Page 24 - Theory and Design of Air Cushion Craft

ACV and SES development in the UK 9

Table 1.2 Time interval for various military transport vehicles
from invention to first application
Type of Vehicle Time Interval from invention
to first application (years)
Steam boat 41
Hydrofoil craft 35
Submarine 25
Hovercraft 13
Jet aircraft 12
Aircraft 8

hovercraft, focussing on the UK, former USSR, USA and China which have been
leading centres of both analytical and practical craft development.
In Britain the hovercraft has been developed mainly for civil applications, while the
US government has strongly supported development for military use, and only lately
has commercial interest increased. In China, the main developments paralleled the
UK, beginning with prototypes for full scale testing, followed by commercial craft,
and some experimental military vehicles. Most ACV and SES in China are for com-
mercial use. In the former USSR medium sized amphibious hovercraft have been
developed for military use, SES for inland river transport and air cushion platforms
for oil exploration, followed in the late 1970s by some very large military vechicles.
Less information is available about the USSR craft, though it is clear that similar tech-
nology developed in parallel with the other three major centres described here.
While these countries have been pioneers in the design and construction of ACV
and SES, many others now have significant programmes. In Norway, large SES have
been developed as Coastal Mine Warfare vessels and Fast Patrol craft. In Korea sig-
nificant numbers of large commercial SES and ACVs have been built, and in Japan a
large development programme has been carried out through the 1990s to develop SES
high speed short sea cargo vessels.

1.2 ACV and SES development in the UK

Initial research: before 1963

In 1953, Christopher Cockerell, an electronics engineer with a small commercial boat-
building interest, began thinking about the age-old problem of decreasing the resis-
tance to ships' travel through the water. First he tried introducing air films under
model boats to give a kind of lubricated surface. This was not successful and the next
stages towards the evolution of the hovercraft principle are best described in his own
words:

After I had learnt from, and found out the shortcomings of 'air-lubrication
experimentally, the first idea I had was fixed sidewalls with hinged doors at the
ends, with air pumped into the centre. The next idea, at about the end of 1954,
was fixed sidewalls with water curtains sealing the ends. I stuck here for a bit,