On this day in 1959: Hovercraft was launched

Fliight's most recent look at hovercraft was in May 1995 when editor Allan Winn took an indepth look at the operations of Hoverspeed which used the mighty SR-N4 with its four Marine Proteus jet engines to ply the English Channel. 

Here's another feature on air cushion vehicles from 1967.

In a feature about hovercraft, Flight wrote: "One thing that is a must [at the Montreal Expo '67]from Britain is the hovercraft.

"It was suggested by various Whitehall departments and the manufacturers that one of the pioneer British operators should investigate the possibility of operating the latest machines as a public service at Expo. Chaps in sponge-bag trousers said all the usual things like 'Make it as spectacular as you can without actually asking us for money.'"

• Hovercraft in land war - part two of a discussion
• Test model SEDAM N.300 Naviplane paves the way

• See Flightglobal's hovercraft cutaways
• More cutaway galleries