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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 0267.PDF
Air-Cuihion Vehicle* LET'S NOT MISS THE (HOVER)BUS Sicily and eventually Sardinia. Of course, the longer routes will also retain air services, but the Italian hates being parted from his car and will often prefer to take it with him on the hovercraft, even if the journey is a little longer than by air. The islands and archipelagos of Greece will be the happy hunting ground for hovercraft, which may well bring new prosperity to parts of this beautiful kingdom now off the tourist map. Africa As a former flying-boat pilot I know that this great continent abounds with waterways and thus with opportun- ities for hover transport. Egypt has no very outstanding roads or railways but it has a magnificent waterway in the River Nile and its connecting canals. When hovercraft are available in commercial sizes they could convey tourists and businessmen direct from their hotels in Cairo to such places as Ismailia, Damietta, Luxor and Aswan. Further down the Nile the Sudanese could re- place their slow old steamers with fast hovercraft. Across in the Congo, the great river, which gives its name to the country, is still one of its main traffic arteries. Here the massive old paddle- steamers, which now toil painfully against the swift current, could be re- placed by hovercraft, which would be far more versatile in that they could sail serenely over the rapids, which now interrupt river services. In the centre of Africa lies Lake Victoria, which borders the three independent states of Uganda, Tanganyika and Kenya. There is scope here for hoverferries, linking Kampala, Kisumu and Mwanza. Further south services might be developed on lakes such as Tanganyika and Nyasa. Asia Although there are few great lakes in the continent it abounds in rivers, where hovertransport could be developed. Examples are services linking the main cities of Iraq, using the Tigris and the Euphrates; speedier replace- ments for the steamer services on the Ganges and Indus in the Indian sub- continent; on the Irrawaddy in Burma; and on the great rivers further east, such as the Mekong. There are also more immediate possibilities, such as services between the oil ports of Kuwait, Bahrain and Dhahran, and services linking the busy free ports of Hong Kong and Macao. The populous island kingdom of Japan is a natural for fre- quent hoverferries, carrying passengers, cars and freight between the main islands; but there is a real threat that the Japanese, having obtained British rights, will get ahead of us in the race to sell their hovercraft in commercial quantities. Further south, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia obviously need hovertransport to carry the less prosper- ous passengers and bulkier cargoes which cannot go by air. Australasia There would seem to be some possibilities for services to Aus- tralia's northern dependencies such as New Guinea or the Solomons. A car hoverferry, linking Australia and Tas- mania, and between the North and South Islands, would clearly be popular and profitable. Hoverbuses might attract the commuter in Sydney and Auckland, for both cities have their suburban resi- dential areas spread out around exten- sive and beautiful harbours. The Pacific Possibly the most obvious application for hoverferries anywhere in the world is in Hawaii. This gorgeous American State already has a popula- tion of over 600,000 and it is visited by hundreds of thousands more every year. The main island of Oahu is already becoming rather overcrowded and both tourists and residents are spilling out to the neighbour islands of Hawaii, Maui, Kauai and Molokai. These are at the moment rather underpopulated, but they will grow fast. When airtransport came to the islands it rapidly eliminated the sea ferries which had been in use before. Now the air is the only means of regular transport, and Hawaian resi- dents are demanding expanded air services at lower fares, plus a new service of surface vessels. Here is a splendid opportunity for hovercraft. Frequent services straight from Waikiki Beach could speed tour- ists to the hotels on the other islands. Car ferries across the narrow seas between the islands could give the American what he always wants, the chance to take his car with him where- ever he goes. But a word of warning— the sea in this part of the world can be quite rough and big, fully developed hovercraft with 8ft skirts will be needed to run the really reliable service which Americans expect. Similar chances exist in the other island groups, such as Fiji and Tahiti. North America The hovercraft is clearly at its best in big expanses of fairly sheltered water. The Puget Sound area, with its big cities of Vancouver, Seatlle and Victoria, might almost have been contrived for hoverferries. The distances between the cities are so short that hovercraft, operating from city centres, will be faster than aircraft using the airports out of town. Then the Americans and Canadians of this part of the world dearly like to have their cars with them and, of course, the air Flight International supplement, 30 January (?f j services do not take cars. Admittedly the hover careferries will have to com- pete with surface ferries, but once craft of the SR.N4 class are available the hover combination of speed and reason- able fares should enable the craft to oust conventional vessels. Further south, in the San Francisco Bay area, the roads have become so crowded that the citizens have agreed to have a tube railway built out of local taxation. The population of around three million live on or near the Bay and its various arms. A determined hovercraft salesman might well persuade the Municipal Railway, which operates the buses and picturesque little cable cars, that they should branch out into hoverbuses as well. One little facet of the American character could help him: the American housewife all too often sends her man off to work breakfastless. If the hoverbuses across the Bay served coffee to the commuters in the morning and drinks to those going back at night they might fit in very well with the Californian way of life. The huge complex of waterways in the Middle West is an obvious area for hovertransport. The Great Lakes, the St Lawrence and the great new Seaway all suffer from the obvious disadvan- tages that there are periodic rapids and that the whole area freezes up in winter. In its new guise, with the skirts which raise it considerably off the sur- face, the hovercraft can triumph over these difficulties. When the SR.N2 flew up the Lachine Rapids, Americans and Canadians alike were amazed at its per- formance; and I have no doubt that when bigger craft are ready they will be able to demonstrate that Great Lakes transport can be maintained with hover- craft, even in the depth of winter. It should be of some satisfaction to the hovercraft builders that the New York area is criss-crossed with water- ways, such as New York Harbour, the Hudson and East Rivers and Long Island Sound. The place is, too, quite a problem area for the commuter. Trains and buses are packed and still lose money. The roads are choked with the millions who try to drive to work. Obviously the hoverbus will not solve this giant-sized headache, but at least some hover commuter services could bring a little relief to the other means of travel. South America The whole Amazon Basin, with its masses of tributaries and complete lack of roads or railways, must rely entirely on water and air transport. Neither is very highly developed, so it should not be difficult for a hovercraft operator to obtain a foothold. 1he Brazilian Government might also find Concluded on page 14 10
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