LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Hovercraft
built 233 days ago
A Hovercraft is a vehicle thattravels over land or water on a cushion of pressurized air.Air is forced under the hull of the craft and is contained by a tube or "skirt" of flexible material. A pocket or "plenum" of air is formed and the resulting pressure pushes the hull of the hovercraft up and away from the surface it is sitting on. Because the frictionagainst the bottom of the craft has been greatly reduced, less energy is required to move it over the surface. This scientific principle isknown as"surface effect". The air cushion ... gives yousmoother ride over rough surfaces.
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Hovercraft Alaska® is a website for all hovercraft enthusiasts in Alaska. We have been serving Alaska since November 1998! We continue to keep you up-to-date on what is happening, and do our best to help you with anything related to hovercraft. We have in our index the Alaska pages, commonly used links for Alaska; Webcams, Marine ferry, Wild fires, Earthquake, Volcano, Iditarod, Fish and Game, and many others.
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The Hovercraft started operating on 20th July 1962. It was known as the VA3. See the images below. The previous year there had been discussions on where to operate the hovercraft. Moreton and Rhyl were suggested by a Mr Douglas Whybrow, General Manager of Channel Air Bridge. Hoylake was the original choice, but with the engines being very noisy, Moreton was chosen as it had a good flat beach, the same as Rhyl, and when the tide was in the embankment was a place to land. Many passengers were to use what was called a Hover coach. The hovercraft was scheduled to do 12 trips a day. This they achieved on 6 days only, on 4 other days they reached 10 trips. In total it only ran on 19 days out of 54.
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Hovercraft float on a cushion of air that has been forced under the craft by a fan. This causes the craft to rise or lift. The amount of lift can range from 6" to 108" (152mm to 2,743mm) depending on the size of the hovercraft. The amount of total weight that a hovercraft can raise is equal to cushion pressure multiplied by the area of the hovercraft. To make the craft function more efficiently, it is necessary to limit the cushion air from escaping, so the air is contained by the use of what is called a hovercraft skirt. Fashioned from fabric, which allows a deep cushion or clearance of obstacles, hovercraft skirts vary in style ranging from bags to cells (jupes) to separate fingered sections called segments.
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The Hovercraft 28V dc electrical system is powered by four, engine driven generators. Distribution is by main busbar and an associated auxillary busbar, with emergency services drawing power from an emergency battery and an essential services busbar.
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The Hovercraft passenger cabin contains seating for 100 passengers and is entered by port and starboard doors at the rear of the cabin. A crew door at the forward end doubles as an emergency exit. Hand baggage racks are provided at the rear of the cabin and panniers on the aft side decks carry heavier luggage. The control cabin is raised above the passenger cabin at the forward end. Access is by a door in the port side of the control cabin which may be gained by a ladder from the fore deck or by a ladder from the port aft side deck. Alternative access is by an internal ladder from the passenger cabin through a hatch in the control cabin floor.
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