What Happened to the Giant Hovercraft SR-N4? - The Concorde of the Seas

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  • čas přidán 7. 09. 2017
  • They were once known as the 'Concorde of the Seas': mighty flying boats that ferried their passengers with speed and style. Hovercraft was a symbol of national innovation and represented the future of transport in the 20th Century.
    And yet, like the Concorde, the huge iconic 'Mountbatten-class' hovercraft that once traversed the 22-mile English Channel from England to France carrying hundreds or passengers and cars are no longer with us.
    So what happened to the giant hovercraft SN-R4?
    Patreon : / curiousdroid
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    Sponsors: Symon Hamer, Florian Hesse, Georgi Dobrev, Douglas Gustafson, Marcus Chiado, Mitchell Payce, Skalgrin, Jorn Karlsen, John Roscoe.
    This episode’s shirt was the Trip Paisley Surf Retro by Madcap England and is available from www.atomretro.c...
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    Presented By Paul Shillito
    Written & Researched by Andy Munzer
    Additional Material by Paul Shillito
    Images and Footage : retepbleck, MAD Hovercraft, www.hovercraft-..., Griffon Hoverwork, kentishmanvideo
    Music by Mike Mullen, www.positrosmic.com
  • Věda a technologie

Komentáře • 3,5K

  • @marcusades4677
    @marcusades4677 Před 5 lety +1773

    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.

    • @mccc4559
      @mccc4559 Před 5 lety +77

      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.

    • @chrishitchings8712
      @chrishitchings8712 Před 5 lety +9

      Is it at Lee on the solent now?

    • @UraFlight
      @UraFlight Před 5 lety +6

      This is very interesting ! I saw her few times at Dover

    • @kvltizt
      @kvltizt Před 5 lety +13

      That is cool, you should consider a video sharing the story!

    • @horseplop9
      @horseplop9 Před 5 lety +12

      Marcus Ades I was on the trip also. We must be the same age. That’s soo cool

  • @irishkustomz6974
    @irishkustomz6974 Před 4 lety +918

    To have this video pop up is because Cleetus McFarland just purchased a scat hover craft. Amazing machines...

  • @robsmithracing
    @robsmithracing Před 4 lety +76

    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.

    • @dariusdalrymple3161
      @dariusdalrymple3161 Před 3 lety +3

      I can remember crossing the Channel on one, it was very noisy and there was a dreadful stench of paraffin.

    • @jasoncole767
      @jasoncole767 Před 2 lety +4

      Seem 2 slate anything british.....we have made nearly every important invention. But u wouldn't realise it hearing the media.

    • @matthewwarren7879
      @matthewwarren7879 Před 2 lety

      It's because now it's all about fuel efficiency I supposr.

    • @thomaspayne5232
      @thomaspayne5232 Před 2 lety

      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

    • @carlrs15
      @carlrs15 Před rokem

      or the fact that you now have a tunnel that can get ppl across even faster

  • @davidweaver4702
    @davidweaver4702 Před 4 lety +36

    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 😊

  • @derekstroud2781
    @derekstroud2781 Před 6 lety +339

    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.

    • @peterjennings8258
      @peterjennings8258 Před 6 lety +3

      I worked at gkn in cowes for a year too!

    • @peterharwood1430
      @peterharwood1430 Před 5 lety +3

      Rock on baby. Great days.

    • @DerekGM6
      @DerekGM6 Před 5 lety +24

      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!

    • @peterharwood1430
      @peterharwood1430 Před 5 lety +2

      @@DerekGM6 Memories eh!

    • @peanuts2105
      @peanuts2105 Před 5 lety +3

      @@DerekGM6 great story. Did you continue your career in engineering?

  • @melanieberger1894
    @melanieberger1894 Před 6 lety +292

    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.

    • @brunosco
      @brunosco Před 5 lety +5

      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! 😂

    • @riccardoscavo8485
      @riccardoscavo8485 Před 5 lety +2

      Same here, but in '82 liked the stewardesses rolling their Duty Free trollies just like in an aircraft. Yes indeed thanks, good memories

    • @riccardoscavo8485
      @riccardoscavo8485 Před 5 lety

      @Baron Von Grijffenbourg Was an awesome experience indeed. Inside an atmosphere of a Jumbo Jet with a salty sea breeze permeating the seating area.

    • @legend9335
      @legend9335 Před 5 lety +1

      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.

    • @riccardoscavo8485
      @riccardoscavo8485 Před 5 lety +1

      @@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.

  • @satchpersaud8762
    @satchpersaud8762 Před 4 lety +15

    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...

  • @madinmex
    @madinmex Před 4 lety +11

    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.

  • @chrishunter7065
    @chrishunter7065 Před 7 lety +655

    i love how now you have shirt sponsors

    • @zosxavius
      @zosxavius Před 7 lety +15

      kinda makes sense. that was a smart move by him.

    • @michaelfoye1135
      @michaelfoye1135 Před 6 lety +10

      He's sure to clinch the world's ugliest shirt award at this rate. Hope the prize is worth it.

    • @tomkent4656
      @tomkent4656 Před 6 lety +5

      I thought he was wearing it for a bet!

    • @DidItFirst
      @DidItFirst Před 6 lety

      they should give him better shirts

    • @jeffbetts2
      @jeffbetts2 Před 6 lety +2

      From the Phyllis Diller collection.

  • @PTNLemay
    @PTNLemay Před 6 lety +165

    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.

    • @getfnsed9808
      @getfnsed9808 Před 6 lety +6

      PTNLemay Smh, no one probably press "Read More"

    • @Tsumami__
      @Tsumami__ Před 5 lety +6

      PTNLemay engineers have a tendency to be overly confident in their own abilities

    • @farvatron
      @farvatron Před 5 lety +2

      @@getfnsed9808 Wrong.

    • @johnanderson5500
      @johnanderson5500 Před 5 lety +5

      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.

  • @chris94kennedy
    @chris94kennedy Před 4 lety +17

    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!

  • @teddybear3552
    @teddybear3552 Před 3 lety +1

    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...

  • @Jetabor123
    @Jetabor123 Před 7 lety +565

    Some of the best content on CZcams!

    • @georgerubinstein5047
      @georgerubinstein5047 Před 7 lety +3

      Jacob Tabor Also the most underrated.

    • @motorula
      @motorula Před 7 lety +13

      funny, i thought the very same thing, this is pretty nice stuff and also well made

    • @Barrybados
      @Barrybados Před 7 lety +2

      True .

  • @Brotha00
    @Brotha00 Před 5 lety +143

    Shirt was worth a comment, content and polished delivery earned a like. Thank you!

  • @Skiergold
    @Skiergold Před 4 lety +14

    I remember seeing these come into port near Dover when I was a kid. That was always an impressive sight!

  • @Syndrometest
    @Syndrometest Před 4 lety +455

    Who's here after Cleetus McFarland got his Scat?

    • @GregoryVeizades
      @GregoryVeizades Před 4 lety

      Hahaha, I didn't even think of that.

    • @420_Logan
      @420_Logan Před 4 lety

      Not because of it but yes I have seen that video.

    • @chaoz_2k185
      @chaoz_2k185 Před 4 lety +2

      I've seen this video like a year ago but gave it a watch again.
      Big *FAN* (pun intended) of Cleetus 😎🤘🦅

    • @mannycweiss3053
      @mannycweiss3053 Před 4 lety

      LOL...you got our number man..

    • @EvlEgle
      @EvlEgle Před 4 lety

      I do not freebase cocaine

  • @Hvtesla
    @Hvtesla Před 7 lety +305

    very interesting - as for the shirt, well I now need counselling

    • @hcpalmer
      @hcpalmer Před 4 lety +5

      Savage comment😂😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣

    • @andrewbowser2794
      @andrewbowser2794 Před 4 lety +1

      Hahaha lmao that’s on the money!

    • @TheBodT
      @TheBodT Před 4 lety

      Can't focus on anything but the shirt

    • @klaiv5279
      @klaiv5279 Před 4 lety +1

      You made me watch to the end!!! And yea, therapy now needed!!

    • @studiodevelopers2467
      @studiodevelopers2467 Před 4 lety

      @@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.

  • @Mystakaphoros
    @Mystakaphoros Před 7 lety +17

    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!

  • @tideoneon6358
    @tideoneon6358 Před 4 lety +311

    I wonder how many real hover craft enthusiasts are asking themselves who the hell is cleetus 😂

    • @speedjibaro4202
      @speedjibaro4202 Před 4 lety +6

      Facts

    • @sdusb1243
      @sdusb1243 Před 4 lety +7

      Cleetus is a large CZcamsr 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.

    • @sdusb1243
      @sdusb1243 Před 4 lety +1

      And if you're into that kind of thing, you should check it out.

    • @Craig-wp3pz
      @Craig-wp3pz Před 4 lety +4

      ...just another slack jawed yokel!

    • @well_as_an_expert_id_say
      @well_as_an_expert_id_say Před 3 lety +2

      @@sdusb1243 we know Einstein

  • @salemengineer2130
    @salemengineer2130 Před 5 lety +4

    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.

  • @ben5oaks1
    @ben5oaks1 Před 7 lety +144

    Ah m8, I once took a return journey across the channel as a kid, and the nostalgia just hit me like a brick

    • @lewispowell1681
      @lewispowell1681 Před 7 lety +7

      i had a few school trips on the hovercraft to the isle of white... i feel the nostalgia too

    • @steve1978ger
      @steve1978ger Před 7 lety +6

      I never did, but I had a Matchbox SRN6.

    • @marc0523
      @marc0523 Před 7 lety +2

      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?

    • @ddegn
      @ddegn Před 7 lety +2

      I don't have the Matchbox Hovercraft but I have the Lego set #6473.
      Thanks to those sharing channel crossing stories. They sound great.

    • @bubba842
      @bubba842 Před 7 lety +1

      Marc Browne you can still go on one from Portsmouth to Ryde. They even built a brand new one only last year.

  • @davidryle
    @davidryle Před 7 lety +63

    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.

    • @Sacto1654
      @Sacto1654 Před 7 lety +2

      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.

    • @jlastre
      @jlastre Před 7 lety +4

      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.

    • @AbuHajarAlBugatti
      @AbuHajarAlBugatti Před 7 lety +3

      I dont trust bullet trains. If boat has problems you jump off and get saved. If train has problem you DIE

    • @michaelmartin9022
      @michaelmartin9022 Před 6 lety +1

      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.

    • @thinkfloyd2594
      @thinkfloyd2594 Před 6 lety

      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).

  • @iaindarling5959
    @iaindarling5959 Před 3 lety +6

    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.

  • @Xgeneration28
    @Xgeneration28 Před 3 lety +1

    u can stil get hovercraft from pompey to isle of Wight tho 🙂

  • @theheck5176
    @theheck5176 Před 7 lety +63

    The best narrator. Top notch presentation and content.
    Other notes: Wicked shirt!

  • @hugh_jasso
    @hugh_jasso Před 5 lety +489

    Holy shit warn somebody when you cut in Anyone wearing that shirt! Like a countdown ticker or something.

    • @bernieponcik1351
      @bernieponcik1351 Před 5 lety +30

      I nearly fell out of my chair...

    • @650Ryder
      @650Ryder Před 5 lety +5

      Mans a straight up savage with that thing. Where do you suppose the batteries go??

    • @teshomacalkins3257
      @teshomacalkins3257 Před 5 lety +7

      Reminds me of Austin Powers the spy who shagged me 🤣

    • @richardwadd9769
      @richardwadd9769 Před 5 lety +5

      No warning could prepare you for that shirt. He must have lost a big bet.

    • @richardwadd9769
      @richardwadd9769 Před 5 lety +3

      Thanks for making me laugh out loud

  • @VE3FAL1Fred
    @VE3FAL1Fred Před 6 lety +66

    August of 1991 during my month long stay in the UK we took one across to Calais, was amazing.

    • @bertiesworld
      @bertiesworld Před 5 lety +4

      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.

    • @Greatpyreneess
      @Greatpyreneess Před 4 lety +1

      @@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.

  • @johnmcevoy9322
    @johnmcevoy9322 Před 7 lety +17

    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...

    • @johnmcevoy9322
      @johnmcevoy9322 Před 7 lety

      That was 1983..i think...

    • @fluffybison4655
      @fluffybison4655 Před 5 lety +2

      Truly an amazing venture you were able to experience! Cheers to a good story. I wish these were still common use.

  • @ec5338
    @ec5338 Před 5 lety +463

    That shirt makes you look like an Austin powers villian 😂 yeah baby

  • @gabewrsewell
    @gabewrsewell Před 7 lety +285

    smokin shirt and great episode!

  • @christopherbrooks1402
    @christopherbrooks1402 Před 5 lety +15

    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

  • @Shloomy_Shloms
    @Shloomy_Shloms Před 7 lety +2729

    Who needs an Uber when you’ve got a Zubr?

    • @Outland9000
      @Outland9000 Před 7 lety +22

      Zubr-class LCAC = Beast!

    • @idgaf5252
      @idgaf5252 Před 7 lety +28

      Comment of the year award

    • @SMGJohn
      @SMGJohn Před 7 lety +12

      LAWL, good one mate

    • @Marylandbrony
      @Marylandbrony Před 7 lety +15

      Uber should have a fleet of Hovercraft in cities on the water or with rivers and bays.

    • @oliverempleo5065
      @oliverempleo5065 Před 7 lety +4

      Skyace 95 who needs an uber when its driver is a robber?

  • @cynicalbrit
    @cynicalbrit Před 7 lety +485

    Thanks for a really interesting video

    • @memzo947
      @memzo947 Před 6 lety +48

      TotalBiscuit Rip man. :'(

    • @mrpancake8888
      @mrpancake8888 Před 6 lety +12

      F

    • @Duppyboi
      @Duppyboi Před 6 lety +20

      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

    • @sireugenecourtney5797
      @sireugenecourtney5797 Před 6 lety +2

      Why does the narrator have a reptile looking face?

    • @_tertle3892
      @_tertle3892 Před 6 lety +1

      @@sireugenecourtney5797 becues he's a reptilian not a Human

  • @willneverforgets3341
    @willneverforgets3341 Před 6 lety +292

    I loved the Hovercraft and Concorde... The world of technology was more daring back then

    • @renanlecaro
      @renanlecaro Před 6 lety +21

      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

    • @ziegfeld4131
      @ziegfeld4131 Před 5 lety +3

      The concorde were completely shit glad they died

    • @elias_xp95
      @elias_xp95 Před 5 lety +70

      @@ziegfeld4131 The Concorde was an engineering marvel and in no way 'shit'

    • @27Zangle
      @27Zangle Před 5 lety +5

      Now the big powers have many safety regulations that hinder taking daring chances with innovative technology.

    • @iwansays
      @iwansays Před 5 lety +9

      @@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.

  • @dinoduderocket
    @dinoduderocket Před 7 lety +5

    Your videos always brighten my day! Thank u paul

  • @kirkjohnson9353
    @kirkjohnson9353 Před 7 lety +68

    "Sales from tax free sales were making more money from sales than ticket receipts" This really is a stunning observation.

    • @BigBadLoneWolf
      @BigBadLoneWolf Před 7 lety +3

      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

    • @rif42
      @rif42 Před 7 lety +3

      That was the case for many ferry routes between EU countries in the 1990's.

    • @aritakalo8011
      @aritakalo8011 Před 7 lety +13

      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.

    • @kekistanikekfrog7051
      @kekistanikekfrog7051 Před 7 lety +12

      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.

    • @davidstorton910
      @davidstorton910 Před 7 lety +4

      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

  • @numbatkeller
    @numbatkeller Před 7 lety +11

    This was gold. Brillant episode!

  • @HOFFgame
    @HOFFgame Před 7 lety +93

    that shirt is next level brah

  • @KarlenBell
    @KarlenBell Před 7 lety +240

    3:10 The Flying Saucer, wow, how original, it just goes to show how the media back then also liked "clickbait titles."

    • @MrRoboman333
      @MrRoboman333 Před 7 lety +23

      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.

    • @kirkjohnson9353
      @kirkjohnson9353 Před 7 lety +13

      Technically , it is a saucer and it is flying. But I get your point.

    • @SECONDQUEST
      @SECONDQUEST Před 7 lety +18

      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.

    • @Gazgit555
      @Gazgit555 Před 7 lety +13

      Jay Bee Yes but the British one actually worked ha ha!!

    • @craniumbear
      @craniumbear Před 7 lety +4

      Your mom is click bait.

  • @damanorelse
    @damanorelse Před 5 lety +272

    Wasn't expecting this video to be presented by Lord Varys.

    • @SanCA1812
      @SanCA1812 Před 5 lety +4

      this comment deserves far more likes

    • @sirius4k
      @sirius4k Před 4 lety +6

      @@SanCA1812 Maybe, but many people don't get the reference. Like me.

    • @SanCA1812
      @SanCA1812 Před 4 lety +3

      @@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

    • @sirius4k
      @sirius4k Před 4 lety +4

      @@SanCA1812 meeh.. not interested. The hype killed it for me.

    • @SanCA1812
      @SanCA1812 Před 4 lety +3

      @@sirius4k the hype is an illusion

  • @gosportjamie
    @gosportjamie Před 7 lety +7

    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...

    • @lfewell2161
      @lfewell2161 Před 4 lety +1

      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.

  • @douglasbull7829
    @douglasbull7829 Před 5 lety +4

    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.

  • @johaarup
    @johaarup Před 7 lety +447

    Thank you for mentioning metric units.

    • @thomaspayne6866
      @thomaspayne6866 Před 7 lety +7

      johaarup Fuck off

    • @Rhubba
      @Rhubba Před 7 lety +6

      For those outside of the US and UK.

    • @Rhubba
      @Rhubba Před 7 lety +11

      It uses both.

    • @davidmarquardt2445
      @davidmarquardt2445 Před 7 lety +7

      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.

    • @rogervoss4877
      @rogervoss4877 Před 7 lety +2

      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.

  • @Timecop1983
    @Timecop1983 Před 7 lety +107

    Awesome, i've been on that hovercraft when i was young!

    • @davidainsworth5239
      @davidainsworth5239 Před 6 lety +1

      Kidney transplant

    • @Richard_Ashton
      @Richard_Ashton Před 6 lety +2

      Since then, the hovercraft has progressed in leaps and bounds - which is why it's so uncomfortable to ride in (Copyright ISIRTA)

    • @Exige000
      @Exige000 Před 6 lety +1

      But we didn't used to say Awesome in those days.........

    • @harmknol5841
      @harmknol5841 Před 6 lety

      Timecop1983 do you know why it isnt there any more.
      Didnt hear the reason or cause from that snobist

    • @iancorney4077
      @iancorney4077 Před 6 lety

      Timecop1983 I

  • @AUSSIEDAVEROCKS
    @AUSSIEDAVEROCKS Před 7 lety +338

    Is that a shirt you are wearing? or were you attacked by 70's wallpaper?

    • @simonframpton2554
      @simonframpton2554 Před 6 lety +3

      It's the new camouflage for beachgoers

    • @nihilistcentraluk442
      @nihilistcentraluk442 Před 6 lety +8

      @@simonframpton2554 put a yellow wig on,sunglasses, a cigar..how's about that then?

    • @simonframpton2554
      @simonframpton2554 Před 6 lety +2

      @@nihilistcentraluk442 nice,you have a sense of humor too

    • @divinusnobilite
      @divinusnobilite Před 5 lety +5

      I immediately paused the video when I saw it to find this comment.

    • @algojo2008my
      @algojo2008my Před 5 lety

      Its called batek, famously use in some of SEA countries..

  • @CNCmachiningisfun
    @CNCmachiningisfun Před 7 lety +4

    Having built and flown small hovercraft in the past, this brings back some great memories :) .

  • @fartonaut2291
    @fartonaut2291 Před 7 lety +41

    Now, all we need is a hovercraft aircraft carrier.

  • @ColinJonesPonder
    @ColinJonesPonder Před 7 lety +49

    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.

    • @Dave_Sisson
      @Dave_Sisson Před 7 lety +6

      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.

    • @DavidMacchiaW
      @DavidMacchiaW Před 7 lety +1

      Thanks. :) On my to-do list. www.hovertravel.co.uk/

    • @phils4634
      @phils4634 Před 7 lety +5

      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.

    • @kekistanikekfrog7051
      @kekistanikekfrog7051 Před 7 lety +3

      Colin Jones Not surprising, when engineering fell victim to Politcal Correctness and profiteering the results were predictable.

    • @rfvtgbzhn
      @rfvtgbzhn Před 6 lety +1

      So what do you think that people could find politically incorrect about a hovercraft?

  • @VocalMabiMaple
    @VocalMabiMaple Před 5 lety +90

    5:35 when you break a record, but you "break a law" to do it and it "doesn't count"

    • @NaD-o2p
      @NaD-o2p Před 3 lety +1

      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.

    • @nygelmiller5293
      @nygelmiller5293 Před 3 lety +2

      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.

    • @Frejborg
      @Frejborg Před 3 lety

      That's stupid...

    • @robertbennett9949
      @robertbennett9949 Před 3 lety

      @@nygelmiller5293 That was so unfair. However, the perfidy sounds British.

  • @clairepapadatos1116
    @clairepapadatos1116 Před 6 lety +39

    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!
    👍👍👍👍

    • @Pippinn13
      @Pippinn13 Před 6 lety +5

      Claire Papadatos there are smaller ones between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, bit noisy but so fast.

  • @brickshouse9897
    @brickshouse9897 Před 7 lety +24

    can make a video about the replacement vessels you mention @7:06

  • @brianmessenger
    @brianmessenger Před 3 lety +7

    I took my car over to France on the hovercraft several times, wonderful crossing.

  • @gcom9052
    @gcom9052 Před 4 lety +12

    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.

    • @KandiKlover
      @KandiKlover Před 3 lety +1

      Those are all pointless and stupid anyways.

    • @TheSebiestor
      @TheSebiestor Před 3 lety

      you need a new bucket 🤣

  • @TheKevvvMan
    @TheKevvvMan Před 3 lety +4

    Watching this video makes me feel privileged to be one of those that crossed the channel on one of these.

  • @dennisbuns
    @dennisbuns Před 7 lety +5

    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.

    • @recklesssquirel5962
      @recklesssquirel5962 Před 7 lety

      Dennis Bunjamin be in the military or go to a place that they use one

    • @jamesbaxter5203
      @jamesbaxter5203 Před 7 lety

      Go to the Isle of Wight! Last public operating hovercraft service in the world still going.

    • @dennisbuns
      @dennisbuns Před 7 lety

      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..

  • @hauitsme5678
    @hauitsme5678 Před 5 lety +9

    Can't break the record because it's against the rules/law. This is brilliant!

  • @depenthene
    @depenthene Před 7 lety +37

    GEV (Ground Effect Vehicle) would be interesting topic to cover.

    • @seansher
      @seansher Před 7 lety +9

      Yes, I was just thinking that. Caspian Sea Monster! Very interesting machines.

    • @tomf3150
      @tomf3150 Před 7 lety +4

      Da ! Ekranoplan for the win(d)

    • @rif42
      @rif42 Před 7 lety +3

      And aérotrain / hover trains.

    • @AttilaAsztalos
      @AttilaAsztalos Před 7 lety

      And SWATH ships...

    • @flybyairplane3528
      @flybyairplane3528 Před 6 lety

      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 !

  • @ramosel
    @ramosel Před 7 lety +30

    Great story on a cool machine

  • @EitanEhrlich
    @EitanEhrlich Před 7 lety +28

    So good

  • @renatoigmed
    @renatoigmed Před 5 lety +204

    and now it will be the Airbus A380 that will be discontinued. Europe really has great engineers but lousy investors.

    • @ianghose1
      @ianghose1 Před 4 lety +9

      @@pandahsykes602 :Way better ROI on sociopolitical virtue signalling, than in creating/inventing things that Really work, sadly.

    • @3strll
      @3strll Před 4 lety +2

      As if they can stop it.

    • @kosmologist
      @kosmologist Před 4 lety +17

      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.

    • @deaddoll1361
      @deaddoll1361 Před 4 lety +8

      @@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.

    • @atariandre5014
      @atariandre5014 Před 4 lety +11

      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.

  • @BM_PAZ
    @BM_PAZ Před 6 lety +233

    Ford Transit hovercraft anyone?

  • @anselmguile6070
    @anselmguile6070 Před 6 lety +81

    His shirt triggered my epilepsy and now I'm dead.

  • @glennlawrie-smith8570
    @glennlawrie-smith8570 Před 7 lety +20

    I always thought that hovercraft could do away with the TeeVee show "Ice Road Truckers".

    • @kimberlyjhoraitis5665
      @kimberlyjhoraitis5665 Před 7 lety +1

      Thought the same thing. More than 19 loads in 4 months.

    • @rogervoss4877
      @rogervoss4877 Před 7 lety

      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.

  • @woooster17
    @woooster17 Před 6 lety +3

    My parents live just a mile or so from the Hovercraft museum in Lee-On Solent. The IOW - Southsea hovercraft still operates

  • @chippie779
    @chippie779 Před 4 lety +3

    You forget to mention that the SR-N4 used the run out of pegwell bay as well and i think that was before dover

    • @darrengill4765
      @darrengill4765 Před 3 lety

      That was operated by Hoverlloyd (in red and white livery), to Calais. I went on that as a 13 year old on a school trip.

  • @RCAvhstape
    @RCAvhstape Před 7 lety +45

    When I was little I had an SRN-4 Matchbox car toy. Too bad I never got to ride on a real one.

    • @samanli-tw3id
      @samanli-tw3id Před 7 lety +2

      Helium Road Did you use it to carry your toy cars across a carpet?

    • @RCAvhstape
      @RCAvhstape Před 7 lety

      I wish, but it wasn't to scale, it was the same size as all other Matchbox cars.

    • @marks.6480
      @marks.6480 Před 7 lety +2

      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.

    • @marks.6480
      @marks.6480 Před 7 lety +2

      www.70er-matchbox.de/m_1972_oi_hovercraft_nr_72_matchbox.jpg

    • @RCAvhstape
      @RCAvhstape Před 7 lety +2

      Yes that's the one, I guess it wasn't a full-size 4 model but still way out of scale.

  • @svyalinirnhut890
    @svyalinirnhut890 Před 3 lety +9

    I remembered seeing one of these in a Hongkong movie, almost forgot this technology existed, amazing.

  • @ungertron
    @ungertron Před 5 lety +6

    I'm a Hovercraft fan and liked the concept, but they had cheaper competition that drastically reduced their usefulness - thanks for the great update.

    • @simonabbott
      @simonabbott Před 3 lety

      Hovercraft "fan," hehe, I see what you did there

  • @serenityenderson
    @serenityenderson Před 3 lety +3

    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!

    • @wayinfront1
      @wayinfront1 Před 2 lety

      It wasn't supposed to run when the swell was over 3ft high.

  • @ryanflood635
    @ryanflood635 Před 6 lety +5

    I remember seeing this whenever I went over to France on the ferry.

  • @kapilesh14
    @kapilesh14 Před 4 lety +3

    In this video I was simply astounded by Hover Crafts and hardly noticed the shirt.

  • @user-cq6bm3xk2t
    @user-cq6bm3xk2t Před 5 lety +22

    I'm living on Volga and I can see machines like this every winter

  • @Kioskflippingfilms
    @Kioskflippingfilms Před 3 lety +6

    I loved that shirt, I really do. It just shocked me a little.

  • @cluelessbeekeeping1322
    @cluelessbeekeeping1322 Před 5 lety +4

    I love your channel and I love your shirts, Both are great! Thanks for posting.

  • @vjp724
    @vjp724 Před 3 lety +1

    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.

  • @MrDavey2010
    @MrDavey2010 Před 4 lety +14

    This was really interesting. I wondered what had happened to the hovercraft and now I know. Thank you very much.

    • @jesselibrack-balroop358
      @jesselibrack-balroop358 Před 4 lety +2

      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.

    • @MrDavey2010
      @MrDavey2010 Před 4 lety +2

      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.

    • @sidneybell64
      @sidneybell64 Před 2 lety

      I still have the airfix kit

  • @finscontingencyplan7005
    @finscontingencyplan7005 Před 4 lety +10

    Imagine your crush comes over but your crush is the Zubr-class air cushioned landing craft and her triple ring-enclosed propellers smash her through your front door. Her jaw unhinges and up to three tanks or eight apcs and 375 Russian special forces troops pour into your living room

    • @laz001
      @laz001 Před 3 lety +2

      That was hot

    • @herobrinesbudy
      @herobrinesbudy Před 3 lety

      That was the best thing I’ve ever heard ever.

  • @johntamplin
    @johntamplin Před 3 lety +1

    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.

  • @magicknight8412
    @magicknight8412 Před 3 lety +2

    I loved going on these! Always so exciting and getting to France really quickly.

  • @OzziePete1
    @OzziePete1 Před 6 lety +23

    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.

  • @katerh3198
    @katerh3198 Před 5 lety +9

    Gotta love those "Catter meringues" 7:05

  • @nunyabusiness8538
    @nunyabusiness8538 Před 4 lety

    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

  • @davidrivero7943
    @davidrivero7943 Před 3 lety +1

    Back in the 80's a small personal Hovercraft was trailered to Hobi Beach in Key Biscayne , Fl. & what a crowd it drew. No sooner it was started, sands began flying & emptied the Beach. Yeap, havent seen one since.

  • @HughSansom
    @HughSansom Před 7 lety +6

    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.

    • @smvanwers6300
      @smvanwers6300 Před 6 lety +2

      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.

  • @kirkjohnson9353
    @kirkjohnson9353 Před 7 lety +122

    SN-R4 used 8000 lbs of fuel in ONE hour? Whats not to like?

    • @lilaclizard4504
      @lilaclizard4504 Před 7 lety +1

      why are they so much less efficient than other boats?

    • @leneanderthalien
      @leneanderthalien Před 7 lety

      1 ton per hour

    • @bonham1981
      @bonham1981 Před 7 lety +38

      Because lifting stuff up, no matter how, requires much more energy than floating in water or rolling on a road. ACVs constantly have to battle gravity while boats just displace water.

    • @kirkjohnson9353
      @kirkjohnson9353 Před 7 lety +8

      leneanderthalien- go to about the 5 minute mark. EACH of the four engines uses one ton per hour.

    • @lilaclizard4504
      @lilaclizard4504 Před 7 lety +5

      Thanks Bonker, sort of makes sense, but still not fully to me, I mean floating on a blow up raft doesn't require energy to stay above the air cushion, isn't there a way these can be set up that means the air kinda stays there rather than needing constant replacement? Can't it have the skirt designed so that air that comes out the bottom gets funneled back into it automatically again or something? Or just so it doesn't really leave the area under the boat to start with?

  • @chrisdixon7305
    @chrisdixon7305 Před 3 lety

    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!

  • @paddy20111000
    @paddy20111000 Před 4 lety

    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.

  • @WisdomKeeper11
    @WisdomKeeper11 Před 4 lety +12

    The hovercraft passenger ferry still runs from Southsea to Ryde.

  • @viciousvictortee1298
    @viciousvictortee1298 Před 5 lety +107

    Spoilers: Jackie Chan Killed it at the end of Rumble in the Bronx.

    • @TylerLL2112
      @TylerLL2112 Před 4 lety +1

      Loved that scene.

    • @kiwoxgen9929
      @kiwoxgen9929 Před 4 lety +2

      Yeah the first time i now this vehicle exist is in this movie.

    • @animo9050
      @animo9050 Před 4 lety

      Taka hiro know

    • @JBM425
      @JBM425 Před 4 lety +3

      "Are you OK?" "NO!" :)

    • @raniolvespanssenlafayett6762
      @raniolvespanssenlafayett6762 Před 4 lety

      VICIOUSVICTOR TEE Nope. I saw the movie on old You tube.Lamborghini kills that Orca of rubber skirt.How dude?

  • @fr-tigerfangs7039
    @fr-tigerfangs7039 Před 4 lety +1

    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!

  • @rustynuts82
    @rustynuts82 Před 5 lety +1

    Came back from France in 1980 on one of these. Was one of the highlights of the trip for a 13 year boy.

  • @DefinitelyEllie
    @DefinitelyEllie Před 4 lety +7

    There's a commercial hovercraft ferry still operating in Portsmouth, between Southsea and the Isle of Wight.

  • @kareldobbelaere1870
    @kareldobbelaere1870 Před 5 lety +4

    I remember that hovercraft very well when we went on a school trip from Calais to Dover, Almost everyone was vomiting :)

    • @-_James_-
      @-_James_- Před 4 lety +1

      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.

  • @typhoon-7
    @typhoon-7 Před 3 lety +1

    October 15th 1987, the night of the great storm (or hurricane as it was often called). I was on the Princess Anne trying to get back to the UK from France. They cancelled it then reinstated it and cancelled it a few times. Eventually we got the nod after half the booked passengers had given up and gone to find hotels for the night.
    Less than half full we set off for Dover. What should have been a half hour crossing took nearly 3 times that long. We were hammered by waves, the hard underside of the hovercraft would bang as the water hit it and we got pushed up and down and blown around.
    We subsequently found out we were the last civilian commercial vessel in the channel that night. After 2 attempts to guide the thing between the harbour walls we made it up and on to the ramp. Captain said he was on full rudder but the vessel was still being blown towards Holland.
    You will read that hovercrafts are not good in rough seas. And maybe some of the smaller ones hold that true but that night, while alongside us the MV Hengist Sealink ferry got beached by the storm the SR-N4 made it safely home. What a journey. What a machine.

  • @ericrawson2909
    @ericrawson2909 Před 3 lety

    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!

  • @antoniavie
    @antoniavie Před 7 lety +4

    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.

    • @antoniavie
      @antoniavie Před 7 lety +1

      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!

    • @kkfoto
      @kkfoto Před 7 lety +2

      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!

    • @marks.6480
      @marks.6480 Před 7 lety +1

      True. Thank God I wasn't affected but my poor old Dad literally turned green. On both crossings.

    • @finnandorpuvart8078
      @finnandorpuvart8078 Před 6 lety

      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.

  • @NedPooleD818
    @NedPooleD818 Před 4 lety +7

    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....

    • @stuarthall6631
      @stuarthall6631 Před 4 lety +2

      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!

    • @NedPooleD818
      @NedPooleD818 Před 4 lety +4

      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!!

    • @AmigaA-or2hj
      @AmigaA-or2hj Před 4 lety

      I’ve seen the model, but I can’t remember if it was the 1:72 scale version.

    • @NedPooleD818
      @NedPooleD818 Před 2 lety

      @@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!)

  • @ARCTCFOXMAN
    @ARCTCFOXMAN Před 3 lety +2

    Travelled on them so many times. I loved the speed, the sense of adventure and the buzz when you saw them coming in off the sea and just carrying on straight up the ramp! Of course they're called Giant but they were tiny in comparison to the large cross Channel ferries. The othe r fast craft was the Hydrofoil which again I used regularly over to the Channel Islands. Faster 30 years ago than todays "Fast Cats" and not so sick inducing!

  • @49ccMopedWorld
    @49ccMopedWorld Před 2 lety +1

    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.

  • @stevencoadoriginal
    @stevencoadoriginal Před 7 lety +10

    Blimey what a shirt!