Why Most Hovercraft Have Disappeared 

First

No way you live in Canada too! Cheers from Mid east brother

Canada doesn’t seem to be pulling their weight in global defense…. ;)

This video is one of my least favourite - wayyy too long and jumps around different topics with no clear journey from start to finish. Maybe these should be a two chapter affair in future.

@@tillycatcat hey no one caresssssssss

That's what I thought! Looks like a lot of fun!

i imagine the feeling of driving it would be a truly unique feeling

It looks like fun, yeah. And if you like paperwork more than screwing around in a hovercraft, it's a great job! If it was a private company, the job would probably be one of the best in the world, but Environment Canada runs these, and you don't want to work for the Canadian government.. Unless you like putting 30 years of your life into job, just to get screwed out of your pension... :( Search and rescue is where it's at, if you want work as a hovercraft operator, or doing line inspection up in the skeg.

need some Tokyo Drift soundtrack.

It reminds me of my mum defrosting the freezer with the vacuum cleaner exhaust

Or your counselor knew that winter doesn't last long enough for this job to be necessary more often than 1-2 months a year. What you really should ask yourself is what the hovercraft pilots do the other 10 months a year.

​@@Wolfsschamane Search And Rescue...

@@dwavenminer Possible, if search and rescue is often enough necessary in that area. Maybe they use regular boats most of the year for that but it's certainly not doing donuts on a frozen river with a hoverboat.

Well as you live in the Sahara desert, maybe they were right....

​@@Wolfsschamanehave you ever considered not everyone lives in the same climate as you? Many places have more winter months than summer months.

Interesting! A few people commented that their experience was in fact very noisy. Maybe these were different hovercraft?

@@NotWhatYouThink maybe people have forgotten how noisy most aircraft were in the 70s. I've been on plenty of one hour flights in Turboprops which weren't exactly peaceful. The SR4 was never going to survive the completion of the Chunnel anyway, but I'm glad that I got to experience that flight. :) PS If people are comparing the noise level with a ship or a train rather than a propeller driven aircraft, they're crazy.

Used it many times. Normally very fast. One time the sea was rough. Crossed the channel at half speed. Half the passengers were clutching sick bags!

@@ericrawson2909 no doubt I was lucky to have good weather!

@@ericrawson2909 was a kid when I visited England with my dad in the early 80s. Trip was a breeze on the way to Dover but on our trip back the sea was a little rough and I noticed some passengers feeling sick. Still was one of the most exciting moments of my childhood!

Thank you for taking the time to do this. So ..... Why did they disappear?

@@yasminbarry7941 Its explained in the video

@@EmperorDank : Thank you. I should stop doing several things at the same time.

if only I read this first

Except the kind of mines with prong triggers...

Yep that would be important😅😅😮

Ah yes I saw this explained in the documentary "James bond 007 die another day"

It does nothing to lower magnetic signature other than moving the hull a few meters away. Material choice is much more important, because magnetic triggering is much more advanced than it used to be. Hovering can reduce or eliminate shockwave coupling between water and hull, which is a bigger deal than the more visually spectacular side of a naval mine explosion. And it can be done so it makes very little acoustic signature for mines that trigger by sound. But the propeller driven models fail in that regard.

@@TheMonkey747 The prong triggers are from small anti-personnel mines.

The hovercraft is cool, but so are helicopters, and a helicopter can perform a rescue on Georgia straight or on grouse mountain. I suppose the hovercraft could too, it just takes ages to drive one all the way up mountain highway from Burrard Inlet!

@@nickgoodall578 oh the folks from the 442 are lovely and some of the best at their jobs there is. But the hovercraft and the Helicopters do different jobs, same with the MLBs and RHIBs. And together they do a better job than either of them could do on their own.

Sar???

@@Fortnightenjoyer Search And Rescue

@@Fortnightenjoyer SAR is the abbreviation for Search And Rescue. Which is the most frequent task for the Canadian Coast Guard here on the West Coast.

No emergency flotation construction by using styrofoam or something? Huh. Well, mine didn't either, but we made that for classroom experiments. Circular, ~3'3", with a car battery, two camping mattress blowers, and room for one person. That was fun!

I also have such a toy. It is really fun to go on different surfaces. And it has a styrofoam body which floats. You can observe every slightly uneven road as the hovercraft goes to the side of the slope if you slow down.

@@nos9784 nope, no back-up floatation implements. I remember that when my craft started to lose power in the creek, I yelled for my younger brother, who was standing closer to the creek, to jump in and save it. Of course, he just looked at me like I was crazy. Fortunately, there was enough power to get the craft closer to the edge where I could reach it without having to put more than one foot into the water. (This happened in late fall/early winter, so the water was very cold.)

@@reinhard8053 those little things where part of the challenge. When I first got my craft, the ground was covered with snow, so it made it pretty easy to drive the craft over what was usually grass and what not, just as long as the slope wasn't too steep. But no styrofoam body on mine. If it sank, it sank.

I had this toy as well. Does anyone remember the name. I remember it was neon yellow/green. It was called the Typhoon made by tyco. I got it for Xmas in 92 I think

Are the beaches and coastline there similar to what they'd have in Taiwan?

@@bc-guy852 I don’t know what they’re like in Taiwan, but our coastline is described as “rugged”. It depends on location, but we do have nice beaches, it’s usually too cold and windy to do much though.

Yeah I grew up here in eastern north Carolina, where our coastline is nearly almost entirely flat, low-lying expanses between the ocean/intracoastal waterway, estuaries & salt marshes, or swamp. The majority of the terrain almost anywhere throughout the outer banks (which for the most part are very low, narrow & skinny chain of coastal islands, and form a protective natural barrier that runs the entire length of NC's coast. between neighboring barrier islands, typically one island's northern-most tip & the southern-most tip of the other, are the waterways connecting fresh inland waters to the ocean, and also contain channels for maritime traffic, allowing for passage between intracoastal or inland waterways, local or private harbors/docks/slips, & the 3 state ports to & from the open ocean and much larger, deeper main sea lanes) is by and large mostly long, wide, flat, open sandy beaches. This exact kind of geography was particularly chosen right before the second world war by the War Department (now the Department of Defense) as the best location to build & utilize as Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, the perfect place on all the east coast of the US, and most ideal type for amphibious operations, especially with regards to LCACs. From my childhood to this day, I've lost count of how many times I was spending a day at the beach with family or friends, there would be US Navy ships anchored a few miles off-shore, and all of a sudden multiple LCACs and AAVs (amphibious assault vehicles aka Amtraks) would come into view on the horizon, and within a few minutes would pull up onto the beach, sometimes just a few hundred yards down the beach from the rest of us where Navy Seabees would be waiting for their arrival. they'd drop ramp and Marines, their gear & vehicles would disembark and proceed further inland, and then those LCACs would fire their engines back up again and return back to ship... All of this in a matter of a couple minutes. Truly an impressive sight, that is, when you weren't at times having to cover your face & eyes to keep from being sand-blasted by the excessive amounts of beach sand kicked up whenever their engines were still running wide-open. Totally worth it though to be able to watch all that kind of stuff, especially from that far away

@@rachejohnson5427it must suck to be you. Of course when you need help where will you be? In the city where there are hospitals and people to help you.🙄

I assume these places are in America...? Unless these are countries

There is still a passenger hovercraft service. In England between Southsea in Portsmouth and Ryde Isle of Wight. With crossings every half an hour. Its been running since 1965.

They are actually very fun to race for that reason in the few racing games that feature them such as The Crew 2.

What would you expect with 4 gas turbine engines with a total of 3800 shp or 2800 kw power and 4 19 feet or 5.8 meter diameter variable pitch props (Mk. III).

@@renefrijhoff2484 Yeah, fair enough but 60 freakin' miles? It really surprised me.

I dont think the British coast is 60 Nm away

@@derekdekker9685 Nope, it's about 33,1 km or 17,87 Nm.

@@derekdekker9685 Correct. The hovercraft was leaving Calais and we were on the edge between Flandres and the province of Zealand.

I see what you did there 😅

Noise from hell

Why cant the new skirt with the aluminum be used while the rig has forward propulsion ?

@@creatorchris712 It probably could....anything is possible with enough money and effort. However, in the interests of making it as cheap, simple and low maintenance as possible, there will be no forward propulsion. A lack of propulsion is no real loss to the versatility or usability of the rig, anyway. It typically spends months on individual projects drilling fairly closely spaced holes, so only needs to be moved long distances on a handful of occasions in a year. And, by making it "weightless" with an air skirt, towing it long distances over the lake is no major logistical challenge.

Well, hello from the other side 😂

I never thought we’d see Portsmouth on her, not what are you think video

@@niktimes3nor the island but this is the second one I noticed he previously mentioned in another video about RAF ventnor

I love seeing it do drifts as it leaves Southsea 😂 very fun

It's brilliant, so long as the wind doesn't pick up too much!

The SR.N4 operated regular services between 1968 and 2000. It always annoys me when people focus on the end of life of such a vessel and then call it a failure despite over 30 years of successful operation. I feel similarly about Concorde.

Agreed, though there is also 1 other aspect that made an and to the SR N4 hovercrafts. They contained 4 Rolls Royce 3800 shp gas turbo engines (the Mk. III anyway) which burned 1000 gallons an hour at a cruise speed of 50 knots. Max. capacity was 8068 gallons.

The video does cover all of your points later - it's a pity they included that incorrect assertion at the start :-/

He said literally all of that.

@@westrim Yes he mentioned them but with the Title of being absolute failures... he did not use the narrative to properly or adequately defend his supposition / Title!

I was thinking this. ESDs and hovercraft are perfect for getting supplies and emergency responders onto the beach after a hurricane, earthquake, etc.

Unfortunately the EDS is being phased out.

It must be expensive, why keep a fleet of hovercraft if you can use a shallow hull boat or helicopter or something?

Epic profile pic.

I'm trying to think of who the commander and chief of the US was in 2022 that would eliminate the only way to connect 2 ships for maximum advantage. Couldn't be the same guy that led the phenomenally successful withdrawal from Afghanistan. Or the guy that drained the strategic oil reserves. Or the guy that let terrorists shoot at bases and ships for multiple weeks before responding. It's not possible it's the same guy because this president is the most intellectually enabled individual that ever led the country and I don't believe that he would do anything to endanger the citizens of Ukraine and getting all of our weapons reserves into their hands.

True, but your career never goes forward. It just goes around in circles.

​@@gaveintothedarkness bruh

They can not break ice it is a click bait title

@@Leo-gt1bx it would be click bait except for you know, the clips showing hovercrafts being used to break thinner ice.

Boss: _"Ok, today we need you to get your sweet ride out on the river and do a bunch of donuts, handbrake turns and Akira slides"_ Driver: _"Not again... can't you get Joe to do it?"_

It wasn't very scenic, either, with the windows spattered with salt spray. I found it mostly unpleasant, with the noise and all, but it was fast. I've taken traditional ferries, fast catamaran ferries, and even a hydrofoil ferry, and all of them were more pleasant.

It was a shitty ride, cramped and uncomfortable inside

@@grizzlygrizzle Yes, I remember being pleased that I'd bagged a seat at the front, only to discover that one could see very little.

I noticed that. Like you say, it's ground-effect. He does eventually mention that.

And neither do they break ice

The video is correct. The air being forced down, pushes the craft up. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

@@mkvv5687 The video is correct.

@@fukkitful no, thats how helicopters work. I'm sure maybe at most 10% of the force keeping it up is newtons 3rd law, but most of it is just the hovercraft 'sitting' on the bed of air.

They're much bigger and far more comfortable here now I promise, all fancy with union jack/flag livery✌️

You know what was very successful for years? Me and your momma! I tell you what.

You obviously did not listen to what was being said in the video.

He literally mentions all of this in the video.

Tell me you didn’t watch the video without telling me you didn’t watch the video

@@Nicky_Nacky_Nooo You obviously did not listen to was being said by your momma... about me! And she be fine! Oh! Yeah!

Let's hope it's not next on the list of spare soviet equipment Putin wants to send into the Ukrainian meat grinder.

@@olenickel6013 certainly so!

@@olenickel6013 just shoot a rocket launcher at the prop or skirt job done

There's one at Morecambe, too. The sands of Morecambe Bay are treacherous, and the tide comes in fast (remember the Chinese cockle pickers tragedy), so an RNLI hovercraft is ideal.

So true! I've never been as seasick as i have aboard a hovercraft to calais. It was not just that we were bouncing over 2m waves, but the fact you couldn't go out on deck for fresh air. Thankfully it was only 30 min trip but i felt sorry for whoever had to clean up the toilets after!

He made that clear in the video at 8:38

@@danskkr I think you'll find that your incorrect about being able to go on the outside deck of the Hovercraft. It would have been physically impossible as they didn't have outside decks. I think you'll find that you where taking about the 71m SeaCat Service that was operated by Hoverspeed. My proof for backing it up is that I worked for them as Terminal and Onboard Staff.

@@marksavage6041 It was Dover to Calais and I think it was Hoverspeed so you are more of an authority then me for sure! But it was seriously choppy, I had a hangover and just remember being so seasick and feeling trapped in the cabin desperate for some fresh air. The hover craft was bouncing over the waves the whole way - if there was a deck it probably wouldn't have been safe in those conditions and they may have locked access to outside?

The plural doesn't have an s. Like the plural of aircraft is aircraft. Also one canon, many canon. I guess in the end no one will notice that another grammar rule has changed. Thanks to the presenter for getting it right.

that was a science experiment when I was in gr6 (~1970) but with a cardboard disk and an empty cotton reel to support the balloon. It fascinated me for a couple of weeks.

Yeah but. It's not how a hovercraft works. The CD/Balloon blows air through the middle. A hovercraft blows air round the edges. Doesn't sound like it matters but it does. It gives extra height. And that extra height allows the hovercraft to be used on rougher terrain whereas the CD only works on smooth surfaces.

@@DerekRoss1958 It is still a ground effect machine (generic term, by rights 'Hovercraft' is a trade name) the first prototype DID blow down the middle (see video), during development it was discovered that peripheral air discharge was more efficient (also in video); then skirts were added to further increase efficiency . Conventional aircraft also generate added lift from ground effect when close to the ground caused by the air deflected down by the wing reflecting back up.

Samum is a different type of hovercraft, called Surface Effect Ship or sidewall hovercraft. This video is basically about Cockerell's design and its derivatives and mostly ignores other types of hovercrafts, that were created since circa 1910-s.

oooo that sounds cool af

‘Is’ making or ‘was’ making?

Operating from Army LST`s? Another oddity the US Army is trying to offload, along with air cargo transport as so I have read!

@@KevinSmith-ys3mh The Army didn't have any LST's. We would cooperate with the Navy if we needed to be hauled somewhere. The Army did have 5 LSV's (Logistical Support Vessel) which were 275' landing craft, as well as a 375' landing ship called the "McHenry". We also had 1600 and 2000 class LCU's, as well as LCM 8's (Mike boats) and various tug boats and barges. Quite the little navy. Most of it operated out of Ft. Eustis, VA. I was stationed down the road at Ft. Story, VA, where we had two hovercraft companies, as well as a unit operating the LARC-LX, a giant boat/truck with wheels.

I live in Portsmouth on the south coast of the UK and nearby in Lee on Solent back in the early 70s was a unit set up called the interservice hovercraft trials unit. It was created to test and evaluate the potential use of hovercraft for use in the military. Ie navy and army. One of the tests they did was using the BH7 for testing the effects of mines on hovercraft. I have video of some of this stuff. Not sure if any of it's on RU-vid. Coincidentally, there's been a hovercraft museum for quite a while now and it's in the very same location and that BH7 is there together with a number of other craft including 2 of the SRN4 cross channel hovercraft. I actually watched one of them come in which had to use mobile blowers as it was unserviceable. The hovercraft had to cross a road to get from the sea to the base so traffic had to be stopped. I believe you can see the BH7 on street view.

The Baltic sea monster

@@Redicule_research._ridiculous Wasn't it the Caspian Sea monster?

That is a true ground effect vehicle

They operated only in the Caspian Sea and were never used in combat so their usefulness is debatable.

What's wrong with it being Russian?

Alaska would love it as would some parts of Canada.

​@@kerwinbrown4180Unfortunately neither Alaska, nor Northern Canada currently have hovercrafts in active commercial operating

@@ATASD I wonder what the negatives of commercial hovercraft are.

@@kerwinbrown4180 Significant noise and stability of most of the hovercrafts.

@@ATASD thank you.

There's also Battletech, in which realism-inspired hovercraft are a staple of the light armored/utility vehicle class.

Lmao GTA San Andreas was my first thought when the video started

There's two sets of fans, one is high static pressure for lift and one is for propulsion. I had a 16' hovercraft in early 2000's to support gold mining, Subaru aluminum 86 HP engine with a 6' diameter ultralight aircraft adjustable pitch prop with a large belt reduction drive and a drive off the front for the lift fans. Payload was 1,000 lb, hovercraft weighed about 900 lb as I recall.

Sorry for your loss 😜

Why it was? It doesn't exist anymore?

Do you want to come back to my place, bouncy-bouncy?

Only in Hungary will you find hovercraft full of eels.

where is that?

@@Merthalophor off the coast of England

@@Merthalophor 2:07 is one being talked about here

Yes, we mention that too. But hovercraft failed as a passenger ferry service.

🥉

I've done those amphibious assaults. From the AAVs and LCAC. It is not a fun ride for most people, but I loved it.

🏆

I rode the SR hovercraft from France. It was insane. I remember seeing the French one under repair.

Horrible show

There was an incident when a SRN4 ran over someone collecting fishing bait far off shore. He would hardly have felt anything. But the skirt would have knocked him flat. I have deliberately been under a hovercraft for research purposes and the air pressure and speed is so low you barely notice it.

@@hoverbovver that’s pretty cool. So you could, in theory, lie down flat on a beach and have one of these things run over you without harm.