Held at The Forte Posthouse Hotel, Southsea, England
on 13th Novermber 1993
by The Hovercraft Society
This conference gathered key players involved in design and production as well as operations of hovercraft. Summaries of operations at Hovertravel and with Canadian Coastguard are given together with an overview of the US LCAC programme, and 25 years of SES developments globally. The development of the Hovercraft Museum at Lee on Solent is described, and an introduction to the latest expeditions organised by Mike Cole.
This material has been digitised from a hard copy of the transactions of the Conference. The materials and papers are as listed below.
Click on the titles to access the materials as pdf documents from THS electronic library.
Note on Conference Title
Please Note that this Conference has the title of the ‘Fifth International Hovercraft Conference’. There is another Conference from October 2003, run together with the RINA in London that was also entitled ‘Fifth International Hovercraft Conference’. The two conferences are distinct.
THS Technical Secretary cannot find evidence of joint RINA/THS conferences on Hovercraft other than the ‘International Conference on Air Cushion Vehicles (ACVs) in December 1997.
Overview
This Conference presented a total of 6 papers covering design expertise and operational experience with Hovercraft over the last quarter century of development.
Both Hovertravel and the Canadian Coastguard have operated hovercraft from the early days with gas turbine driven SR.N6 craft through to the diesel driven AP1-88 craft designs current in 1993. This experience is summarised in the first two papers by Barry Jehan from Hovertravel, and Ron Wade from CCG.
Mark Prentice gave a summary of the LCAC development, focussing on the skirt systems and the materials that Avon Industrial Products delivered.
Brian Russell gave an overview of the early phases of The Hovercraft Museum and the many significant hovercraft that were donated in the 1980’s and early 1990’s. An incredible task taken on completely by a group of volunteers.
Andrew Blythe gave an overview of SES developments since the 1960’s from a global perspective. A significant market both for commercial ferries and military craft through that period.
Mike Cole reflected on his experience with the Hover Doctor service in Papua New Guinea. An initial mission from MAF/HoverAid had set up the service, and it was handed over to operation by the charity’s permanent staff there. In fact, this service continued for many years. At the time of this conference, Mike was already working on the next expedition – this time back to Middle America and Nicaragua – the Rio San Juan that forms the border between Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
Programme
Paper 1: Hovertravel – 28 years
Barry Jehan, Chief Pilot and Operations Manager, Hovertravel
Paper 2: 25 Years of Canadian Coastguard Hovercrafting
R G Wade, Superintendent Special Ships, Ship Safety Branch, Canadian Coastguard
Paper 3: LCAC: The inheritor of British Hovercraft Technology
Mark Prentice, Avon Technical Products
Paper 4: Towards the Hovercraft Museum
Brian J Russell, Friends of the Hovercraft Museum Coordinator
Paper 5: 25 Years of SES Development
Andrew G Blythe, Blythe Bridges Marine Consultants Ltd
Paper 6: Papua New Guinea and Beyond
Squadron Leader Mike Cole MBE
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