![]() ![]() After leaving Marconi he bought a small boat hire business and immediately applied his engineering skill to explore ways to make his boats go faster. The man credited with the invention of the hovercraft was the Cambridge-born engineer, Christopher Cockerell, who worked on radio technology during the second World War for the Marconi company. Whatever name they go by, their distinctive shape is a result of a common principle: to trap a cushion of air beneath the craft, to reduce friction with the ground or waves and achieve high speeds. To avoid the trademark, other manufacturers used the designation, ‘ACV’s’ or Air Cushioned Vehicles. The name ‘Hovercraft’ was originally a trademark held by the British engineering company ‘Saunders-Roe’, which produced some of Britain’s largest and most successful rotor-propelled vehicles. Sixty years after their invention, they can be found working in the most remote corners of the world. Hovercraft are capable of travelling up fast-flowing rivers, over ice caps, on marshes or reclaimed land. These versatile machines have been used in the most inhospitable terrain, defying friction and coasting over obstacles that would be unpassable in other vehicles or ships. ![]() Today, the technology still attracts investment from the world’s militaries, industry and rescue services. Hovercraft were a symbol of national innovation and represented the future of transport in the 20th Century.Īnd 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. They were once known as the ‘Concorde of the Seas’: mighty flying boats that ferried their passengers with speed and style.
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