Hovercraft

[tail wheel]

That wasn’t the shuttle to mirage at port douglas was it?

You have a long memory Sunnie! That was a hovercraft operated in the days of Skase, who died in 2001. I think the hovercraft commuter operated briefly between Cairns airport and Port Douglass in the late 1980s?

I remember the WIGE (Wing in Ground Effect) "aircraft" undergoing trials in Cairns, thought it was more recent but looks like it was around 2003 or slightly later:

Flightship Takes Wing

Paul Phelan article: https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/wing-in-ground-effect-craft-enters-production-160873/

Cairns WIGE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmy46xHcA3M" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmy46xHcA3M