Page 54 - Theory and Design of Air Cushion Craft

38 Introduction to hovercraft

Fig. 1.39 Line drawing of passenger SES design WD-902.

Fig. 1.40 200 seat, 32 knot passenger SES built in GRP, delivered for service December 1995.

passenger craft for operating on small rivers. The WD-901 was followed by the WD-
902 (Fig. 1.39) with increased passenger capacity.
In 1985 MARIC developed the largest SES in China, the 719-11 (Fig. 1.4), which
has been regularly operated between Shanghai municipality and Qong Ming island
since that time. More recent examples of SES designs placed in service are those
shown in Figs 1.40 and 1.41. The SES in Fig. 1.40 is a 200 seat passenger SES built in
GRP which operates at 32 knots, and has been in service since December 1995. Fig.
1.41 shows an SES with a steel hull which carries 2 tonnes of cargo, and 70 passen-
gers at 33 knots. This entered service in August 1995.
To date more than 100 ACV and SES, of 15 different types, have been
built and operated in China, including 700t and 2000t capacity oil exploration
air cushion platforms. Figure 1.42 shows an early model of an ACV load car-
rying platform being tested over simulated ice in a towing tank. Wax is used
for this purpose. The near future holds considerable potential for ACV and