Aircraft - Aviation - Balloons - Helicopters

1961 - A £70 Hovercraft Is Put Through Its Paces At Redhill Airfield. Another addition to Britain's steadily lengthening list of hovercraft, designed by Mr. Donald Robertson, a former test pilot, and built by the designer and staff and students of an engineering college, was demonstrated at Redhill Airfield, Surrey. It took two days to design and the materials cost £70. Known as the Skimmer, it is claimed to be Britain;s first privately built hovercraft. Weighing only 250 pounds, it is powered by a 40 hp water-cooled outboard motor. The engine drives a large diameter centrifugal fan through a vertical shaft and clutch. A substantial volume of air is then guided in a duct to the outer edge of the vehicle, where it is directed inwards at an angle of 30 deg. thus forming a curtain of high velocity air on which the craft rides. Photo Shows:- Watched by student and members of the staff of the engineering college, Mr. Donald Robertson, the 53-year-old designer, puts the Skimmer through its paces at Redhill Airfield, Surrey

Restrictions Only for United Kingdom

53-year-old Addition And Pound Centrifugal Claimed Clutch Cost Demonstrated Diameter Drives Duct Forming Guided Hovercraft Inwards Lengthening Outboard Paces Pounds Privately Puts Redhill Shaft Skimmer Steadily Substantial Thus Velocity Watched Water-cooled Weighing

Features In These Collections

> Contributors > KEY