Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T08:53:14.308Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Hovercraft trials in the Mackenzie River delta, 1966

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2009

P. F. Cooper Jr  and
J. W. Storr RCAF
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Hovercraft, or air-cushion vehicles, have been proposed several times as a means of polar transport (Mellor, 1963; Fuchs, 1964, 1966; Law, 1965; Cooper, 1965). They ride on a cushion of low pressure air which eliminates friction between the craft and the ground surface, the air being contained by flexible skirts and peripheral jets to give a substantial obstacle clearance. Their low bearing pressure (of the order of 0·01 kg/cm2) makes them potentially suitable for over-snow use. They can travel equally well over ice, snow, and water and thus can give year-round service on Arctic rivers and seas. There is no need for costly facilities such as docks or airstrips at terminals. Finally, the hard structure clearance provided by the flexible skirts should enable the vehicle to cross areas of rough sea ice or pressure ridges without a route being prepared.

Type
Articles
Information
Polar Record , Volume 13 , Issue 85 , January 1967 , pp. 433 - 437
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1967

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

Abele, G. 1966. Performance testing of an air cushion vehicle on the Greenland Ice Cap. U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, Hanover, NH, USA, SpecialReport 91.Google Scholar
British Hovercraft Corporation. 1966. SR. N6 Hovercraft cold weather trials in Sweden. British Hovercraft Corporation Ltd, East Cowes, Io W, Publication SP 1294.Google Scholar
Cooper, P. F. Jr 1965. Air-cushion vehicles in the Canadian north. Northern Co-ordination and Research Centre, Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources, Ottawa, Canada, Report No NCRC 65–3.Google Scholar
SirFuchs, V. E. 1964. Polar travel. In: , Priestley, Sir, Raymond et al. , , eds, Antarctic Research, p 19–20London, Butterworths.Google Scholar
SirFuchs, V. E. 1966. Hovercraft in polar regions. Polar Record, Vol 13, No 82, p 3–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Law, P. 1965. Techniques of living, transport and communication. In: Hatherton, T., ed, Antarctica, p 63. London, Methuen.Google Scholar
Mellor, M. 1963. Oversnow transport. Cold regions science and engineering, Part III-A4. US Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, Hanover, NH, USA.Google Scholar