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Aviation History
1967
1967 - 1162.PDF
The first of the two SR.N6s to be employed at the world fair was shipped on Easter Sunday aboard the SS Anatolian. This is the first hovercraft service open to the Canadian public, although the 70-seat SR.N2 operated on trials there in 1962 IN THE WORLD'S SHOWCASE . . . sible to have two SR.N6s at Expo and will bring one of Britain's latest achievements before many millions of North Americans. Brief appearances lasting a day or two are good enough to demonstrate the latest versions of existing transport, but not for proving a completely new mode such as the ACV. There is the argument that such a demonstration should be something spectacular, but in the writers' opinion this is completely overshadowed by the impact of putting on an efficient service, day in and day out. We all know things can be rigged for a demonstration but you can't pull any wool over anyone's eyes twelve hours a day, seven days a week, for six months—which is what the planned Expo hovercraft service is all about. An operation of this type must rely on really efficient pre-planning and a huge back-up of skilled personnel and spares. A machine out of action for an hour during the peak period of Expo could cost over £100. Compre- hensive spares on site become cheap insurance. The next big problem is legislation. Most official bodies involved with hovercraft to date have tried to apply existing laws relating to ships or air- craft both of which are completely impractical. This has certainly hap- pened in Canada, but one hopes that after much struggling, the Expo ser- vice will convince people that ACVs are inherently safe vehicles and do not need full aircraft paper work. Canada is understandably very much for the Canadians and for this reason any imports, whether tempor- ary or permanent, tend to be set upon by the tax men for all manner of dues. 48 If the Federal people don't make life impossible then the Provincial ones will. Where an item is manufactured in Canada one can see the advantages of stopping competitive imports, but when it comes to something which is not only not manufactured in Canada but could be of huge financial sig- nificance to the Canadians, the system does seem irksome. In the case of the ACV it suffers again with its classifica- tion as an aircraft, of which Canada is well adorned with both operators and manufacturers. In the USA they are classed as ships—perhaps so that a certain act concerned with shipping, rejoicing in the title of the "Foreign Bottoms Act," can be pulled effec- tively to stop the operation of British ACVs in the States. SR.N6s 010 and 012 have been pre- pared by the BHC at Cowes for operation at Expo '67. Both these craft were previously operated by Clyde Hover Ferries, and 010 made the epic winter journey home to Cowes from Tarbert, via the Isle of Man, Ireland and the South Coast. The second, 012, came home by road for refit in 1966, and did not go back to Scotland. Its modification standard is not, consequently, as advanced as that of 010, which has received the "full treatment" to meet a shipping date of April 9. N6 012 was tentatively ear-marked for a Min- tech trial in the mouth of the St Lawrence prior to Expo, but this trial was not undertaken, and the craft left Southampton for Montreal on Sunday, March 25, aboard the SS Anatolian, accompanied by Brian Dover and Ken Godfrey, two BHC engineers seconded to Hoverwork Canada. The refit of 012 had been programmed against a trials departure date early in February. Air-Cushion Vehicles FLIGHT International supplement, 20 April 1967 The main engineering changes, out of a list of some 60 proposals made by the parent company, Hovertravel Ltd, include six extra opening side- windows, two anchors, "Treadmaster" floor-covering, improved front-hatch locks, Bostrom "Viking" dynamic pilot's seats, hydraulic system relief valves, 100-gallon ballast tanks (craft 010 only), engine-intake debris guards, twin radio installations, internal bat- tery change-over switching, coach-type public address equipment, Pyrene marine cabin fire extinguishers, ser- vice vehicle line recorders, and modi- fied three-unit tip-up passenger seats (012 only). N6 010 is fitted with three- unit fixed Dean passenger seats. The electronic installation varies extensively between the two craft, because of their previous equipment and refit schedule. N6 010 has Decca 202 radar and Redifon GR 289 and Philips ZPH. 8 MR 730 radios, the latter supplied by the manufacturer through Field-Tech Ltd, while 012 has Kelvin Hughes Type 17 radar, and twin Cossor CC.300M radios. Both craft have finger skirts but neither are wholly up-to-date in this respect. Data Analysis The craft daily record system as used by Hovertravel will be used in Montreal, so that a comparative analysis of operating costs, in terms of materials and manpower, can be accurately obtained from this opera- tion. The engineering team will be initially lead by Dick Stratton, the company's executive engineer, for the purposes of negotiating DoT approval, but the routine craft maintenance will be under the control of Brian Dover. With Hoverwork Canada's two SR.N6s go five pilots (three English- men and two UK-trained Canadians), five English engineers and an ex-Navy hovercraft crew chief, plus spares running into nearly six figures to- gether with a strong management team. Local labour is being recruited for the less specialised tasks connected with skirt maintenance—not to men- tion three shifts of beach staff and cashiers. Large spares items such as engines are being fully "dressed" in the UK before dispatch, so that com- plete changes can be executed in one short night with no loss of operating hours for this type of maintenance. One advantage of an operation in Montreal is that there is plenty of sophisticated technical support avail- able locally. All this is coupled with a grim determination to prove to the North Americans en masse we really have something in the hovercraft which should result in success.
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