In the mid to late 1980s I was the test pilot for a large manufacturer of personal hovercraft based in Miami, Florida, I also demonstrated the craft as well as gave flight instructions to prospective dealers. I was paid to rack up 3,000 plus hours on those craft, and I had a blast doing it. Shooting through no-wake zones in Miami's Inter coastal and canal system at over 40 mph raised many eyebrows, flying up onto the beach for lunch at the Fontainebleau and flying circles around the S/S Norway as she departed the port of Miami made the local news. Good times at 8" above any surface.

2021 and this show still feels so well-made.

Incredible machines ! Really loving the fact they are not disturbing the environment as much as other conventional transportation means .

In the words of Dr. Emmet Brown. “Where we are going, we don’t need roads.”.

I was going to get stuff done but found this video. This is your only go to video on Hovercraft. The best!

I got to ride in a large military one over 40 years ago and it was a real thrill going from sea to land, and back to sea.

Wow its the first documentary in years that does not have me fast asleep after the first 10 minutes. Really sad that they would not replace the two giants once they're gone.

@raflimahardi2215

2 жыл бұрын

🙏🙏n9 iijlkljl

I flew from Dover to Calais in one once. It was quite an experience. It was a rough ride, but unforgettable.

@MikeGreenwood51

5 жыл бұрын

Isn't the rough outside?

@SiskinOnUTube

4 жыл бұрын

@Dante Williams *m

2 жыл бұрын

Why was it a rough ride? Because of the sea state? Or the hovercraft itself?

@SiskinOnUTube

2 жыл бұрын

@ it was rough sea. I could feel vibration and it was noisy. I think it would have been worse on a ferry that day. It's over 30 years ago.

Bravo! This was an awesome documentary and I have a whole new respect for the Hovercraft. The guy who invented it really did something great for mankind. Much respect and Salute to him. I hope to one day own a small Hovercraft to go joyride in with friends and family👍🏽💯

My brother in law was in the US Navy and he was stationed on Camp Pendleton at HCAC Unit 5 and he worked on the cushions of these immense hovercrafts, they are quite a site and are very large!.

@jaminova_1969

3 жыл бұрын

I worked at ACU-5 repairing LCAC''s ! Amazing machines!

Lot of nice footage on hovercraft.

THANKS FOR VIDEO AS GREAT MACHINES IN WORLD TODAY

The Hovercraft story was interesting informative and educational.

@mikealnsnesr39

6 жыл бұрын

George Marsh ok up

@EleanorPeterson

5 жыл бұрын

George? Hi! What a refreshingly sensible Comment! No politics, no bitterness, no spite... Are you sure you're feeling OK? ;-)

@rudy103069

5 жыл бұрын

yes but the inventor should of took the interview after crossing the english channel instead of going for breakfast?

@nancyeunike6022

3 жыл бұрын

Look how light pull it is when out of gas!

@ronprince1478

3 жыл бұрын

@@rudy103069 maybe true but he was English not American so didn’t need to tell the world how good he was.

This old man in used to have a small hovercraft back in the 80s. I was always fascinated.

Very impressive to say the least. They should be used more for water transportation and flood rescue. Imagine if they were used on major rivers to connect travelers to other points and connections to other forms of transportation. This would help cut down on congestion. The idea of the tunnel and elevated craft are great as well. If they cut down on road congestion then trucks could move more freely and safely. Therefore less accidents and delays. That would also mean freight would get delivered a lot faster. All of things we buy are transported by truck 🚛 If they come up with different mass transit systems for travelers that would definitely cut down on traffic congestion and wear one the highway system.

The old days...... Not much left of this today.

Thanks for finding such a cool old school video

now thats what I call a superb video, educational and very entertaining in its content, great narration too, MINT" CHEERS.

Got to drive a large LCAC in Subic Bay back in 87, was awesome! The one I drove can carry roughly 13 tanks if I recall correctly.

@biggin5434

4 жыл бұрын

Bitchin! Thank you for your service Sir

@colarguns

4 жыл бұрын

@@biggin5434 Thank you! And your Welcome! My Honor! Miss it every day! Semper Fi

@DD-dh5ls

4 ай бұрын

Not quite 13, I'd say 3 tanks plus some troops. The MBT of the USA and USMC back then was either M1 Abrahms or the older M60. The M60 was around 45 tons while the Abrahms was well in excess of 55 tons. What you got to ride was dependent on location. Abrahms was too heavy for most Philipine territory, so I doubt Abrahms was significantly deployed to that Theater. Maybe 13 Amtracks/Amphibious Tractors would fit the bill. Amtracks of that era were inferior (still are) as fighting vehicles to the Bradley when it was introduced. 3/4 III MEF (Okinawa)

that's an ultimate drifting vehicle !!

Saw these bad boys training in Devon. Brilliant

I think that is both very informative and very cool.

Hovercrafts are absolutely amazing machines! I loved them since I learned they exist at all playing Diddy Kong Racing 😀

sweet jesus that some rapids! tbh ive only ever thought of the hovercraft as a fair weather transporter till now. impressive.

50:24 And that, my son, is how baby hovercrafts are born.

@ChristyHovercraft

7 жыл бұрын

A real hovercraft

@Cheeseburger.Launch.Sequence

6 жыл бұрын

+karbengo Why is it when people post the dumbest fucking comments a million people respond. Then when pure comedic genius comes around as such it goes largely ignored. Kudos....it made me laugh pretty good.

@Cheeseburger.Launch.Sequence

6 жыл бұрын

+Christy Hovercraft Can anyone who has the cash buy a hovercraft? Or do I have to wait until one is born in the wild and capture it like in this video?

@danielelagiglia5786

5 жыл бұрын

Green Bean Sex Machine ,$XXJJZ CVMzJ$

@pheakdeyofficial5094

4 жыл бұрын

QEE.1235

Hovercraft and Harrier, The Best of British Engineering!

@georgeberrill4834

5 жыл бұрын

@@saschabach3285 Yeah, agreed. But we lead and others follow. Most of the best inventions came from our shores, not bad for a litty bitty tea drinking island.

@michaelloach9461

5 жыл бұрын

If you want to know what this tiny tea drinking nation invented look at www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/9787698/Greatest-50-British-inventions-full-list.html

@mobecker64

5 жыл бұрын

@@georgeberrill4834 Indeed you have led for most of the 20th century, especially in aviation. But the Americans know a thing or two about marketing... miss seeing VC-10s, Tridents, BAC 111s in a world plagued by Boeings and 'Buses. Now I need my Vulcan howl fix! Cheers from Chile.

@cashuma5010

5 жыл бұрын

@@georgeberrill4834 . . . which were which ?

@rogerhearn7109

5 жыл бұрын

Cashuma Go to, and read the list on the site he has given you, read it and weep, we've been there, seen it, done it, and worn out the tee shirt doing it, colonial prats can only buy it and try and tell the world it was there inventions, read history my friend, the U.K. has been in the for front for doing things first for many many years....Don't hate, Congratulate...

Very good history of the Hovercraft. I had build a UH16P in 1988 from plans from Universal Hovercraft and flew it for 10 years. I wish I still had it sometimes but I am getting too old to do the maintenance on the skirt which was a balloon skirt and not segmented like the new ones...............Cheers, Jim Jakosh

During the Vietnam conflict the United States had 2 hovercraft for use in the jungle. About the only vehicles that worked well there. The limitation placed on the speed of the craft by the homogenized steel armor plates weight reduced the maximum speed to about 45 mph. This resulted in the vehicles being mothballed. The advent of Kevlar armor reducing the weight penalty with nearly the same protection factor makes the vehicles a viable asset provided the maneuverability problems can be overcome. By utilizing a vent on the opposite side of the turn actuated by the steering mechanism the directional control at higher speeds should stabilize. This means that by having 1 or 2 additional vents on each side to negate the residual inertia during a turn, the craft should respond to its controls more quickly. A redesigned variant of the thrust vectoring system used on the Harrier jump jets should stabilize the vehicles quite well. IF properly developed.

@abdhulazeez3104

5 жыл бұрын

LEIGH BARTON

@Allan_aka_RocKITEman

5 жыл бұрын

I have wondered *why* the use of hovercraft in Vietnam was abandoned....

@cashuma5010

5 жыл бұрын

. . . wondering why the USA lost the Vietnam war, though . . .

@sandemike

4 жыл бұрын

@@cashuma5010 They lost it at Home.

@cashuma5010

4 жыл бұрын

@@sandemike . . . yes - first the USA (administration) lost ist morality and then it lost the support of their own people for good reasons . . .

Nice transport I would love to own one

this is way cool!!!

Très intéressant.

I remember being at the commission ceremony for the first LCACs. I was in awe of them. They are monsters.

@robertharper1181

4 жыл бұрын

better than a LARK too!

Awesome video

Travelled on one across the English Channel, like a bumpy bus ride and only 35 minutes, the good old days are long gone sadly!

Nice documentary! Thanks for sharing!!

Good machine

As a kid I always loved these crafts

@user-vy4qp2dv5l

3 жыл бұрын

i always thought hovercrafts were inflatable like rafts, and i always wondered how they didnt bust or get punctured. now i know

this video is a good one!!!!!

Documentaries , are for me, a cheap cure for insomnia. I would go right to sleep after 20 min.

@jackdooley8732

5 жыл бұрын

Your ignorance is noted.

What a beast!

@nancyeunike6022

3 жыл бұрын

Overall, like everything else on tech, it needs alternative energy sources.

i always thought hovercrafts were inflatable like rafts, and i always wondered how they didnt bust or get punctured. now i know

Vert cool, Slainte ❤

Make the hovercraft great again!!

@kdogtyson1108

2 жыл бұрын

FUCK YEAH!!!!😎🤘🤜🤛

Amazing

I want one!

As a child I crossed the English Channel four times this way. That was over 45 years ago..I remember it being very noisy.. But it had a very good ride, even in choppy weather.

@_Mentat

3 жыл бұрын

Me too, but it vibrated a lot. I spent the whole journey trying the read the safety notice on the back of the seat in front but could never quite focus on it.

impressive

20:28 wow I never knew just how tough those things are! I would never have imagined they could get over those kind of sharp ice ridges

thats cool!

very good

I miss shows like these, Now you can mostly find these gems on KZread they've given up these intelligent informative documentaries in exchange for mind-numbing nonsensical so-called reality crap shows.

@FBurck

4 жыл бұрын

And that is why I do not watch TV, I do not care what color a transvestite is going to dye its hair today .

@shaunparkinson7121

3 жыл бұрын

i agree there they need to take shit like only way is essex, rich kids go skint ect ect off tv and put programs like these on instead at least with documentary's you learn something only thing you might learn ( if your a girl that is ) from only way is essex is how to get the melted in a oven barby doll look as thats how all the well wont say girls look on there

@DD-dh5ls

4 ай бұрын

What do you have against Essex? Get away from the slummy, drug gang controlled parts, and Essex was quite nice when I was last there.@@shaunparkinson7121

Wow 70mph with 50 cars and 400 people. Thats a nice ferry ha. And crazy when you think of where it can go.

Astonishing!!!!!

they are just AMAZING their only drawback i can think are high running n maintenance cost, with new technologies making engines cheaper to run i believe they have a Great future just hope they will never die

@yuyuolozaga3023

6 жыл бұрын

polygamous1 Sozou they also cost slot of fuel..

wow..so cool...

I want one, like for commercial use.. It would be kinda cool to go dunebuggying but in a hovercraft, or just go gliding around town in one of these where I live.

@buckrowley1506

8 жыл бұрын

or haul cargo

@johneastman1905

4 жыл бұрын

“Go dunebugging” you say.... you missed the point that these machines do not negotiate inclined surfaces particularly well. Try watching this again.

Looks Fun

golden age of hovercraft on earth is yet to come

@shantoreywilkins1123

7 жыл бұрын

yeah🌏🌎🌍

Nice

ITS AN AMAZING CRAFT THE WORLD HAS EVER KNOWN. ITS A DUAL PURPOSE STRIKE ANYWHERE BOTH LAND AND WATER OPERATION.

A small tri hull carbon fiber ridged boat married to a hover craft is just what the doctor ordered, for insertion & coastal inspections & ferrying between ships & shore.

Interesting video..

मुझे यह वीडियो अच्छा लगा धन्यवाद।

good thinges

I've got to have one of these babies. To be able to traverse just about any surface in any weather would be wild. I wonder if I can get one with a wheelchair lift and hand controls. Alas, 'tis but a dream, but what an exciting dream.

I have always wanted to own a hovercraft.

@julianv.5848

6 жыл бұрын

YOU CAN PICK THEM UP DIRT CHEAP

ทำแบบนี้แลืวก็ดีจ้า

lovely work fd

Más documentales del hoovercraft en español

46:07 That scream reaches beyond time and space

Thank God for the British and the Americans who Gave them Support, where would we be without each other...?

One of British greatest inventions

Imagine being the teat driver. I am a little jealous.

Still can be improved! By making the bubble bigger, and more lift. But still the rite ideal

the music is so good it makes me want to hover.

EPIC.

1:07 Wow, I never knew hovercrafts sound exactly like an electric guitar! How do they do that?!

Are these beautiful pieces of ingenuity ever deployed in dangerously snowy regions, say, Alaska, in human rescue operations, since they are at home on all types of terrain?

@safetydave720

9 жыл бұрын

Jay Young Yes. Google.

@ccaammiinniiito2

9 жыл бұрын

David G Thank you.

@jonopedersen6282

9 жыл бұрын

Jay Young I love that you ask that, although in the video, there is footage of a hovercraft in snowy and dangerous regions... Did you watch the first three minutes then get bored and move on?

@ccaammiinniiito2

9 жыл бұрын

Jono Pedersen Touche. My bad!

@jonopedersen6282

9 жыл бұрын

;D Hehe, no problem, just saying ;)

Good i like it 👌

" my hovercraft is full of eels !"

We wold like to see this back on the channel route with more economical engines and product development.

I remember the Dover To Calais Hovercraft service well. 1981 to 2000

El hoovercraft es el mejor medio de transporte anfibio que se inventó y como ferry también,el hoovercraft nomaaaa y pa los contras también

Awesome

nice

Back in 2007 when catalina was on fire the LCAC's brought fire trucks and firefighters to help save the town. They are and very loud and huge. I've seen them many times out between camp Pendleton and San Clemente while out fishing.

Hi from Canada, nice Documentary, love it, and cool to see a real Gi Joe Hovercraft code name (Killer W.H.A.L.E.) 20:40 YOOOO JOE!!!

@dannynimmo3052

3 жыл бұрын

If I remember correctly I think Canada developed this equipment:) hello back from US

Russian navy has some awesome Hover crafts in Kaliningrad. I saw them when I worked on a gas pipeline outside the shore of Kaliningrad a few years ago

@dannynimmo3052

3 жыл бұрын

I've seen those, they are cool and surprisingly affordable on the used market

@sturobertson77

2 жыл бұрын

Its a shame that Kaliningrad doesn't belong to Poland.

@willymw78

2 жыл бұрын

The zubr?

Why do i keep thinking about the Top Gear hover van all the way through this video.Lol

,e um ótimo veículo.

Maybe I should go buy me one of these.

I love metahash

cool...

More like the ultimate machine

I remember crossing the channel to France more than a few times in the SRN4. I thunk the best trip was when I was allowed to ride almost the entire trip from launch to landing in the cockpit area. What a great experience that was for a kid my age at the time. I got the full run down of exactly what they were doing the entire trip. The pilots LOVED that I was hanging on every word. When they let me grab one of the control sticks, I was in absolute heaven, lol. We actually did a few trips in an executive hovercraft that was extremely posh and I have to say, it was like riding in a very high end executive jet with 3 attendants serving food and drinks. It was an awesome thing!! 👍🏻😎👍🏻

Amazing machines.

brill.to watch.23.25pm snow out side. 2019.

So sad the grief that they put this brilliant man through. It's been that way all through history though. Remember Fulton's folly when he designed a ship to be powered by steam? The great lesson to be learned here is each one never gave up and neither should you. Stick to it or fail your dream.

@bennieknape4857

2 жыл бұрын

No out come is Guaranteed, You gotta get out there and hustle and have a good idea to start with. Even then you might not be successful

Could c130 air drop a hover craft to get to ship disabled at sea and sinking to retrieve crew and rescue them are from burning oil.well

It seems the technology still has a long way to develop further. I hope to see more development along these lines.

@daymenleo6895

Жыл бұрын

other then it being LOAD!! and it needs to stay on to flout unlike a bout you can turn off and fish .

@benj_a2647

Жыл бұрын

@@daymenleo6895 it can float like a boat no problem with engines off. This documentary is nearly 30 years old now, hovercraft tech has come a long way since then.