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All the United Kingdom England Lee-on-the-Solent Hovercraft Museum

Hovercraft Museum

A museum in south England celebrates the amphibious vehicles that cruise on a cushion of air.

Lee-on-the-Solent, England

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Heather
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Hoverbike   Akki14 / Atlas Obscura User
Hoverbike   Akki14 / Atlas Obscura User
Some of the many hovercraft on display   Akki14 / Atlas Obscura User
The Princess Margaret, a SR.N4 cross-channel ferry hovercraft   Frammy7
SR.N4 ferry in action on its last day of service, October 1 2000   Andrew Berridge
The Princess Margaret on the beach in Calais   David
Aerial view of the Hovercraft Museum   David Blaikie
3rd Hovercraft built by Hayes School for the BP Hovercraft Challenge   markcarnaby / Atlas Obscura User
Inside the cockpit of the SRN4 Swift   markcarnaby / Atlas Obscura User
SR-N4 - The Princess Anne Hovercraft diagram poster   markcarnaby / Atlas Obscura User
  denchy / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Showcasing over 60 hovercraft and boasting a library containing everything anyone would want to know about the novel vessels, the Hovercraft Museum in Lee-on-the-Solent, England is the largest museum of its kind in the world. Here, visitors can see famous hovercraft from film and television, climb aboard historic specimens, and see the very first proof-of-concept machines that led the way to the hovercraft revolution.

The museum's collection includes the two hovercraft featured in the hovercraft chase in the James Bond film Die Another Day, as well as the craft built on Channel 4's Scrapheap Challenge and the one rebuilt on the same channel's Salvage Squad. Also featured are the world's first working hovercraft model, the world's first production-built hovercraft, a military craft that completed a round trip of the arctic circle, and a hovercraft that served as a ferry across the English Channel until 2000, when it was replaced by a catamaran. Despite being replaced, that hovercraft still holds the record for fastest cross-channel voyage, traversing the body of water in an impressive 22 minutes.

The hovercraft concept was developed by an Englishman named Dr. Christopher Cockerell, and the first hovercraft was built in England in 1958. They thereafter enjoyed a brief heyday, being found useful in military, civilian, commercial, competitive, and recreational applications, and are still used in many of those capacities today. The Hovercraft Museum is located at a slipway where many new designs in the early hovercraft era were launched for testing.

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Museums And Collections Museums Naval History Boats Machines Transportation

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Directions available on official website.

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Added By

Akki14

Edited By

RHyzer, markcarnaby, denchy

  • RHyzer
  • markcarnaby
  • denchy

Published

October 4, 2016

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Sources
  • http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hampshire-35449474
  • http://www.visit-hampshire.co.uk/things-to-do/hovercraft-museum-p56073
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hovercraft_Museum
Hovercraft Museum
Seaplane Square, Daedalus Site Seafront Gate
Marine Parade West
Lee-on-the-Solent, England
United Kingdom
50.807497, -1.210032
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Nearby Places

Bramble Bank Cricket Pitch

The Solent, England

miles away

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miles away

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miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of England

England

United Kingdom

Places 2,199
Stories 144

Nearby Places

Bramble Bank Cricket Pitch

The Solent, England

miles away

HMS Alliance Submarine Museum

Gosport, England

miles away

Hatch the Mary Rose Dog

Portsmouth, England

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of England

England

United Kingdom

Places 2,199
Stories 144

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