Hovercrafts are truly amazing vehicles: Whether on land, water, mud or ice, these air-cushioned craft rule the unpaved wilderness. And they were born from a wildly optimistic and experimental era of engineering—as reflected by these incredible early prototypes and designs.
I recently came across a bunch of rare hovercraft photographs in a few old Hungarian scientific magazines and books, and I immediately wanted to share them with other hovercraft fans out there. Each one of these ships—from obscure prototypes and early production models to insane, never-produced visions—reflects the ingenuity of 20th century engineering. Just see for yourself.
The Ford Levacar at the Dearborn testing facility.
Source: Korunk technikája, Gondolat, Budapest, 1964.
The Ford Aeronutronic.
Source: Korunk technikája, Gondolat, Budapest, 1964.
The US Navy’s Hughes Hydrostreak XHS1.
Source: Korunk technikája, Gondolat, Budapest, 1964.
The Bell SKMR-1 Hidroskimmer, an experimental US Navy hovercraft intended for submarine reconnaissance.
Source: Korunk technikája, Gondolat, Budapest, 1964.
D-1 prototype hovercraft designed by Denny Hovercraft Ltd.
Source: Korunk technikája, Gondolat, Budapest, 1964.
The Saunders-Roe SR.N1 (“Saunders-Roe Nautical 1”) was the first practical hovercraft.
Source: Korunk technikája, Gondolat, Budapest, 1964.
Source: Népszerű Technika, 1959. szeptember
A cutaway illustration of the next generation SR.N2. Only one was built, but it can be regarded as the prototype for commercial hovercrafts.
Source: Korunk technikája, Gondolat, Budapest, 1964.
The Westland/Saunders-Roe SR.N2 hovercraft could carry 48 passengers.
Source: Korunk technikája, Gondolat, Budapest, 1964.
Source: Népszerű Technika, 1962. augusztus
The first Vickers hovercraft prototype, the VA-1.
Source: Korunk technikája, Gondolat, Budapest, 1964.
Small-scale ferry service: the British United Airways’s Vickers-Armstrong VA-3 hovercraft.
Source: Korunk technikája, Gondolat, Budapest, 1964.
Source: Népszerű Technika, 1962. augusztus
A modified Land Rover truck for farmers, also by Vickers.
Source: Korunk technikája, Gondolat, Budapest, 1964.
The Curtiss-Wright Air-Car.
Source: Korunk technikája, Gondolat, Budapest, 1964.
The Cushioncraft (CC-1), a British hovercraft prototype gliding on a ring-shaped air cushion.
Source: Korunk technikája, Gondolat, Budapest, 1964.
The Cushioncraft-2 (CC-2) could carry 12 passengers.
Source: Korunk technikája, Gondolat, Budapest, 1964.
The French Bertin had eight separate air-cushion rings.
Source: Korunk technikája, Gondolat, Budapest, 1964.
GEM-1, a US Army prototype with two frontal propellers.
Source: Korunk technikája, Gondolat, Budapest, 1964.
The GEM-3.
Source: Korunk technikája, Gondolat, Budapest, 1964.
Pioneer-1, a simple and cheap hovercraft built by the Manufacturing Company Of Seattle.
Source: Korunk technikája, Gondolat, Budapest, 1964.
A cross-section drawing of the Pioneer-1.
Source: Korunk technikája, Gondolat, Budapest, 1964.
Motor-cycle: The first hovercraft bike!
Source: Korunk technikája, Gondolat, Budapest, 1964.
X-2, an experimental Air-Scooter developed at Princeton University.
Source: Korunk technikája, Gondolat, Budapest, 1964.
A Soviet prototype, the one-man Vezdekhod.
Source: Korunk technikája, Gondolat, Budapest, 1964.
Dr. William R. Bertelsen, a medical doctor from Illinois who developed a craft called the aeromobile.
Source: Korunk technikája, Gondolat, Budapest, 1964.
Source: Népszerű Technika, 1959. szeptember
Dr. Bertelsen’s upgraded Aeromobile.
Source: Korunk technikája, Gondolat, Budapest, 1964.
Here’s the Ilen by Weiland, a strange box-shaped hovership.
Source: Népszerű Technika, 1959. szeptember
And Neva, a Soviet-era air-cushion ship.
Source: Korunk technikája, Gondolat, Budapest, 1964.
Zarya, another Soviet passenger hovercraft, was intended for crossing shallow lakes and rivers.
Source: Utak és járművek – A Szovjetúnió közlekedése. Magyar–Szovjet Baráti Társaság, 1975.
A definitive Soviet beauty: The Sormovich hovercraft. It could reach 74.5 MPH and carry up to 50 passengers over frozen rivers.
Source: Utak és járművek – A Szovjetúnió közlekedése. Magyar–Szovjet Baráti Társaság, 1975.
A smaller Soviet hovercraft—this one used to cruise on rivers.
Source: Utak és járművek – A Szovjetúnió közlekedése. Magyar–Szovjet Baráti Társaság, 1975.
This concept art shows the near future, when large hovercrafts will cross the La Manche channel.
Source: Korunk technikája, Gondolat, Budapest, 1964.
This is how the engineers at the British Hovercraft imagined the traffic on the La Manche channel, filled with 100-ton-vessels of the near future.
Source: Korunk technikája, Gondolat, Budapest, 1964.
Another artist’s rendering of a futuristic hovercar.
Source: Népszerű Technika, 1960. január
And an artist’s impression of a futuristic hovercar by Robert Szenes, complete with fins and headlights.
Source: Népszerű Technika, 1959. szeptember
