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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 0259.PDF
Air-Cushion Vehicles Flight International supplement, 30 January 1964 Completely Overhauled afterher heavy commitments during 1963, the SR.N2 is once againin operation. She now has 4ft skirts as proved on SR.N1 INTERNATIONAL NEWS First Race in Australia? Recent references in this journal to the possibilities of ACV racing add to the interest of a report from Australia that a race for these craft is planned to take place on March 14 this year on Lake Burley Griffin. It will form part of the Canberra Day celebrations and two official entries have been received at the time of writing. An official publication of the Royal Australian Air Force reports that a number of likely contes- tants, including RAAF personnel, have built machines for the race. The secre- tary of the Canberra branch of the Royal Aeronautical Society, Wg Cdr A. M. Stewart, reports that many more entries are expected. An article in this issue discusses problems which would confront the designers of ACVs and ways in which these might be solved. It also alludes, in a postscript, to an interview on the subject with no less a personage than Stirling Moss. A New Russian Craft "In external appearance the blue- white ship with red lines is reminiscent of an aircraft. The same thrusting outline, streamlined forms, the fuselage, large air propellers ... In reality it will hover over water, this air-cushion river craft. We learned about the project at the Ministry of the River Fleet of the R.S.F.S.R. "In planning the craft, the construc- tors of the 'Krasnoye Sormovo' ship- yard, together with scientific co-workers Fresh from Moscow comes this picture (somewhat retouched) of a model of the new ACV described in an accompanying paragraph of the N. E. Zhukovskiy Aerohydro- dynamic Institute, studied the experi- ence gained in building other experi- mental Soviet air-cushion craft—Raduga and Neva. The new craft will be signifi- cantly larger and provide complete comfort to passengers." The foregoing is an extract from a Russian account of a forthcoming ACV, the essential characteristics of which are visible in a drawing on this page. Length is given as 86ft, breadth about 33ft, and hoverheight over water 8in to 12in. Cushion area, served by "a powerful fan," is 1,775 sq ft. Speed is quoted as 75 m.p.h. and the craft will be manned by a crew of two. The Russian account continues: "The ship will be guided by four air-rudders, on the stern behind the propellers. The propellers, the fan and auxiliary mech- anisms will be driven by a powerful engine of Ivchenko construction. Such engines are used in several of our passenger aircraft. All this machinery is at the stern, behind the passenger saloon, and behind special noise- insulating partitions. The saloon con- tains 50 upholstered seats, in rows of three on either side. Wide uninterrupted windows give a splendid view all round. Plastics materials will be widely used for saloon furnishings and for sound insulation. The body of the vessel will be of light aluminium alloys. A buffet, wardrobe, store, baggage compartment, etc, are planned. "The new vessel will be able to traverse shallows, exposed sandbanks, and also go on the slopes of banks for embarking passengers. The vessel will have aux- iliary aircraft-type wheels, retracting into the bottom. It will be possible to lower them easily for the vessel to go over firm ground or ice. If an obstacle
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