SRN4 Hovercraft at Work. Part 1: Introduction.
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- čas přidán 14. 08. 2017
- In 2000 Hoverspeed announced the end of only remaining cross-Channel hovercraft service. In the late summer of that year I went down to Dover to record something of their last few weeks in service. I could not have been made more welcome by the Hoverspeed team, as will be obvious when you watch the videos. This first video shows some of the action to be found at the Dover Hoverport. Further videos will feature the passenger experience, a trip on the flightdeck and overnight maintenance. See Playlist. Please like and subscribe if you enjoyed it. Thank you.
- Věda a technologie
That sound! There’s just nothing like it, I still miss seeing them come in and out.
You are right. That was a sound that stirred the soul and made you feel alive.
The sound of power. Love it too when you fire up the turbines and hear the rpm increasing. Raw power. Nothing to compare with a boring train.
I remember watching these as a six yearold squirt while on vacation 😅 blew my mind back then, still does!! Thank you for the excellent video and preserving this 😊😊😊
Three quintessentially English sounds always spur my childhood memories: they are the classical pur or the roar of a Triumph motorbike; the earsplitting sound of a jet engine such of a Harrier or Vulcan; and yes - the delightful roar of the SR-N4's engines as they came and departed from their aprons. Just awesome!
Every time I hear a triumph motorbike coming, I think a huge 1970's hovercraft coming along road, comeon
Don't forget the roar of a rolls Royce merlin spitfire engine as well.
Merci pour ce beau documentaire. Lorsque j'étais enfant, mon grand-père et moi allions presque tous les jours admirer la bête au Portel. C'était très impressionnant...
I used to travel with them frequently with my family as a kid. I still have a soft spot for them. Hovercrafts were always my favourite!
I absolutely adored our twice yearly trip to and from France, always on the Princess Margaret to Boulogne. Nothing has ever been quite as exciting as the build up and then the moment when the engines go nuts and the skirt lifts! I remember crushing disappointment on the rare occasions when she wasn't flying and we had to go by boring boat, usually to Folkestone. I miss her so much.... I'm glad that at least the Princess Anne was saved. I'm going to visit her at the museum this summer, dragging my family with me. My brother went 2 years ago and I'm jealous!
This means of transport had much more charm and excitement than crossing the channel through a dark tunnel... // Este medio de transporte tenía mucho más encanto y emoción que cruzar el canal por un túnel oscuro…
Traveled 2 times with this incredible machines in December 1996
These beautiful machines are up there in the hall of fame alongside, Concorde, Vulcan Bomber, Blackbird SR 71, Spitfire, Lancaster Bomber, Mallard, Flying Scotsman, Showman’s Traction Engines.
If you guys love the look of this - don't forget to take a trip on the Isle of Wight hovercraft! Excellent video, thank you so much for uploading!
For so many reasons the last surviving SRN4 should be rebuilt and used now and then. It is a fantastic bit of engineering and history which relates to how our country used to be really great.
I doubt it, they are far too expensive to run and complex to maintain, these things go for a reason.
@@bjoe385 if what you say is true why do it with the spitfire? And that's only 1 example.
Chris Fleming the spitfire was far greater produced, and it used far simpler technology. The SR.N4 is a very complex machine with 4 jet engines and huge swivelling props and most likely hydraulic controls. Most of the remaining parts are near or are at the end of their recommended service life, in financing the the refurbishment was possible gaining the necessary technical support would be near impossible as most of the companies that made crucial parts are defunct and likely couldn’t be replicated by other companies economically. Even the companies that are in service often don’t have the expertise to maintain near 70 year old technology, a major factor in the Avro Vulcan’s retirement was BAE systems and Rolls Royce pulled tech support.
@@bjoe385 there are ways to overcome all those fairly standard issues you mention. I know I'm an engineer.
Chris Fleming in a financially viable way though?
Great documenting, thanks! 🙏 I used to go a bunch of times with my family around end 80s/beginning of 90s, from France (Belgium) to the UK and back. So much more fun than boats, it was for sure our favourite option! I remember calm rides and rough rides. I think I remember one on a smaller one (SN6?), where we had an oscillating view out the window between scarily high above the sea surface and scarily buried inside the waves with water up our heads (not sure it was really to that point, but that’s my memories).
Quel belle alliance entre la France et l'Angleterre.
La puissance de ces Machines un souvenir inoubliable.
Thank you so much for the sharing on CZcams so many great memories travelling at least twice a month with my grandfather to family in France.
I am always in awe of the fabulous technology that Britain created in the 20th century Srn4 Hovercraft, HST 125 Intercity train, Concorde, VTOL Harrier Jump Jet. Britain applauded and showed off to the rest of the world in this white heat of technology and then turned it's back on future development and investment leaving all these examples to doder along until they were unsafe or worn out to be serviceable and then buy trains and plans from another country. If only a hovercraft powered by electric could be possible as a viable service.
I am sure all the hundreds of millions to build a stupid tunnel to link us to France was well spent. How many modernised Hovercraft even half the size of Srn4 could have been made for the price of a tunnel!!!
Britain's middle name is Underinvestment.
In 1978 at the age of 15 I spent my first vacations in the UK in North Wales where I attended the PPSC Camp near Morfa Nefyn. After beeing four weeks in this beautiful landscape my parents picked me up there to travel via Oxford, London and Ramsgate and Calais back to Germany. From Ramsgate back to continental Calais we took the hovercraft. I couldn'd image how easy such a big hovercraft rose up and went over the channel within 30 minutes to France. It was like flying over the sea. It was a bit loud, but it was in somehow a completely new experience travelling by "boat". Unfortunately it was my first and last tour done by hovercraft. Lots of my visits to the UK later were done by plane or by train beyond the channel.
We had really good scout camps at Morfa Nefyn in 1975 and 1976 when I was 14 and 15 respectively.
@@alcatel4539 did you attend the PPSC in Morfa Nefyn run by Mr. Basil Clarkson? I was there in 78 when I was 14.
I used to travel on them a lot as my company had a deal with them, it became the booze cruise chariot of choice.
Thanks for the videos, brings back so many happy childhood memories travelling over to France and camping
Fabulous machines and a great film. Thanks for posting
I remember using these in the late 80s when going to France was still an adventure (my first trip as a boy was on a "proper" Sealink ship pre-RORO in about '67), Thanks.
My pals wife was a stewardess on the srn4 the day it broke the record for a chamnel crossing in 22 mins, also recall the days of running trailerecfrom ramsgate quay amd parking them on the old pegwell bay hoverport, another piece of awesome british engineering relegated to a memory like concorde.......
I travelled to France on them. They were brilliant 😄👍
Incredible videos of such awesome machines! Thanks for sharing!
Absolutely brilliant.. I hope the gulls kept their distance from those propellers.
A bit like Concorde that entered service at about the same time technically highly advanced yet not profitable. It actually takes longer to now cross the channel than it did in the 1970’s!
Finally it was the end of Duty Free that brought about the demise of these machines in service. Now, with Duty Free about to be reintroduced, who knows what might happen in terms of cross-Channel transport? The only definite prediction I would make is that it won't involve hovercraft.
Exactly the 2 things I say in how we're going backwards
WAOW AMAZING TO SEE I USED TO GO OSTEND - DOVER & JETFOIL IF I HAVE GOOD MEMORY CALAIS & TKA LOT FOR SHARING THESE VIDEOS I GO SEE SOME MORE WAOW THE MEMORIES TKS !!!
Woooh... lovely memories ...!
thanks for the video, they were so gorgeous :).
In 1993 my mother actually rode on one of these. The thing she remembered most was the fact that she had to hold her ears the whole ride, it was so loud.
They were noisy inside and out. As soon as I arrived in Dover to do this filming I was aware of a tremendous noise in the distance. It was the hovercraft.
@@uries15 We stay on a caravan site in Whitfield. Some 5 miles away and I could hear them early in the morning on their first runs. Really miss them.
unbelievable how small they were able to make the engines behind thos big props
OOH! Memories.....gutted that The Princess Margaret has now been scrapped at Lee-on-Solent.
At least her sister craft is still in existence tho.
Princes Anne Still existed today
A pair of those were refitted and stretched to give another 56ft in length which meant more passengers and cars, larger propellers were fitted to increase speed too.
That was this pair (The Princess Anne and The Princess Margaret) which were the original Seaspeed craft. The 4 Hoverlloyd (Seaspeed and Hoverlloyd merged to become Hoverspeed) craft (Sure, Swift, Sir Christopher and The Prince of Wales) were never stretched and were all withdrawn by 1991
Fantastic beasts
A Great Time :-)
waoooo is awesome
Some great stuff you’ve got here. Ultimately why did the service cease as it appeared to be profitable somewhat towards the end? After brexit could it make a resurgence?
It was an amazing way to travel. Not comfortable but fast. Are any of the SRN4s/Super4s preserved?
I'm in the throes of making a 1/ 48th scale model to go with the waverley I have built but have to get my head around the physics steering and more to the point staying still without drift.
6:38 Backfire I like it
Ethan Campbell To be pedantic, it is ‘ackchually’ excess fuel in the jet pipe from startup igniting once the engine is started. Concorde used to do the same thing.
I was on that in 98
At 11 minutes and about 15 minutes to refuel and de-Hovercraft these are the GEMS of the US Navy; that the U.S. should purchase for the true shear enjoyment and fullfilment of the PATENT value;
The propellers must be able to reverse the thrust but I would think it must be very hard to correct for the forward thrust of the turbine exhausts while compensating for wind direction and the inertia of the thing not wanting to change direction. And yet it looks as easy to controll as a car. All this before gps computer controll.
The forward thrust of the propellor is referred to as differential momentum stabilisation mode which over marginalises the reactionary sideways duplicated angle of least resistance. Inertia is quadrupled by the downward gravitational amplitude which can reach 88% of the input/output power differential.
Overall thrust can have little bearing on the damping effect of the turbine oscillating potential which counteracts low frequency vibrational risks to the directional stability of the refractory modes. Just like driving a moped.
4 ekzous, 4 big fan no cover, huu jet sound
A relic from the 60's. Quite amazing they lasted so long. Did a return crossing in 1985. What a noisey, rough and viewless trip.
Mrs Richards: " I paid for a room with a view!"
Basil: (pointing to the lovely view) "That is Torquay, Madam."
Mrs Richards: "It's not good enough!"
Basil: "May I ask what you were expecting to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window? Sydney Opera House, perhaps? the Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically past?..."
Mrs Richards: "Don't be silly! I expect to be able to see the sea!"
Basil: "You can see the sea, it's over there between the land and the sky."
Mrs Richards: "I'm not satisfied. But I shall stay. But I expect a reduction."
Basil: "Why?! Because Krakatoa's not erupting at the moment?
Zepperlin mark 1 with Fokker 100 runs on Steam as well as ,the Tay 650 engine delivers a thrust of 15,100lb and weighs 3,340lb. It is 94.8in long and has a fan diameter of 44.8in. far better
HOVERCRAFTS HAVE NOW GRADUATED TO VERY MUCH VALUED MILITARY CRAFT. THEY ARE CURRENTLY IN SERVICE ALL OVER THE GLOBE.
I was a deckie and can tell you it was a bloody horrible job. They stank, they were dirty, they were a bitch. However, they looked after their staff, we had vouchers we could use on crossings to give us discount on the duty free. The safety training was good with pool training and muster training every week....which was taken very seriously. The worse bit was emptying the bogs mid channel. We used to get tickets ourself, to go to France, as a passenger....on our days off for either 50p or £1. I don’t think any of us realised just how iconic these would become.
I wish I'd had the foresight to pick up more of the story at the time, but I did what I did way before You Tube was even thought of. Are you in touch with the Hovercraft Museum? If not, I think they would be very interested to hear from you.
@@uries15 hi ya, never given it a thought. Obviously there were quite a few of us. Not sure they would want the ravings of an old man lol
Edit;....just emailed them. Not much doing with this covid so why not. Thanks for the thought.
Love your bog memories😂 So British!
Amazing props, how frequent were bird strikes, and what was the night stop check like if any? Sad old git of an engineer here that loves smell of burnt jet fuel, noisey things.
Even had the privilege to ride on one of these majestic beasts late 80s, I had a rather pissed John Thaw, (The Sweeney) actor sitting behind me, winding me up as it was a tiny bit choppy, I had crap sea legs and was a land lubber😂
Can still smell the jet fuel......
upside down boat , then why not transport more cargo magnetic containers or fishing ships
OMG, these workers outside without proper ear protection... 9:53
Parked up like sleeping giant.
PATENT value YES and above the water and much cheaper thanMANY four jet engine aircraft; and far more effiecient than most C5 Galaxy planes. ; THE U.S. should buy 2 of them for they have medium maintenance costs. and
Emma Jayne Jacob
These beasts had power. Nowadays all that's happening in Calais is half of Africa revolts and rattles on their cages.