(Update 11/11/2024 Sorry if a few image thumbnails and galleries are a bit buggy, I'm updating the coding at the moment - James)
Welcome to James' Hovercraft Site
This site is dedicated to hovercraft of past and present, the history of the hovercraft, and a bit about how hovercraft work and what their various parts do. As you browse around, use the navigation bar above, or take the Hovercraft Tour (above) for a wander through the ages of hovercraft, you can click on small images to bring up a proper, zoomed-in version. Wherever a reference is used within the site the source is cited, e.g., [Rowson, 2006] and its corresponding publication details are in the Bibliography.
This site is kept alive by the kind contributions of visitors, and as such I am always looking for anyone with new content to come forward. If you have anything you think could be worthwhile adding to the site, that is any experiences you've had of the hovercraft, or any photos or videos you'd like to "donate", or your model hovercraft construction stories/photos, I would be very grateful if you could get in touch with me through the Contact Form.
To buy a hovercraft, or make your company known to the Internet, Visit the "Buy a Hovercraft " page for a list of companies and featured companies. A 'Free-Ads' section of the site for anyone wanting to sell or buy a hovercraft can be found in Private Advertisements. Companies or individuals selling or wanting to buy hovercraft related products (such as vouchers for trial rides, activity days, etc.) visit the Hover Related Products page.
Warwick and the team at the Hovercraft Museum Trust, in Gosport, Hampshire (UK) have very kindly allowed me to host some of their incredible collection, with rare if not single copies of photographs far back into hovercraft history. Over 2,000 images in this amazing selection of galleries!!
Paul Brett, a hovercraft engineer with Hovertravel and then in Canada with the arctic Northern Transportation Company Ltd., and then the Canadian Coastguard has kindly sent me some incredible photographs of his time working with the SRN6s and AP1-88s so close to the arctic circle.
1977/1978. SRN4 "Sure" hit a log in the English Channel and was forced to divert to Broadstairs with 30ft of cushion missing (starboard rear corner). This picture was taken at 6.30 am when, having refuelled, she finally crawled the short distance back to Pegwell Bay for repairs and return to service, her starboard rear corner barely off the ground. Mark Rushton
The last commercial flights of the supersonic jetliner Concorde were on the 24th October 2003. To commemorate these and the history of Concorde, a great feat of engineering and a beautiful aircraft, the JHS Concorde Site was set up, and has just been given a facelift in the style of James' Hovercraft Site
Mr Lloyd-Jones kindly sent me material from his trip on the Vickers VA-3, the "World's First Hovercoach" between Wallasey and Rhyl in 1962, includes a certificate of taking a flight with British United Airways, a promotional flyer about the service, and a photograph of the craft in action on the beach
Malcolm Hole sends his amazing shots of hovercraft used for work he was involved in from the Larsen B ice shelf in Antarctica in 1987 with a team from the BAS, including his recollection of his time there
Pat kindly sent me tonnes of great photographs of many various hovercraft over many various roles, including the HM-2, SRN's 1 thru 6, and the BH-7. Check out his gallery page for more photos
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