Unique Iconic British 'Aircraft' Type Extinct Within Days!

How spooky is this, I just tapped into this thread and lo and behold, an edition of “Coast” has not long started and guess what they are looking into?
These hovercraft and are even riding in a smaller one to go across the channel from Dover, but have now just turned back because it was a bit too rough!
Some lovely footage shown.

I’m not sure what good my £10 did

Absolutely nothing other than providing an income stream for the website.

change.org, 38degrees and others like them are a huge con. They launch petitions on anything they believe people will feel strongly about in the hope that some of the signees will be suckered into donating in the belief that it will somehow help that cause.

It doesn’t.

Sign by all means (for all the good it will do) but DON’T SEND MONEY.

Moggy

I remember doing the Ramsgate Calais crossing and comparing it to ultra low flying in an Anson in very bad weather.

A little bit more news

https://www.change.org/p/homes-and-communities-agency-save-the-princess-anne-the-last-remaining-srn4-hovercraft-for-the-nation/u/15400222

I have studied the proposals and to say “much needed homes and jobs” is misleading. The destruction of one machine is proposed to create an “open space” called “Seaplane Square”. This site ring fenced as of historical interest and there never has been any proposal to build houses on it. Also the land to the north west currently used by the museum is being shaved off as it lies out of the designated “historical area” so they are literally grabbing every square inch they can. Better to move one machine here or make the machine a feature of Seaplane Square as a cafe, display hall, meeting area etc. It just requires a little bit of imagination. There was a project to move it to Ramsgate but I do not know why that did not go ahead. Whether they still have the money now is difficult to say.

The Museum did have a plan to move to another site along the coast a few years ago precisely because of all the uncertainty about the Daedalus site. Sadly it didn’t happen.

Ah here it is. Blimey that’s lot of cash.

Statement from The Hovercraft Museum Trustees.

Thanet District Council and Kent County Council have approached the Museum with a view to us being able to take on the use of the former Pegwell Bay hoverport. The 7 acres of land with easy access to the sea would be gifted to the HMT as well as the potential of up to £3 million worth of funding to perform the move and prepare the site with new purpose made buildings for the collection, with further funding available. Indeed, the Hovercraft Museum Trust has already been offered a £15,000 initial grant specifically to have some architectural plans drawn up and a feasibility study undertaken.
20 November 2012 at 22:00

Can someone tell me how many hangers the Museum occupies. I know building 40 but have seen “hangers” in some articles.

Also I thought somebody earlier said that there were exhibits inside the SRN4 but I do not see how that fits if they are not allowed to make repairs. Now there is the cynic in me why would the owners not want free preservation work carried out?

In the usual trail of Government Agencies it would appear that the land referred to as Seaplane Square is owned by the HCA, Homes& Community Agency.
I will first remind you that the land referred to as Seaplane Square is allocated in the Gosport Development plan as land of historic interest and is NOT allocated for physical development of the form of building houses or other structures. Although this does not preclude the use of the seaplane hangers for industry.
The latest available statement from HCA uses a lot of references to creating jobs and homes although this DOES NOT apply to Seaplane Square but to the whole Daedalus site.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/hovercrafts-at-solent-enterprise-zone.

It would seem that HCA are selling Seaplane Square and possibly it is the finding of a suitable buyer that has produced this flurry of activity.

http://www.leeresidents.org.uk/leeresidents_planning_daedalus.html

The museum has been closed for 2 years whilst repairs are made to the hangers. This has of course put considerable financial strain on the museum, and if you are a cynic one might wonder if this prolonged repair job might also feature in this sad tale after all who owns the hangers? The HCA.

http://www.leeresidents.org.uk/leeresidents_daedalus_hovercraftmuseum.html

Permantently preserving a complete SRN4 would be an excessively massive undertaking. I have no idea what possibilities have been considered, but an inventive option might be to keep a section cut across an example. This would not only reveal the size, structure, systems etc, but be rather more manageable as an indoor exhibit.

Precedents would include the Science Museum’s 747 section and the (un-intentional) Rotodyne centre fuselage (at the Helicopter Museum?).

IIRC, the deal was brokered in such a way that actual ownership rested with a trust and that they were to be ‘gifted to the nation’, ie the Hovercraft Museum, for £1.

It’s really not clear as to the status of the hovercraft.

Over the past decade volunteers / staff at the Museum have reported that whilst the SR.N4s were declining in condition, with numerous roof leaks, they were prohibited from performing repairs because they didn’t own them. The Museum Trust had apparently approached the owner several times to purchase them but were rebuffed.

Sadly the outcome was that they sat and rotted on someone else’s land, until that Someone Else decided that it was time to earn some money. I can’t really blame them, they had been patient for 12 years…

Crossed once from Calais – unfortunately at night so couldn’t see anything. My, it was noisy! BUT – convenient.
Mike

Oh dear, MP for Gosport

http://caroline4gosport.co.uk/news/srn4-hovercraft–daedalus/544

The smaller SRN6 often provided a “fun” crossing to the Isle of Wight, I recall!!

I believe they still do. The only commercial use of Hovercrafts in Europe.

The Hovercrafts mentioned above used ex Britannia engines. I know Monarch supplied some.

Update from the Trustees of The Hovercraft Museum.

https://www.change.org/p/homes-and-communities-agency-save-the-princess-anne-the-last-remaining-srn4-hovercraft-for-the-nation/u/15319466?tk=snLIAmiRYl8DWU8jrEZrdakMTLJbwiCoVMgbq33lLJo&utm_source=petition_update&utm_medium=email

It is interesting to note that the HCA are still involved as this would imply that the land has not been sold yet.

This is a golden opportunity to form a Hovercraft and Seaplane museum in historic original buildings basically housing what they were built to house a hundred years ago in an ideal and historic location.

I suppose I can dream.

The Soviets copied them and of course a batch was sold by the UK to the Shah’s Imperial Navy. The smaller SRN6 often provided a “fun” crossing to the Isle of Wight, I recall!!

How many people will now even know Christopher Cockerill’s name?:apologetic:

The Royal Navy/Royal Marines still use hovercraft – operationally they were used in 2003 in Iraq. Current model is Griffon 2400TD based, replacing the older 2000TD models

The Soviets copied them and of course a batch was sold by the UK to the Shah’s Imperial Navy. The smaller SRN6 often provided a “fun” crossing to the Isle of Wight, I recall!!

How many people will now even know Christopher Cockerill’s name?:apologetic:

I remember watching a TV show last year which visited the Hovercraft Museum.
A quick search shows it to be “Salvage Hunters” Series 7 Episode 2 In the UK it is screened by Quest do not know how to search their playback service.
The show featured the SRN4 and showed other hovercraft displayed inside it as well at the presenter talking a hovercraft ride.

Surely, almost by definition, these “airframes” should/would/are rated by the National Aviation Heritage Register as “significant”, or does/would that not help? This collection must be unique not just because they are hovercraft but because they have survived. It would seem pretty stupid to loose them now.

From what I can make out the local council are keen to keep the hovercraft museum and have made provision for it in the LDP which was only approved a few months ago. All of the seaplane hangers date from around WW1 although the 2 G type are not listed and have been shortened at some time. The Google aerial view shows a large number of exhibits outside although in part this may be due to the repair work on building 40. It would seem to me that the enclave formed by the 5 WW1 seaplane hangers and the history of the site cries out for all of “Seaplane Square” and hangers to become a Hovercraft and Seaplane museum. The site was owned by a government agency but I understand has recently been sold into private hands.

Regrettably I have not been able to visit the site so do not know if the SNR4s internal spaces are used, but I would imagine so. Apart from housing exhibits it could also be a feature restaurant.

I “Flew” in an SRN6 from Craigendorran to Greenock in 1965 and then visited Lee on Solent in 1971. Fantastic machines!
Another British Invention not developed enough.
Very sad if the SRN4 disappears but a look at an aerial view of the site shows how large they are compared to the surrounding buildings.

Hi All,
Very sad if they cannot keep at least one of these magnifiscent behemoths, may I suggest if not already done at the museum ? displaying smaller hovercraft inside with associated history of these craft inside the cavernous cargo space. Anyway signed…..:eagerness:

Geoff.

The developers of the Daedalus site will need to ensure that suitable accommodation for a Hovercraft Museum is provided and that it can be easily accessed by the general public. Whilst the use of existing historic hangar space close to the slipway appears to be an appropriate location for a Hovercraft Museum other options may be considered. It is acknowledged that the outdoor display of the hovercrafts will need to be managed to enable flexible use of Seaplane Square by a range of users.

Thus to facilitate the creation of “Seaplane Square” for use by a range of users it is considered acceptable to “manage” the hovercraft by destroying them.

So the best way to facilitate public access to the Hovercraft Museum…..is to destroy the hovercraft?

You couldn’t make it up! :rolleyes: