It was late afternoon in Calais, raining cats and dogs and the wind howling off the channel when I drove our ford capri aboard the huge hovercraft bound for Dover. I was around 18yo and my father and mother were with me. We settled down in the main cabin, ordered a drink and some snacks and off we went. It wasn't long before the "Fun" started. My Father was literally ghost white and getting worse with each successive crash on the bow. The hovercraft seemed to drop into each successive wave, the engines roaring, vibrating and the sound of glasses falling, smashing to the floor. Passengers were very quiet I seem to remember, nobody was moving. It took about an hour to reach Dover, my father proclaimed that he would never set foot on one again.

Even though I'm in my mid fifties, one of the few things I remember, that stands out in my mind when I lived in England as a small child for five years, due to my dad being in the Air Force, and stationed at the US Air Force base in Mildenhall, was a road trip we took across the channel to see the rest of Western Europe, and seeing one of these awesome machines arriving in Dover as we were waiting for the ferry to take us to France. My senses were totally bombarded seeing this big moving cloud of mist coming in, hearing the roar of those big gas turbines, and finally seeing the big metal beast emerging from the mist. This was same experience as seeing, and hearing the big C-5s taking off, and flying over our base housing unit, which was just a few miles from the take off runway, across a large open field, which gave you an outstanding view of the action.

Very cool. Concorde of the seas.

Very impressive footage and good capture of some very specific hovercraft sounds that we shall unfortunately never hear again.

Awesome footage, shame we’ll probably never see hovercraft of this size in flight ever again. I travelled on the SRN4’s four times as a child but sadly was too young to appreciate them. I do remember however having a can of coke onboard which I thought was quite a novelty and of course watching the craft rise onto it’s cushion of air was fun.

Thanks for posting this excellent video Painterman!!!. 1974 went from Dover to Boulogne on Seaspeed...it was like being in the Thunderbirds TV show...I was seven years old from Sydney, where we thought our Sydney harbour Hydrofoils were pretty good...the SRN-4 blew them away, literally. It's sad they're gone but imagine the cost of fuel today and maintenance. Looking forward to 2024 to take a ride on Solent Flyer to Isle of Wight. Thanks so much for probably the best video of departure and arrival...Cheers from Oz.

Best channel x-ing experience, fast exciting and no sea sick feeling.

It's an injustice these have gone!!

Too bad the giant hovercrafts are no longer service

I remember travelling on one of these late 70s on a weeks school trip to Germany but it sailed from rams gate to Dunkirk went on a blands of Cottesmore plaxton supremecoach from the county of Rutland we was visit an exchange student school in I think it was Düsseldorf

Thanks you🤩🤩🤩🤩

Just neat fun. Delia Morris

O transporte para escoamento da produção ideal para o Brasil. !! Rios sem calado. !!!!!!!!!

I traveled on this(a few times lastly) in about 1992 it required a pilots licence as well as a mariners, as it flew 4 feet over the sea, and traveled at 70 mph, very noisy etc, biggest problem was for a foot passenger it landed away from public transport but it was worth it, old technology not rep located as yet

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Bên nước bạn công nghệ cao hơn oi việt nam toi

Mrs Richards: " I paid for a room with a view!" Basil: (pointing to the lovely view) "That is Torquay, Madam." Mrs Richards: "It's not good enough!" Basil: "May I ask what you were expecting to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window? Sydney Opera House, perhaps? the Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically past?..." Mrs Richards: "Don't be silly! I expect to be able to see the sea!" Basil: "You can see the sea, it's over there between the land and the sky." Mrs Richards: "I'm not satisfied. But I shall stay. But I expect a reduction." Basil: "Why?! Because Krakatoa's not erupting at the moment?

What year did the operator turn into "hover speed" and not "Sealink(BR)"? Was it because of railway privatisation by any chance? And what happened to the other SRN-4s which belonged to "Hoverlloyd"?

Good

que tipo de embarcação é esta? isto anda sobre rodas, ? nunca ví um troço assim!!!!

video mal filmée car j'aurais voulu voir une video de l'Hovercraft démarrage des hélices une par une et non zoomer

Why did they change the name on it from Hoverspeed to Hovercraft?

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I hear a chipmunk in the background 🤔

Hovercraft

Supereportagehenri

Imagine exposing the British public to all that dangerous anti-health and safety noise and whirling props ect today. They would shit their namby-pambies. What has happened to England? They will be filling up the tunnel and sinking the ferries by March...

Hi

Scumbag Developers first the Scrappers then those Vultures

Nice pictures, but sorry, such a bad sound, this kid kills it all.

Pretty stupid fucking mahcine. imagine spending hundreds of mills to build a giant vehicle that can hover a couple feet off the ground and water

I'm hoping seagulls learned to stay clear of those prop's.🦢🦤