline flights between Paris and London in general, particularly once the High Speed 1 line opened in 2007, which reduced the travel time from central London to central Paris to 2 hours 14 minutes one-way.
We did crossings on both companies hovercraft back in the 70s, my photos of Hoverlloyd craft are getting very brown and in need of restoration. Amazing stuff though, if a bit vibratey :)
Good video BUT you missed out the SRN2 (?), which I understood to be the world's first commercial, passenger carrying, hovercraft service. It operated around the wirral in the early 60's. I travelled on this in my early teens. They gave a certificate to (younger) passengers which I have regrettably lost. I tried to check this on Wikipedia but, while the SRN2 is mentioned there is no reference to the Wirral service. I don't believe it ran for long. All seats faced rearward and I recall a rather bumpy ride.
Why, oh why aren't you more popular/narrating documentaries for like. BBC Horizon; you have such a great speaking voice that lends a sense of authority and information, like. I love a lot of your videos; I just watch the episodes on things that I'm not wholly interested in because you have such fantastic and authoritative narration.
Spot on. The windows were coated with dried salt and the spray meant you couldn't see anything. On the plus side were the novelty value and a decent gin & tonic.
Largest propellers in the World at 5.8 meters and a fuel burn of only 1000 gallon an hour that not much for four Proteus turboprops. Amazing machines. But fuel prices in 1970's were all over the show. Saunders Roe made some ground breaking kit like the Princess flying boat with 8 coupled propellers on 4 Proteus turboshaft engines and another two Proteus Turboprops for luck. Check out Farnborough air show
Good work. Fabulous ships, these. Coolest way to get to England ever. Even if you should have had an Aston Martin rather than a Mini (me) to use it. All else is British as usual. Due to fail on all sorts of grounds and reasons. As if nobody knew, well ahead of time, that these buckets would use a biblical amount of jet fuel. Duh.
1:11 that’s why all scientific and technological advances must always be debunked and those trying to make any such suggestions must always be dismissed and silenced as much as possible, in all cases
Any one in the Southampton area the hovercraft museum is well worth a visit with the only srn4 still there along with many others they are even looking to have to move the srn4 in the near future due to part of there site being redeveloped and some new buildings coming to the site
Is it one of the many things from the past. That is due a refreshed look because of the devolpment of modern practices in engineering. 2024 style. If you mixed the akranoplan with the hovercraft you might have something
Another brilliant video with no ads or promotions, thank you Ruairidh.
@GuyGibsonsDogNothing wrong with showing appreciation, honi soit qui mal y pense.
Although I have a strong desire to ride the Hoverspeed to France again 😅
@@anderspedersen7488gratitude is essential for true happiness 😊
Except for the annoying voice.
@@e28forever30it’s not cope harder
I loved going on those, it was like flying on an airplane through a rainstorm.
The Hovercraft Museum at Lee On Solent is well worth a visit. The volunteers are fantastic too.
On my things to do list when I get the time.
@@fullmetalp0tat066Give yourself at least half a day to see everything - the museum is excellent.
It is. I watched them bring in 2 of those srn4s back in the day.
They were marvellous. Rode only once on a cross channel hovercraft in 1984. Physically - like sitting on a washing machine.
Personally - amazing, such a change from the 75 minute Townsend Thoresen /Sealink shopping and booze "experience" 😊
Love myself some hovercraft. Never traveled on one though although I just might visit the Isle of Wight just for that
That's probably the only reason to visit the IOW 😂
I'm old enough to be able to remember the first SR-N1, and "Airfix" made a model also! I hate the waiting for a ferry, or a similar - train, so in my home Denmark we have only built real bridges or tunnels and we are now building a proper Tunnel for trains and cars to ride for themselves during the 19 km below to Germany! As now 77 I may not be able to experience it, but I still hope to be able to drive under Fehmarnbelt! Finn. Denmark
Got to ride the hovercraft before they were decommissioned on the service to Calais. It was an amazing trip. So glad I experienced it.
I lived in Dover, my main recollection was their noise which filled the town. I also saw the landing of an early experimental saucer design hovercraft close to the Prince of Wales pier on a Sunday. Quite a crowd gathered. Later when it took off it turned round and its backdraft lifted a huge murmer of Sunday hats into the air wafting them onto the waters of the wet dock behind.
That would have been the srn1. The first hovercraft. Christopher cockerell, the inventor was on that test flight. He actually had to move around to act as ballast. It was shortly afterwards that they realised that in that form hovercrafts were only seaworthy in very calm conditions so that's where the skirt was developed. The srn2 which was designed without a skirt originally was redesigned to have one before it was put into service.
When my sister lived in northern France I frequently used the Dover Calais service. On one occasion we left Calais, hit a squall a couple of km out and bounced around for around 90 minutes with everyione except the stewardesses (who seemed to be made of sterner stuff) throwing up. After all that we ended up back in Calais and had to get the ferry.
The Dover Oostende jetfoli service was great though they frequently cancelled it for 'operational reasons' which I suspect meant not enough passengers.
I travelled several times from England to France aboard these large hovercraft as a teenager in the 1970's. There were two routes - Hoverspeed (owned by British Rail and SNCF - French Railways) from Dover and Hoverlloyd (a private company) from Ramsgate. The services were operated as 'flights' with flight numbers and airline style tickets. Seating on board was similar to economy class aircraft seating (but without seat belts) with two seating areas one on each side of the hovercraft with the cars in the middle. The average crossing time was around 30 minutes.
I liked the hovercraft but, unlike the ferry which took around one and a quarter hours on the shortest crossing (Dover to Calais), you had to remain seated on the hovercraft like on an aircraft with no walking around or sitting outside on the deck, no bars or restaurants or duty free shops to wander around. If you take away the thrill and excitement of travelling on a hovercraft, I think I have a preference for the ferry.
Brilliant as ever mate! I come from East Kent, between Pegwell bay and Dover, we saw it as a noisy bus, that you couldn't see out the windows, but meant you could get yer duty free quickly!
My Dad treated me to a pleasure flight on a Hoverlloyd SRN-6 while we were on holiday in Kent in the 60s. I can't remember whether it was on "Swift" or "Sure". Maybe 20 minutes out and back from Ramsgate. It was noisy and rather bumpy but very exciting. The tickets were like flight coupons, as the video said. I've still got them.
I traveled to France and back to the UK in 1981 , it was described as a flight, and was extremely smooth and speedy, such a shame they no longer exist
I "flew" from Paris to London in 1982 on a single ticket. Train-coach-hovercraft-coach-train. It was amazing and so professional.
Very good overlook over the history and financial background of these exceptionally well built machines! They had their time - lasting for decades - but their economical basis vanished over time. The operators did an outstanding job in maintaining and operating, I never rode on one myself, but the sheer numbers give me goosebumps. I think there would still be economical vaiable applicatons for new silent hovercrafts, but we live in a time, that focuses on all the wrong things draining the power from brilliant and corageous engineers and entrepreneurs.
I think your mean 'lasting for decades', centuries would be over 100 years... lol
@@dougle03 Ups, you are right, thank you! I have changed it.
I saw these when on holiday in Ostend in 1981 and 1982, quite the dramatic entrance to a young me at the time.
I don't believe there was ever a hovercraft service to Ostend.
I'm from Northern France and I rode on the big Seaspeed beasts 3 separate times when I was a kid. 2 of the crossings were on smooth water, but the 3rd was a little rougher and, wow, it was a rollercoaster ride!
I miss those giant awesome loud beasts.
Was on these just about every month during the time I lived in the U.K. Noisy, not very comfortable and the spray made the windows to be all "milky" from the salt water and almost impossible to see out. But fast. And "landing" on the beach was always interesting.
Yes. But as a 12 year old I loved it and after a helicopter flight to the Scilly isles I only had Concorde and the Space Shuttle left on my bucket list. Sadly I never managed either, but 1984 was different time with more optimism.
Travelled on it many times..BRILLIANT😊😊
Very awesome and informative video as always ❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉
17:45 The mention of Kleiwort Benson merchant bank and 14:31 the view of its City office block at 20 Fenchurch Street where the "Walkie Talkie" stands today.
Excellent Ruairidh! We used to sit front right going to France if there was a slight swell, it was fun. We also used to travel on a Boeing hydrofoil to Belgium which was also a 'flight'. That was was when there were choices...
Travel on one with a car from France to Dover in the mid 80s. Have to say the ride was a bit bumpy. But it was memorable because when waiting with my car to board, a squadron of Black Watch who were also waiting in their coaches (supposedly returning from Germany back home) got off their transport and performed a impromptu bagpipes Tattoo for the waiting car passengers. Relisg.
I went on the hovercraft a few times in the 80s and early 90s
Someone in the comments described the experience as "traveling on a washing machine" which is a pretty good description
However my last trip on it in i think 92 was a day trip from a special offer in a newspaper (cant remember which)
It was midweek late winter/early spring. Misty day and flat calm. It was probably the best trip i had on it
Oh how I wish I'd had the chance to travel on these. They're just so awesome
I recall crossing from Pegwell Bay on a school trip in the mid 1970s. Somewhat choppy on the way out the vibration & sea state induced considerable nausea - the only saving grace being that the flight was over quickly! The Hoverlloyd' stewardesses were very attentive to the passengers afflicted.
I remember travelling across the channel on the Princess Anne in the early 70's. I was so disappointed it wasn't Swift. Swift was in a information cutaway book that I had. We went from Pegwell Bay, Ramsgate to Calais. It was amazing going across the Goodwin Sands when the tide was out. My main memory was the noise and the spray on the windows obscuring any views. A wonderful and lucky experience.
Took this when was 10. Loved it
As mentioned by many others, highly informative, interesting and part of our long lost engineering skills by British owned companies that added to our national pride
1:10 well played sir!
I spent two summer holidays in southern England with my parents and sister, over 40 years ago. The first time was with the giant SR.N4 hovercraft. What a smooth ride! Or flight, or whatever. The second year was with a ship, a normal ferry. A bit of a bumpy ride and I got sick.
The idea continued to be‘floated’! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I caught that too. Quite the pun
But its slowly sinking
I was sinking the same thing!
I loved going on these beasts.. truly awesome
I used to deliver hover speeds duty free to them to there little buildind next to the pad on right side Aldders international. in 80s and 90s in Dover and watchmaking these craft fly bit like concorde was always amazing to watch. U could only drive across the pad with the traffic lights.
I went on this in the 1980s it was amazing extremely quick fast
Living on the south coast, i used to belong to the hovercraft society. They used to charter srn4s for trips to goodwin sands where smaller hovercraft on the car deck would fly out and whizz round the sands. Also had an opportunity to visit the flight deck. Its interesting how the can control these craft like put the front and rear pylons in opposing directions with the pitches of the front and rear. Oropellers in opposing pitches which would cause the craft to move sideways.
Excellent video - thanks!
I've never found a picture of a coach actually being on the hovercraft. However, I worked with a guy that said he used to put them on there. This would probably have been for National Holidays and he said that, due to the size restriction, they could only use the smaller Bova Europa. Whilst he had many photos of his long career, he he didn't have one of the coach on there.
I seem to remember a pleasure hovercraft operating out of Aberystwyth for a while.
I crossed the Channel by hovercraft shortly before the services closure with my Citroën XM on board. I still own a vibrating brush model hovercraft bought on that trip. Once a boy always a boy I guess. Happy memories.
I rode the hovercraft in the early '70s, put my Austin Mini van on it. A disadvantage was that outward visibility was nil, sand and water blew up onto the windows right away.
Awesome machines. The obsession with profits always kills these amazing ventures. When man learns to see beyond money and pursues dreams and fantastic ideas for the joy and satisfaction of pursuing them then we will get somewhere without the hindrance of profit or loss. Your quoting of monetarist figures is such a bore in the face of the joy and delight these incredible craft invoked in travellers. Some great footage. 👍
When you are spending more than you earn, you either go broke or you cut the loss-making parts of your business.
They were amazing yes, but don't really compare to the channel tunnel to get to France. A bit like comparing The Mallard to a Pendolino!
Milton J Friedman built the gruesome idol of Shareholders First economic model. It was beta tested in the U.K. before its final development as Reaganomics. Both of which were made into permanent conditions and resulting in terminality for the U.S. and U.K. The obsession with profits is driven exclusively by paying the sacred shareholders first and foremost. Further elaboration is not possible on yeau touhbe and for reasons that one should know by now.
@@neiloflongbeck5705 The neoliberal economic model that determines price vs value is badly flawed. Much of the spending is for parrrassitic drains, like interest and counterproductive regulations. Both take capital away from modernization and improvement.
@BlackPill-pu4vi except that's not what I'm talking about. The value to society of an activity is irrelevant to a business carrying out that activity.
Superb as usual 🎉
Love your videos. Keep it up!!!
For transportation fans, they sold cheap day trip tickets, just cross and immediately back, weren't allowed to pass customs. Did this as a kid! I think bumpiness depended a bit on where you would sit.
I think it would help to explain that the purpose of such trips was duty free shopping and the savings made on tobacco and alcohol purchases would more than cover the cost of the trip.
I was fortunate to ride on one the cross channel hover craft even though the ride was making passengers uncomfortable and sick due to rough weather. Very different to the rock steady hydrofoil I rode on when visiting Sydney one time albeit in finer weather.
Cockerell did his early development work on hovercraft in Suffolk. The village of Somerleyton has the "hovercraft column" that's a tribute to Cockerell. A top the column is a sculpture in 1:1 scale of Cockerell's prototype test model. Somerleyyon has been called the birthplace of the hovercraft (I grew up in one of the next-door villages).
By the way, the plural of hovercraft is hovercraft, the same as the plural for aircraft and sheep, i.e. no "s" on the end.
Only seen the remains of the hover speed hovercraft at the museum at lee on solent before they dismantled them in 2014. It was a sad sight.
Always wanted to travel on one of these, too late now though😂been told they were very noisy & made you sea/air sick though! Another very interesting video, thank you 😊
There is still one you can go on.
@@CaymanIslandsCatWalksyep I’m off the the Isle of Wight from Southsea next year just in case Hovercraft disappear completely soon and I don’t miss out. Went on the big SRN4 to Calais back in the eighties as a kid and was sick on both legs of the journey, so hoping for better on the shorter IOW crossing!
There are certain nation states that use hovercraft for military purposes, some as large as these. 🏴
Superb, thank you.
i would of been maybe 5 years old when the srn4's were retired, so i sadly never got to see them in action. i did see the two survivors together before the princess Margaret was scrapped, through the fence.
i have also since been to visit the sole survivor and been on board, and it's a truly impressive machine. i will say however, when i went the weather was awful , the car hangar had multiple leaks that buckets were catching, the back of one of the passenger cabin floors was collapsing, and even after all this time, the cabin STANK of cigarettes and was nicotine stained. as much as i want to see the last srn4 preserved long term, with the condition it was in when i visited, i am skeptical of how much longer it will be around for.
it did solidify my want to travel on a hovercraft though, so in that same week i decided to take the hovercraft from south sea to ryde and back, and coming up onto the hover is an absolutely surreal experience!
always wanted to ride one of these used to read about them as a kid
Great footage.
I regret not taking the hovercraft. I took the ferry instead because that was cheaper and I wasn't in a hurry. I assumed the hovercraft would always be an option 😕
I remember travelling in 1968 from Dover to Calais with my late parents and the sea was so rough that it took off on a big wave and thumped back down in the trough, causing mum to be violently sick 🤮
i still love going on the hovers between Portsmouth and IOW ...
Very interesting. Thanks
Nice one!
In my eyes, the SR N6 was the best looking craft ever. It just looks right. Nice proportions and technically probably the best craft of the lot. Bigger is not always better.
2:02 Was there a market for Scalextric hovercraft?
Great video, once again.
I've been a passenger on that Montbatten Hover-Craft from Bolougnê to Đovêr
I think hovercraft are so cool. I wish they could pop back up, just like I do something like Concorde.
8:38 the Hoverlloyd Ramsgate terminal was at Pegwell Bay. Shame it wasn't mentioned in the commentary at that point Ruairidh.
As far as I'm aware, Westland only got involved in hovercraft when it merged with Saunders-Roe as part of the consolidation of the UK aviation industry in the 1960s. The hovercraft interests of Saunders-Roe hovercraft division of Westland and those of Vickers Supermarine were merged into the British Hovercraft Corporation in 1966.
Please do a video on the history of the Class 24/25 Diesel locomotives!
The opening of the Channel Tunnel more than just killed the Hoverspeed service. It ended up severely cutting in the airline flights between Paris and London in general, particularly once the High Speed 1 line opened in 2007, which reduced the travel time from central London to central Paris to 2 hours 14 minutes one-way.
We did crossings on both companies hovercraft back in the 70s, my photos of Hoverlloyd craft are getting very brown and in need of restoration. Amazing stuff though, if a bit vibratey :)
Good video BUT you missed out the SRN2 (?), which I understood to be the world's first commercial, passenger carrying, hovercraft service. It operated around the wirral in the early 60's. I travelled on this in my early teens. They gave a certificate to (younger) passengers which I have regrettably lost. I tried to check this on Wikipedia but, while the SRN2 is mentioned there is no reference to the Wirral service. I don't believe it ran for long. All seats faced rearward and I recall a rather bumpy ride.
I remember an abortive attempt at a hovercraft service between Blackpool/St. Anne's from Squires Gate to Southport. Would have been early 70s.. ?
Interesting that Ruairidh pronounces 'hover' as 'huvver', much as folk such as James May and John Major say 'wunt' meaning 'want'.
Why, oh why aren't you more popular/narrating documentaries for like. BBC Horizon; you have such a great speaking voice that lends a sense of authority and information, like.
I love a lot of your videos; I just watch the episodes on things that I'm not wholly interested in because you have such fantastic and authoritative narration.
At it again
speed certainly but comfort?
They were noisy, quite bumpy at times and confined spaces
Spot on. The windows were coated with dried salt and the spray meant you couldn't see anything. On the plus side were the novelty value and a decent gin & tonic.
Largest propellers in the World at 5.8 meters and a fuel burn of only 1000 gallon an hour that not much for four Proteus turboprops. Amazing machines. But fuel prices in 1970's were all over the show. Saunders Roe made some ground breaking kit like the Princess flying boat with 8 coupled propellers on 4 Proteus turboshaft engines and another two Proteus Turboprops for luck. Check out Farnborough air show
How many of us would love to have a HoverCraft race track?
It's so sad the Princess Margaret was broken up in 2018. Hopefully the Princess Anne, the last surviving SR.N4 can survive from here-on out.
The SRN 4s were stretched to increase capacity.
Why is the Narrator saying Huverlloyd, Huvercraft and Huverport ?. I thought I was hearing incorrectly at first !!!.
I was thinking the exact same thing almost missing out the o in hover completely
'My, hovercrafts, is full..of eels, do you waant to come back to my place? bouncy bouncy!
Good work. Fabulous ships, these. Coolest way to get to England ever. Even if you should have had an Aston Martin rather than a Mini (me) to use it. All else is British as usual. Due to fail on all sorts of grounds and reasons. As if nobody knew, well ahead of time, that these buckets would use a biblical amount of jet fuel. Duh.
Halfway through was that Kevin Mccloud going to the isle of Wight
1:11 that’s why all scientific and technological advances must always be debunked and those trying to make any such suggestions must always be dismissed and silenced as much as possible, in all cases
If it's good enough for James Bond...
Wasn't the jetfoil faster (they did Dover - Ostend)
Ginormous, innum!
Any one in the Southampton area the hovercraft museum is well worth a visit with the only srn4 still there along with many others they are even looking to have to move the srn4 in the near future due to part of there site being redeveloped and some new buildings coming to the site
The Dublin Swift fast ferry is very similar to this, but the ride is very rough, even on calm seas and it’s more likely to cancellations
They were amazing, but technology in the form of cats was always going to defeat them. And those profit margins were incredibly low.
Those fellows known as Monty Python Flying Circus may have said it best... "Mine'hovercraft is full of Eel's.
Took this in 1986
Very noisy, but smashing fun at the age of 12!
in rough weather the crossing was much longer and very uncomfortable !!!
The word is Hover not Huvver!
They had their problems, but at least they weren't full of eels.
A légpárnás hajóm tele van angolnákkal
😂😂😂😂😂 I’m hungarian
Monty Python!
Why not do a video of SST planes, Concorde, TU144 & Boeing 2707.
Is it one of the many things from the past. That is due a refreshed look because of the devolpment of modern practices in engineering. 2024 style. If you mixed the akranoplan with the hovercraft you might have something
I went on a hovercraft once.
One of those N500s was destroyed by fire.
😊😊👍👍❤❤
There are still many inflatable craft crossing the channel these days
I thought Brexit would solve that completely?
@@SolarWebsiteno borders in Europe and Merkel sending a big invite didn't help.