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Why the Hovercraft's Time Might Have Finally Arrived
BBC ^ | 13th January 2024 | Mark Piesing

Posted on 01/13/2024 2:31:46 PM PST by nickcarraway

Hovercraft were a quick way to zip across the world's waterways but were noisy and expensive to operate. Could they be about to enjoy a second wind?

The 12.30pm midweek hovercraft departure from Portsmouth is already respectably half-full when we step on board. Marketed as the world's only year-round scheduled passenger hovercraft service, the Union Jack-emblazoned machine flies for a thrilling 10 minutes, hovering just inches above the water’s surface. It is the fastest way to reach Ryde on the Isle of Wight, a Detroit-sized island off the south coast of England. A rival vehicle, the FastCat ferry, takes more than twice as long, around 22 minutes. The hovercraft's engines roar (no louder than an airliner on take-off) as its beefy cushion inflates, lifting the vehicle gently five feet (1.6m) into the air. Then, it turns and slides seamlessly into the sea on its dash to Ryde. The 78-seater craft's unique ability to fly over sand and mud without damaging the fragile ecosystems underneath means that passengers may board even at low tide.

Hovertravel, which runs this service, is the sister company of Griffon Hoverwork, a British manufacturer that traces its roots back to Sir Christopher Cockerell's invention of the hovercraft in the 1950s.

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Hobbies; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: hovercraft
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1 posted on 01/13/2024 2:31:46 PM PST by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

If it has a 30mm cannon, I’ll take one.


2 posted on 01/13/2024 2:37:35 PM PST by Redcitizen
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To: nickcarraway

Back when I was in college a professor had a hovercraft which many of his students spent time working on. The low friction that made forward motion so easy also made it like driving on ice when turning. Have they put in more active controls or do you still tend to keep going in your old direction even after turning the front to a new direction?


3 posted on 01/13/2024 2:44:42 PM PST by KarlInOhio (Democrats' version of MAGA: Making America the Gulag Archipelago. Now with "Formal Deprogramming")
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To: nickcarraway

Mine’s full of eels.


4 posted on 01/13/2024 2:46:36 PM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: nickcarraway
Are they electric? Batteries and sea water go so well together....


5 posted on 01/13/2024 2:48:01 PM PST by Magnum44 (...against all enemies, foreign and domestic... )
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To: nickcarraway; KarlInOhio; Redcitizen
Here is an article about them. I talked to a Navy craft master, and he agreed it was like piloting a bar of soap around a bathtub.

Landing Craft Air Cushion

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landing_Craft_Air_Cushion

6 posted on 01/13/2024 2:54:30 PM PST by Retain Mike ( Sat Cong)
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To: nickcarraway

What global see rise?


7 posted on 01/13/2024 2:54:44 PM PST by qaz123
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To: Redcitizen

I’d like one of these.

https://gijoe.fandom.com/wiki/Killer_W.H.A.L.E.


8 posted on 01/13/2024 2:55:07 PM PST by wally_bert (I cannot be sure for certain, but in my personal opinion I am certain that I am not sure..)
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To: dfwgator

Dammit, you beat me to it.

L


9 posted on 01/13/2024 2:58:21 PM PST by Lurker ( Peaceful coexistence with the Left is not possible. Stop pretending that it is. )
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To: nickcarraway
Hovercraft landing and departure, Portsmouth to Ride:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87thE21qQHU

10 posted on 01/13/2024 2:59:54 PM PST by TChad
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To: nickcarraway

Why did we get rid of these? They sported a 76mm and Harpoons.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Pegasus_(PHM-1)


11 posted on 01/13/2024 3:02:56 PM PST by yuleeyahoo (“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!” - the deep-state)
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To: dfwgator
> Mine’s full of eels.

Ya beat me to it, i was gonna write "Does it come full of eels?"

12 posted on 01/13/2024 3:03:11 PM PST by dayglored (Strange Women Lying In Ponds Distributing Swords! Arthur Pendragon in 2024)
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To: Retain Mike

The coast guard had one back in the 70s.

https://youtu.be/c6NV-ML8C_g?si=ifvS9AjsAs2_mafF

About 41 minutes in.


13 posted on 01/13/2024 3:03:56 PM PST by wally_bert (I cannot be sure for certain, but in my personal opinion I am certain that I am not sure..)
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To: Redcitizen

**If it has a 30mm cannon, I’ll take one.**

Just don’t put any ammo aboard. Lead is heavy.


14 posted on 01/13/2024 3:04:31 PM PST by Zuriel (Acts 2:38,39....Do you believe it?)
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To: Lurker
> Dammit, you beat me to it.

Same here....

15 posted on 01/13/2024 3:05:08 PM PST by dayglored (Strange Women Lying In Ponds Distributing Swords! Arthur Pendragon in 2024)
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To: nickcarraway
Most people can not maneuver in two dimensions.

You think they can do it in three?

Check, please!

16 posted on 01/13/2024 3:08:59 PM PST by Harmless Teddy Bear ( In a quaint alleyway, they graciously signaled for a vehicle on the main road to lead the way. )
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To: nickcarraway
The global rise in sea levels, and the blurring of the boundary between land and sea that will result, is set to grow its niche further.

Mark Piesing is not smart enough to pour urine out of a boot if the instructions were on the boot heel.

BugsBunnyMaroon

17 posted on 01/13/2024 3:15:50 PM PST by Col Freeper (Praise and Trust in the LORD in All Things at All Times.)
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To: yuleeyahoo
Why did we get rid of these? They sported a 76mm and Harpoons. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Pegasus_(PHM-1)

Maintenance nightmares

18 posted on 01/13/2024 3:31:46 PM PST by Ranxerox
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To: nickcarraway

They are interesting. But they steer like a German shepherd on a frozen pond.

CC


19 posted on 01/13/2024 3:41:39 PM PST by Celtic Conservative (My cats are more amusing than 200 channels worth of TV.)
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To: dfwgator; Lurker
Always better in the original Esperanto
20 posted on 01/13/2024 4:16:06 PM PST by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
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