View Full Version : Hoverspeed Pilots
Yak Hunt
24th Aug 2001, 19:05
Just wondered what happened to the SRN4 Pilots at Hoverspeed. I know they had ATPL's, did they go flying or do they drive seacats now?
M.Mouse
24th Aug 2001, 20:50
I stand to be corrected but I think you are misinformed. The Hoverspeed pilots I met (on a bridge/flight deck visit) told me they had seafaring qualifications.
Interesting question.
springbok449
25th Aug 2001, 12:43
I once flew with a guy who had been an hovercraft pilot, he did this using and CPL/frozen ATPL if he needed some extra groundschool to be able to go to sea or not I do not know.
Regards Bokkie449.
Yak Hunt
26th Aug 2001, 19:47
I seem to remember an article in the Log some years ago and I think the Campaign Against Aviation got involved as they were technically airborn. Also had to have maritime qualifications. Demanding job and qualifications by the sound of it.
HugMonster
27th Aug 2001, 00:51
Yak, I believe you're right, and that they needed both aviation and marine licences.
brockenspectre
27th Aug 2001, 15:07
Light years ago I worked one summer as cabin crew on hovercraft operating between Ramsgate and Calais (yes a company called HoverLloyd ran that route while SeaSpeed ran the Dover/Calais one! I told you it was a long time ago). Anyway, I visited the "flight deck" on many occasions, once being permitted to take controls (the company no longer exists so I am not getting anyone in trouble) and was told by the pilots that they had to hold a commercial pilots licence AND a Masters Ticket to do the job!
As I was too short sighted to pursue a commercial flying career I realised that a Hovercraft pilot career was out of the question too!! grrrrrrrrrrr
:cool:
Speaking as an ex-seafarer (now ATCO) I can say that to the best of my knowledge the Hoverspeed guys had Deck Officer's tickets (Class 4 for the F/O and Class 1 for the skipper). They had to do a conversion course for the hovercraft, but as far as I know they didn't have to do any aviation tickets.
A couple of shots of the SR.N4 'Swift' control cabin for those interested.
http://www.hover.globalinternet.co.uk/images/srn4mus29.jpg
http://www.hover.globalinternet.co.uk/images/mus16.jpg
http://www.hover.globalinternet.co.uk/images/srn4mus31.jpg
You can view a couple of the SR.N4s at The Hovercraft Museum in Lee-On-Solent.
VFE.
[ 27 August 2001: Message edited by: VFE ]
brockenspectre
27th Aug 2001, 23:22
OMG!! Thank you for the pics!! Swift, Sure and Princess Ann I seem to recall were those owned/run by HoverLloyd from Ramsgate - the first two definitely!!!
This really brings back memories of my "yoof"!!!!
^5 JC
Mr Pax
28th Aug 2001, 00:12
On a smaller scale they still run a regular service of SRN6 hovercraft across the solent from Southsea to Ryde on the Isle of Wight. :) http://www.hovertravel.co.uk
A few more seeing as I am not the only one interested!
Here is the evacuation notice the captain would make in the event of.
http://www.hover.globalinternet.co.uk/images/srn4mus28.jpg
Up front.
http://www.hover.globalinternet.co.uk/images/78-69-38swift.jpg
Navigators post.
http://www.hover.globalinternet.co.uk/images/78-69-36swift.jpg
I hope you enjoy them.
VFE.
[ 27 August 2001: Message edited by: VFE ]
Mycroft
29th Aug 2001, 01:27
Hovertravel no longer use SRN6s, instead using AP1-88s
Errrrrrrrrr
What [if anything] happens if you pull back on that control column?
Do we find out the max ceiling?
:cool:
dv8,
Pushing the control column (actually refered to as a 'spectacle wheel' I believe) forward induces a little more positive pitch, together with the throttles the craft will move forward. Turning the control column angles the propellers to control drift. Moving the rudder pedals moves the horizontal stabilisers and pylons together.
VFE. :D
[ 29 August 2001: Message edited by: VFE ]
Yak Hunt
1st Sep 2001, 23:19
Thanks for all the info and pics - superb. Apparently the Pilot's have been retrained on seacats - wonder what they think to that!
They probably have backache more on the Seacat unless they have fitted chairs on the bridge now! I travelled on the Seacat the first week it was in service (before they withdrew it to 'stabilise' it) and the Captain said half the deck crew were on the club with backache standing up all day on a ship that wasn't stable.
That was a bad trip. Puke coming out of my ears! Even my old man was sick and he's a turbine engineer on oil tankers! :eek:
VFE.
wysiwyg
2nd Sep 2001, 17:39
This must be one of the most interesting threads on Prune for ages.
Yak Hunt
2nd Sep 2001, 22:04
Would be good if anybody knows an ex - hover bod so we can get it from the horses mouth.
Dave Hedgehog
2nd Sep 2001, 22:19
I'm curious, was the hovercraft seen as the "concorde" of the ferry world? and im not belittling anyone here, but surely the navigator wouldnt have had that much to do on a channel crossing? :confused:
Hi Dave, (how's 'Spud Gun'? ;) )
You get alot of traffic in the channel Dave and with the amounts of spray those babies throw up at the windows I would imagine that it wouldn't be too difficult to hover straight into a vessel at 60+ knots. That's pretty much what happened at Dover when one crashed into the harbour wall killing umpteen people. I believe it lead to services being stopped at + Force 7.
Yak Hunt,
I will try and contact someone who should know the ins and outs of what the life of Hoverspeed pilots was like and what they are up to now. Stay tuned!
VFE.
Yak Hunt
3rd Sep 2001, 10:40
Thanks VFE, didn't know that one crashed. From memory Seaspeed ,a BR subsiduary, had Princess Anne and Princess Margaret? and Hoverlloyd had Swift and Sure. Anybody else out there build the Airfix model with the transparent roof? Always had a fascination for Hovercraft, but it's looks as if the Uk is the only place and Westland is the only place that makes them. Oh dear.
I purchased a model (already built!) of a Hoverspeed craft in the shop at the Dover Hoverport once. It had brushes on the bottom and when you switched it on it vibrated, moving across the floor! I'm not gonna say what else we did with it either! :o
I wanted to be a Hovercraft pilot as a child but as this thread shows it wasn't exactly easy to find out how to become one!
Anyone who stood at ground level and witnessed an SR.N4 flying up the hoverpad after a cross-channel trip will agree when I say it was one of the most awe-inspiring (and quite frightening for me at that age!) sites one could witness. Man, were those things noisy!
The excitement when onboard of the engines starting up and then the skirt inflating one side first, then the other, like a big camel clambering to it's feet. Then the race down to the waters edge, vibrating like a tumble dryer, and then skimming across the sea. It wasn't too long before the spray had totally clouded the windows and all you could make out was the horizon.
It was a bit like boarding an airliner from the 70s - the cabin seemed quite old in style if I remember correctly, all rather kitsch!
Good memories and memories that we'll never be able to renew unfortunately.
VFE.
Airbanda
5th Sep 2001, 00:35
Hoverlloyd had a third machine named Sir Christopher after the inventor of the hovercraft Christopher Cockrell.
For a time in 1979 the SRN4's were joined by an "Aeroglisseur" in the form of the French SEDAM N500. Travelled on a day trip to Boulogne. Much higher over the water than the SRN and on my one trip less prone to pitch/roll in swell (kept my escargot down!). Engine vibration grounded it, was left rusting at the former Boulogne hoverport for several years.
Airbanda-proud to be an anorak.
BayAreaLondoner
5th Sep 2001, 03:10
Some pics are here, including ones of the SEDAM.
Amazing what you can find on the web. Actually that site has some wonderful info and brings back memories of riding on hovercraft as a child.
http://www.jameshovercraft.co.uk
[ 04 September 2001: Message edited by: BayAreaLondoner ]
[ 04 September 2001: Message edited by: BayAreaLondoner ]
brockenspectre
5th Sep 2001, 19:36
Airbandathank you!! I knew HoverLloyd had a third craft but couldn't remember the name, Sir Christopher, of course!! In fact it was Sir C whose car deck always smelled the most fumey!! As cabin crew one summer I was also in charge of "bond", ie loading the perfume and duty free alcohol, and had to hang around the car deck a little more than I liked. Of course that meant that I also got to know "flight deck"...hence my previous post about being allowed to take the controls one calm, smooth day in La Manche!! The best fun was "buzzing" ships in the Channel - obviously the Hovercraft as the more manoeuvrable craft went behind any ship but the "flight deck" was my favourite hangout! Crew parties were also fun as we cabin crew were permitted free trips on our days off so we could always get the best and freshest French food and wine...one time I even remember being stopped by Customs (the growly officer) who inspected the stuff I and another crew member were carrying for a party that night (and yes some Customs had been invited!) and made a big fuss - all the day-trip blue-rinse brigade assumed we had been up to no good, the reality? he was just inspecting the food and deciding what he was going to eat that night!!
What memories!! Hovercraft IS the best way to cross the Channel - even on rough days, 35mins of "agony" was a darn sight better than the current endurance on Seacat/Ferry!!
:D If i become a squillionaire (lottery win yanno) I am definitely going to have a Hovercraft!!!! It is the kewlest mode of transport after Concorde..really!
:D
Mycroft
5th Sep 2001, 22:37
QFE
There were no casualties when the SRN4 hit the wall, as the 2 seats nearest the impact were vacant, 2 friends of mine having missed it. There were 5 casualties in 1972 when a cross-solent SRN6 overturned in a force 8 gale.
Check out the Hovercraft Museum at http://www.hover.globalinternet.co.uk
Unfortunately they have a problem with their loctaion at HMS Daedalus as it is due to be reactivated (details of new usage unclear) and they may be forced to move. They also have a general access problem and are onlyopen a few days each year.
Mycroft,
I'll have a few words wimme ole man then - giving me duff information! He did say, however, that it was the folks on the harbour wall that bought it and afterwards they closed the wall to the general public?
As I say - I'll have words with him when he gets home.
brockenspectre,
Sounds like you had a real mean time as CC on the hover! 35 minutes of "agony"? I dunno about that dude! I had the misfortune to hop across in GF6 and it was not funny. Seriously "touch cloth time"!! Still I was only about 11 years old so I may have been a bit of a mincer!
VFE. :)
Crosswind Limits
6th Sep 2001, 20:45
Brockenspectre,
If I remember rightly HoverLloyd hovercrafts were called Sure, Swift, Sir Christopher and I think the Prince of Wales. All absorbed into Hoverspeed many years ago, who themselves had larger craft by the name of Princess Anne and Princess Margaret.
Cheers
aidybennett
7th Sep 2001, 14:38
I don't remember any details but I remember an article, in Pilot I think, several years ago about 'flying' (or is it sailing?) the cross-channel hovercraft. It was written by a airline pilot who did it for a couple of years for a change, if I remember rightly. He of course had to sit seamanship exams.
I went Dover-Calais on one in the mid-eighties (when I was about nine) My memories very much like VFE's. I was struck by the old sixties style airliner interior. I remember the view as being quiet good, but the sea was very calm that day. I do remember realising how hard it is to judge ones hieght over water. (I think I'd just read Ivan Southalls 'Fly West' about Sunderland crews in WW2) It does look great coming up that ramp. Then we took the TGV from Paris to Nantes. Can't remember the time it took but it was very fast. Fantasitic!
[ 07 September 2001: Message edited by: Captain James Bigglesworth ]
Managed to get in touch with a pal from Hoverspeed and he gave me some info on the SR.N4 crews.
From memory he says that the First Officer was normally a Master Mariner and the Captain would have a Masters Certificate. The Flight Engineer, however, did not need any qualifications - surprising as that sounds! The role of the Navigator was a hard one apparently. The English Channel being the busiest sea lane on the globe, he had a hard job in the fog!!
Pay wasn't bad - about £25-34k per annum.
The pilots were understandably gutted when Hoverspeed stopped using the hovercraft and most went on to sail the Seacat or fly aircraft.
Hope that is of some interest, apologies for the delay in posting the info.
VFE.