Historical Hovercraft (166)
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Osprey 5 Mk1 Rescue
For their day they were a pretty good craft but a real b----r when they ploughed in. Ask Rob Trussler!!
Kip Nov 15, 2010, 8:39 pm (Views: 127)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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Osprey 5 Rescue
One of 2 craft before they went to work at Faro airport, Portugal
Kip Nov 15, 2010, 8:36 pm (Views: 99)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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Osprey 5 Mk1
This was more hairy than it looks. Blowing force 6-7 and bloody cold.
Video was taken at Selsey Bill. Many a scary moment. The video was great and really showed what you could do with a hovercraft. Unfortunately I do not have a copy
Kip Nov 15, 2010, 8:35 pm (Views: 119)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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No 22 Osprey 5 Mk 1
The Mk 1 was a stretched version of the 3 seater with the Citroen 1.4 85hp engine as per the 3.
914mm duct and rounded front.
God knows where we got 50mph from.
More than likely just keeping up with all our competitors equally daft claims
Kip Nov 15, 2010, 8:28 pm (Views: 70)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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Mk 2 Cat
I would like to show you pictures of it operating but it didn't so I can't.
It floundered about sub hump. Several mods later it was all to no avail.
10 years later it made a great bonfire.
Kip Nov 13, 2010, 3:20 pm (Views: 92)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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Mk 2 Cat
She did not stay as a catamaran for long
Kip Nov 13, 2010, 3:17 pm (Views: 87)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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Mk 2 Cat
We are now in The No 1 Workbase, The Historic Dockyard, Chatham.
9,750 very expensive sq/ft
Jeremy Kemp had popped in for a nose.
At this point she was nearing completion.
Kip Nov 13, 2010, 3:16 pm (Views: 65)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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No 21 LHC Cat Mk 2
despite the failure of the prototype we were asked to take it further. This photo was in the plug stages at our modest ex chicken shed workshop at Bolney
Kip Nov 13, 2010, 3:13 pm (Views: 74)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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Chilean Kestrel
I went out to Santiago to supervise the build up but I soon realised that it would not amount to much. The boss man ( a personal friend of Colonel Pinochet) was only doing a favour for a colleauge and giving his son something to do.
Unfortunately he had been booted off the project before I had even got out there.
Great holiday though.
In the background is Paul on an early version Pintail.
Kip Nov 11, 2010, 5:45 pm (Views: 55)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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Chilean Kestrel
Before shipping it out I had a bit of fun racing it at Woburn Abbey.
Kip Nov 11, 2010, 5:40 pm (Views: 40)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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No 20 Kestrel for Chile
In 1987 we were asked to supply a craft for production in Chile by a company that make cluster bombs!!
We made a few styling mods to the Kestrel and sent it out.
Kip Nov 11, 2010, 5:39 pm (Views: 50)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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Osprey 3
Mr Martin Dougall having a blast on the Rhone.
Kip Nov 09, 2010, 7:13 pm (Views: 82)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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Osprey 3
No! she was not sitting on the bottom. This was a fun flotation photo shoot at Stanford Hall and she was afloat. Granville can still be recognised as one of the lab assistants
Kip Nov 09, 2010, 7:12 pm (Views: 72)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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Osprey 3
Kip Nov 09, 2010, 7:10 pm (Views: 57)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
Nov 09, 2010, 9:56 pm by Mark Wood
brilliant i want one
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No 19 Osprey 3
Circa 1988-89 A nice little craft. At last we got away from horrible 2 strokes. Back then we still had the same problem in sourcing available new engines as we have today. Originally fitted with the Reliant 850cc 40hp engine.
Kip Nov 09, 2010, 7:09 pm (Views: 73)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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LHC Catamaran
As you can see we used the engine pods from the Scat 4.
I can't remember which chariot we got the front screen from.
It had a very short operating life.
Still I guess even a negative result has a positive side.
Kip Nov 07, 2010, 4:20 pm (Views: 63)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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LHC Catamaran
Trials were carried out at the old Pegwell Bay Hoverport when you just about got permission to go there.
Oh how we laughed struggling in the undergrowth to get it to move.
What fun we had in those days
Kip Nov 07, 2010, 4:17 pm (Views: 59)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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LHC Catamaran
As predicted, when you increase the all important cushion pressure by a third and then increase the air escape perimeter by a third you have a wet craft with large drag.
You also need considerably more lift power.
Kip Nov 07, 2010, 4:15 pm (Views: 66)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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No 18 LHC Catamaran
Now for something completely different.
Another commissioned craft from The Light Hovecraft Co.
Despite voicing very strong reservations on the design we went ahead using as many components fom the Scat 4 as were feasible
Kip Nov 07, 2010, 4:12 pm (Views: 63)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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Scat Factory
This was the Factory in Miami where they produced 10 (ten) craft a day at their peak. 54,00 sq/ft.
I could write a book on this factory alone!!
Kip Nov 05, 2010, 7:56 pm (Views: 83)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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Scat 4
Ally rudders. No time to make GRP moulds.
She worked well and it was a shame that she never made it into production but it became clear that it was primarily a tool to raise funds.
Kip Nov 05, 2010, 7:52 pm (Views: 49)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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Scat 4
I was particularly pleased with the floor mounted pedestal pod which housed the Rotax 503.
No other struts were used.
Kip Nov 05, 2010, 7:50 pm (Views: 56)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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Scat 4
Before the moulds went out we took 3-4 hulls (can't remember exact) from them.
The craft was used a few times. None were ever made in Miami but ,suprise,suprise. On the strength of the new model Scat raised another $2M on the stock exchange.
Kip Nov 05, 2010, 7:48 pm (Views: 54)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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No 17 Scat 4
Out of the blue we had a phone call from Miami "Can you give us a 4 seater ASAP" A hasty visit to Horsham art college and friendly students and a few days later artistic impressions were on their way to them.
12 weeks later the craft and moulds were sent out.
Kip Nov 05, 2010, 7:44 pm (Views: 55)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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Scat
The bosses wife, the lovely Linda and yes I did fancy her!!
Very soon the company was taken over by 2 American Real Estate dealers who raised $5.5 M on the stock exchange and moved the company to Miami
Kip Nov 03, 2010, 8:21 pm (Views: 59)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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Scat
Initially Scat were based in the Tampa area and this is a shot of the factory in the very early days.
Kip Nov 03, 2010, 8:17 pm (Views: 62)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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Scat
There were many brochures and this is just one of them
Kip Nov 03, 2010, 8:16 pm (Views: 58)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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No 16 Scat
I think that possibly most of us have heard of Scat.
We were approached by 2 English real estate entrepeuners in Florida who were desperate for a craft.
By this time we had already committed the Kestrel to a company in Orlando.
The only model available was the Peewit which was the start of Scat.
Kip Nov 03, 2010, 8:14 pm (Views: 58)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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Peewit
This would have been early 1984
This one made up for the Goshawk.
Kip Nov 02, 2010, 7:27 pm (Views: 73)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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Peewit
It was a no frills, basic Formula 3 racing craft which eventually went on to be the basis for the Scat
Kip Nov 02, 2010, 7:24 pm (Views: 65)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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No 15. Peewit
Now this was a success.
I came across this link which chats about the craft. http://www.hovercraft.org.uk/showthread.php?20112-Hello-HCGB
First raced at Woburn Abbey at an International and was unbelievably fast for those days. After we had heard all the jokes and with egg on faces connected the rudders up the right way, Paul went out and was only beaten by one F1 in the open race having started on the back row!!
Kip Nov 02, 2010, 7:23 pm (Views: 63)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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Esperance
She now languishes in the bowels of the Hovercraft Museum.
A good effort and a craft we were pleased with.
Kip Nov 01, 2010, 6:40 pm (Views: 79)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
Nov 01, 2010, 8:32 pm by Ian Brooks
I thought I'd seen it there! Struck me as a project needing a committed owner...
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Esperance
She performed very well and appeared at the 1979 Southampton Boat Show.
The same year we used her as our escort craft when Paul and I crossed the Channel on, repectively a Falcon and a Kestrel.
The Falcon was delivered to our Belgium agent. It took more time to do the customs paperwork than to do the crossing
Kip Nov 01, 2010, 6:38 pm (Views: 68)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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No 14 Esperance
Esperance was a sidewall craft designed by Geoff Vaizey and we built it together in the workshop.
2 Litre ford engine for propulsion. Can't remember the lift engine.The lift was by centrifugal.
Kip Nov 01, 2010, 6:34 pm (Views: 80)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
Nov 01, 2010, 8:30 pm by Ian Brooks
Isn't there one of these hull round the back in the hover museum?
Ian
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Goshawk top deck moulding
At that time the current thinking was very much twin ducts and were fairly universal.
Kip Oct 31, 2010, 6:01 pm (Views: 65)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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Goshawk
Picture taken outside the Osprey Emporium in the good old days. The hulls were completed and went to Germany
Kip Oct 31, 2010, 6:00 pm (Views: 70)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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No 13 Goshawk
Goshawk was my first attempt at a racing craft.
Unfortunately I guessed wrong on the direction that racing would evolve and she was not too successful.
Too strong and heavy for starters.
Kip Oct 31, 2010, 5:58 pm (Views: 77)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
Nov 01, 2010, 8:23 am by gavin parson
Well it was competitive on the Loire agianst the French wasn't it. "Come on Martain Dougallllll!"
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Freedom 3
The standard engine was the Reliant 40hp 850cc or alternatively the Rotax 503.
One of each type did the Isle of Wight trip with the Rotax running out of fuel 3 times.
Kip Oct 25, 2010, 8:26 pm (Views: 62)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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Freedom 3
Unfortunately we were not allowed to make it wider and it suffered as a result.
Having said that it hovered beautifully.
Kip Oct 25, 2010, 8:24 pm (Views: 58)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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No 12 Freedom 3
The original Freedom 3 built around 1984.
We were asked by The Light Hovercraft Co to build the Freedom 3 using the relevant moulds from the Kestrel which by now had a 900mm duct and a revolutionary duct cover !!
Kip Oct 25, 2010, 8:21 pm (Views: 85)Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5
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