Hovercraft
A hovercraft is a vehicle supported and moved by a cushion of air blowing downwards.[1] They are used on water, land, ice and other areas where the surface is smooth. A difference in air pressure between the ship and the atmosphere creates lift, causing the hovercraft to float above the surface it is set on, allowing it to ride on different surfaces. They are often used as ferries and by militaries for amphibious, or on water and on land (like an amphibian can live in water and land) missions. A hovercraft can move cargo, people, and cars.
The English engineer Sir Christopher Cockerell invented the modern hovercraft.
Hovercraft Media
RLG-innovations eurocraft, a Formula 1 racing hovercraft
SR.N4 hovercraft arriving in Dover on its last commercial route across the English Channel (1 October 2000)
U.S. Navy LCAC
Luftkissengleitboot replica
Charles Fletcher's Glidemobile in the Aviation Hall of Fame and Museum of New Jersey
Curtiss-Wright Model 2500 Air Car, late 1950s
Cockerell's hovercraft model from 1955 in the Science Museum, London
SR.N1 general arrangement
A Lithuanian Coast Guard Griffon Hoverwork 2000TD hovercraft with engine off and skirt deflated
With engine on and skirt inflated
Hovercraft in the Netherlands, newsreel from 1976
Boren ride-on Power Trowel
References
- ↑ Wragg, David W. (1973). A Dictionary of Aviation (first ed.). Osprey. p. 18. ISBN 9780850451634.
