Hovercraft
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Join Date: Jan 2004
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Hovercraft
As hovercraft are, strickly speaking, flying machines hopefully someone here might be able to help with a question.
What happenned to the Hoverspeed machines when the went out of service a few years ago? I did hear one of them was due to go to a museum.
What happenned to the Hoverspeed machines when the went out of service a few years ago? I did hear one of them was due to go to a museum.
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Bedfordshire
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http://www.hovercraft-museum.org/museum.html
The museum have both the ex-channel hovercraft. Theres an interesting aerial photo on the website above! wondering just how they parked them up.
The museum have both the ex-channel hovercraft. Theres an interesting aerial photo on the website above! wondering just how they parked them up.
It was always fun watching the hovercraft manoeuvring in Dover harbour when I used to wait for the Dover-Oostende SeaCat.
But the Tunnel forced all carriers to try to compete for Dover-Calais passengers; the hovercraft were taken out of service, the SeaCats stopped running to Oostende - and I no longer use Hoverspeed as it's totally pointless to drive past the Tunnel just to get to the slower Dover-Calais SeaCat! My trips now take the same time as they used to - except that instead of relaxing in the SeaCat 1st Class lounge with a meal I have to sit in the car for the crossing, then spend longer driving through France to get back onto the road to Brussels...
The Oostende route was great for those travelling to Germany - and it was good value as well. A great shame that it no longer runs
Sorry to have diverted the thread. But hovercraft travel was fun as well - we once took a rugby team to the continent from Ramsgate and it was soooo much better than the ferry!
But the Tunnel forced all carriers to try to compete for Dover-Calais passengers; the hovercraft were taken out of service, the SeaCats stopped running to Oostende - and I no longer use Hoverspeed as it's totally pointless to drive past the Tunnel just to get to the slower Dover-Calais SeaCat! My trips now take the same time as they used to - except that instead of relaxing in the SeaCat 1st Class lounge with a meal I have to sit in the car for the crossing, then spend longer driving through France to get back onto the road to Brussels...
The Oostende route was great for those travelling to Germany - and it was good value as well. A great shame that it no longer runs
Sorry to have diverted the thread. But hovercraft travel was fun as well - we once took a rugby team to the continent from Ramsgate and it was soooo much better than the ferry!
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Just surfed on the museum interesting website, good to learn some Hovercrafts still survive, hope they will rise enough money to build some proper shelters.
Alain
Alain
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I liked the Hovercraft - only chance I ever got to "fly" Tyne powered. But - I also like the Ferry, civilised and get a good cholesterol-rich brekkers down yer neck before assaulting a few good French bars and restaurants (sod the shops, I prefer to wine and dine en Francaise!). Chunnel's convenient but uncivilised in my view!
Is the Pompey/Ryde Mini-Hover still going?
Is the Pompey/Ryde Mini-Hover still going?
We had a wizened old ex-Marine (sorry Tony) here in Kazakhstan as an advisor for the hovercraft that we were using as crew transport to our offshore drilling islands. He held a CAA issued hoverdraft licence from the days when Sir Christopher Cockerill was alive so I suppose they were classed as flying machines.
The machines have proved to be a very useful tool as they can obviously cope with both sea and ice operations (it can get down to -40C here in the wintertime). The only problem with winter ops is the increased rate of erosion of the skirts when operating over ice.
The machines have proved to be a very useful tool as they can obviously cope with both sea and ice operations (it can get down to -40C here in the wintertime). The only problem with winter ops is the increased rate of erosion of the skirts when operating over ice.
