First hovercraft dwarfed by liner Queen Mary

Jun. 06, 1959 - Britain's flying saucer makes first public flight Britain's Flying Saucer the S.R.N. 1 Hovercraft, today made its first public flight at the Saunders-Roe works at East Cowes, Isle of Wight, and late today made a flight over the sea. The S.R.N. 1 can ride over the land and sea at a height of up to 15 inches on a cushion of compressed air. It has an ovoid shape, and is virtually a buoyancy tank with a number of inward pointing jets around its perimeter underneath. On top of its flat surface are the control cabin, the funnel containing the engine and the horizontal fan through which air is sucked and then ejected beneath to form the cushion of air. Keystone Photo Shows: The S.R.N. 1 Hovercraft is dwarfed by the liner Queen Mary as it demonstrates its hovering ability over the sea at Cowes today

Restrictions Only for United Kingdom

Ability Buoyancy Compressed Containing Cowes Cushion Demonstrates Dwarfed Ejected Funnel Hovercraft Hovering Inches Inward Jets Ovoid Perimeter S.r.n Saucer Saunders-roe Sucked Underneath Virtually Wight

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