What Happened To Giant Hovercraft?

Watch ‘Tracked Hovercraft: Britain's Train to Nowhere’ here: nebula.tv/videos/mustard-tracked-hovercraft-britai…

There is still an active Hovercraft service running between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight in the UK. The service used the smaller SRN6 hovercraft up until 2016, where they changed to a newer design. It’s cool to see them in action, and it is still a really quick way to get across to the island (takes approx. 10 mins compared to a 45 minute journey by ferry).

I remember BBC news reporting on the final SRN4 crossing, opening with: "they are awesome, they're still the fastest way to get to France and they're still profitable, but the cross Channel Hovercraft are for the chop. In this business, competing against the Channel Tunnel, packing in the cars is the key to maximum profits. The hovercraft just doesn't take enough. But those who fly it say the hovercraft has a cult following," The Princess Anne hovercraft holds the unofficial speed record for the quickest channel crossing, 22 minutes between Dover and Calais (it's unofficial because the Channel has a speed limit of 60 Knots and to set the unofficial record, they travelled far quicker than that)

My first ride was accidental. We had booked for a catamaran crossing from Dover to Dunkirque; but there was a maintenance issue. We were offered the hovercraft to Calais as an alternative and boarded directly. In next to no time we were in France. It was an exhilarating experience and I greatly regret their passing.

I used to work on the Hovercraft between Dover and Calais! Loved those crafts and was sad when they were decommissioned! Fun facts about the Crafts: - USA tourists used to ask some crazy questions and often asked where the wheels were and how they ran along the bottom of the ocean - In rough weather the rubber skirt often smacked the front windows leaving us rather worried! - In super rough weather we would speed along the beaches as far as we could on the French side for a few miles before we entered the water - The fastest crossing we ever did was 27 mins, although 22 mins was the top record I believe - The Roles Royce engines often went tech and the rubber skirt needed repair weekly! - We once lost 2 engines and had to crawl back but still made it - People think it was the Channel Tunnel that "sunk" the service, but the cost of the rubber skirt and engines were astronomical to repair and specialised staff/engineers needed (not to mention the massive loses to organised staff theft) - We used to land on the Goodwin Sands for organised cricket games. - All crew were cross trained to air cabin crew standard and had to learn about the craft including the engines and be onboard fire fighters. We trained on board very regularly and you would have been in very good hands had an accident occurred (unlike the ferries) - The crafts are rafted into sections so if there was an explosion it would be very hard to sink! EDIT : An additional fact added 1 year after posting this as someone raised a very good point that he couldn't see anything out the window because of spray..... - Your view depended upon your seat (as well as the crossing conditions). If you booked a front seat they were considered for the "runners". People that did day trips for the duties (duty frees) - (sometimes back to back round trips all day) always booked the front. It was the cheapest seat and the roughest ride and you never got to see out the windows for all the spray hitting the front of the craft. The further back you booked the more expensive the seat, and also the smoother the ride, and of course window view without spray. This was the middle section of the craft and serviced by another section of crew. Then there was a curtained off VIP section right at the back of the craft also, which was serviced by another VIP crew member. It was the smoothest ride on the craft and also the best view. All seasonal staff were stationed at the front, and the more you had a mum or dad working within the company the better your station at the back of the craft ;) This arrangement of class passengers and staff was mirrored both sides of the craft.

it's a good day when mustard uploads.

Mustard - the very definition of quality above quantity. I can't think of another channel I get this excited for whenever I get a notification from it. Keep doing what you're doing. Thank you.

I never realized how small the hovercraft market really was! I'm American and was born in Belgium in 1977. My family always took the hovercraft to England to visit friends and family. I used to assume the hovercraft was as popular worldwide as a plane or train. Good video. Thanks!

This channel is 10x better than the History Channel’s vehicular content, where all they talk about are the WW2 vehicles we’ve seen hundreds of times.

I remember taking these as a kid, unforgettable experience of crossing the channel. Not that you'd see much through the windows (there often was a lot of water spray and condensation), but it was such a cool machine, the noise it makes as it comes to you on the apron, the speed, entering on the opened ramp, the cushioning feeling... great engineering... Concorde of the sea.

I did the huge 60 car capacity hovercraft crossing a couple of times and it was just fantastic and spectacular. One crossing was a bit rough and slightly uncomfortable, but nothing compared to a rough crossing on a regular car ferry. I'd love to see them return again.👍✌🇬🇧

I was a crew man on the SRN-4 Hovercraft in 1976, working for Hoverlloyd on it's Ramsgate to Calais service. We used to do three flights a day on a shift basis. My job was to marshal cars and busses and anything on wheels, into the car deck and then lash the vehicles to the deck to prevent movement during the flight. Then we would travel across on the 35-55 minute "flight" (time dependant on the sea state), I only did the one Summer season when many of us got made redundant afterwards. Lots of fond memories though. We use to get a duty free cigarette "ration" each month and as "staff", we could travel across and back for £1 (50p each way). Many of the "pilots" were airline crews on summer leave who went to the four week training course in Deal in Kent to train to operate the Hovercraft. We used to have great fun with the stewardesses too! It was a great job and they were amazing machines. The machines operated by Hoverlloyd could carry 250 passengers and up to 40 cars. Or 32 cars and two coaches. A wild time!

I remember travelling on an SRN4. Watching it arrive was a truly impressive sight as it approached over the water before coming to rest on the apron. Though it was HUGE it majestically pirouetted on the apron before unloading. Traveling on it is something I will never forget. It was noisy and everything vibrated yet there was a definite impression of speed - more like being in an aeroplane than a boat. While under way conversations were mostly conducted by yelling. Despite the downsides of travelling on a hovercraft it was a most marvellous adventure. Having experienced it I can understand why it was such a popular way to cross the Channel. It's right up there with flying on a Zeppelin or Concorde.

Mustard always has weirdly entertaining videos that happen to be really good

I always wondered what’d happen if someone picked up old ideas with new tech. Imagine a nuclear/electric large scale hovercraft! That’d be so cool!

I've been living in western Alaska for the last several years. There are no highways out here so when the rivers freeze in the winter the only way to get things here is by air cargo. I think hovercraft could be useful out here. People drive their trucks on the frozen rivers so they should be able use a hover craft.

This is the best production quality channel on YouTube. Obsessed with these videos 😛😛😛

This channel is one of the few I try to watch on a TV rather than my phone. This is not an upload, it's an event for me. Thank you so much for such inspiring topics.

I grew up in a small village several miles from Dover, where the giant hovercraft ran daily to Calais. They were LOUD! You could hear them starting up from inside our house - a drone-like roar. They were also notorious for making people sick. They were known locally as the 'vomit comets'.

In February 1978 I picked up a new Citroen CX PRESTIGE, drive from Paris to Dieppe in foul weather. Took the morning hovercraft to Newhaven. Just over one hour's flight. I mentioned to a crew member that I was straight from Australia and the car was one day old. 10 minutes later I was invited to join the Captain in the cockpit. A fabulous view set high up at the front. Propellors on pylons whirring away. 30 minutes later I came down to find my car had been washed and chamoisied compliments of the Captain. Such an exciting way to arrive for a year working in the UK. Equally exciting was leaving the UK in July 1979 by Concorde for New York. Little did I expect that both flying fabulous machines would disappear with high operating costs.. I feel very privileged now that I am nearly 70.