Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T19:15:41.187Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

An appraisal of present and future large commercial hovercraft

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2016

Raymond L. Wheeler
Raymond L. Wheeler*
Affiliation:
British Hovercraft Corporation Ltd.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

It is only fifteen years since the hovercraft principle and early configurations were first described in Ref. 1. Since then, we have seen the development of a wide range of craft and many applications in both civil and military roles.

This paper gives a brief review of the performance capability of the Mountbatten Class SR.N4 amphibious hovercraft which are currently operating on the English Channel ‘short sea’ routes and indicates the improvements anticipated from a simple but substantial lengthening of the craft. A contract has now been signed with British Rail to lengthen both of their craft, and design and manufacture work is now in progress. The first craft returns to BHC in December 1976 and will be back in service in its modified form by December 1977.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Aeronautical Journal , Volume 80 , Issue 788 , August 1976 , pp. 354 - 364
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 1976 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Crewe, P. R. and Eggington, W. J. The hovercraft—a new concept in maritime transport. Transactions of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects, Vol 102 (1960), p315.Google Scholar
2. Wheeler, R. L. The development phase of the Mount-batten Class (SR.N4) Hovercraft. AIAA Paper No 69-410.Google Scholar
3. Newman, J. N. and Poole, F. A. P. The wave resistance of a moving pressure distribution in a canal. Schiffstechnik, Vol 9, No 45, 1962.Google Scholar
4. Brotherhood, P. Development of improved fans for the Britten Norman CC.2-001 Cushioncraft. Royal Aircraft Establishment Report No 66271, August 1966.Google Scholar
5. Andrews, E. J. The external aerodynamics of hovercraft, von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, Lecture Series 33, February 1971.Google Scholar
6. Stanton-Jones, R. The future development of hovercraft. The 1968 Lord Sempill Paper, International Hovercraft Conference, 1968.Google Scholar
7. Cooper and Lybrand report. The Channel Tunnel. UK Transport Cost Benefit Study. HMSO Report SBN 11 550301 3.Google Scholar