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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.
Hovercraft Information Galleries | Videos | World Hoverports | Hovercraft Sales | Other Websites of Interest | Site Links
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| Important: As this site is being upgraded, image gallery functioning is being improved. In some galleries, please click and HOLD to view a large image from a thumbnail | |
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Steam Boat WillyThis is the world's first Human Powered hovercraft, a project by University College London. Here seen at the Hovercraft Museum's August 2011 open day. |
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BAA Heathrow Fire Service's Hoverguard 80BAA Heathrow Fire Department's old Hoverguard 80 craft, now at the Hovercraft Museum |
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Hovercraft Museum Open Day 2011The Hovercraft Museum's August 2011 Open Day was a good day out for families and enthusiasts, with all the hangars and exhibits open to the public, a tea room and even a hovering experience on board a Royal Marines Griffon 2000 craft. Also giving live displays were the UK's Model Hovercraft Association |
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Model HovercraftThe Model Hovercraft Association (GB) was present at the 2011 August open day of the Hovercraft Museum |
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SRN4 CockpitSRN4 photos taken at the 2011 Hovercraft Museum Open Day. |
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SRN2 in 1964SRN2 in operations with Hovertransport, Ltd., between 1963 and 1964 between Eastney (near Southsea) and Ryde. E Dunn/H Mabel Smith. |
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ConcordeThe 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! |
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Vickers VA-3Mr 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. |
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Vosper Thornycroft VT-2Ernie Dunn, draughtsman at Vosper Thornycroft, Portchester, has sent these photos of the craft during a refit in Jan/Feb 1981. |
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Seaspeed and Hoverlloyd SRN4s at Dover/Calais in 1981John Hall has sent three photos from holiday snaps in 1981, of a Seaspeed SRN4 Mk III (The Princess Margaret) at Dover hoverport, and Hoverlloyd SRN4 Mk II The Prince of Wales at Calais hoverport. |
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Tiger 4 with the British Antarctic SurveyMalcolm 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. |
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Pat Lawrence's GalleriesPat 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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Do you have a hovercraft-related photo you'd like to appear here? If you do, please drop me a line by filling in my Contact Form.
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Two Tiger 4 hovercraft on the Larsen B ice shelf, Antarctica, in 1987/8 with the British Antarctic Survey. Tiger 4 in Antarctica Gallery.
Page updated: Sunday, September 18, 2011