What is Hovercraft? What are the advantages and disadvantages of hovercraft?

The hovercraft is the most amazing high-speed boat, because it can sail close to the water, can travel on land like a car, and can also fly in the air, it is a special new type of boat between a car, a boat and an airplane. The hull is usually made of light metal, and the boat is lifted up from the water or land by the air cushion, and the wind blows backwards continuously through the stern propeller, which produces a reaction force to make the ship move forward, due to the small resistance, the speed of the ship is nearly 100 kilometers per hour, and the maximum speed is more than 200 kilometers per hour.

What is an Air Cushion? It is the "mat" formed by high-pressure air, this special "mat" is cushioned between the hull and the water surface, in fact, it supports the boat to sail on the water, and no longer bears the resistance of the water but only the air resistance in the advance, so the resistance is greatly reduced.

In 1953, the Englishman Coolrell pioneered the air cushion theory, and after a large number of tests, the world's first hovercraft was built in 1959 and successfully applied to cross the English Channel. Since then, the application of hovercraft has gradually become widespread, and it is currently mostly used in high-speed and short-distance passenger ships, transportation ships, ferries, etc.

Hovercraft. A hovercraft, also known as a "flying boat", is a type of boat that uses the support of air to lift off the water. As soon as such ships appeared, they immediately attracted the attention of the shipbuilding community around the world.

The hovercraft was invented by the British engineer Coclaire. In 1950, at the age of 40, Koclell fell in love with the shipbuilding industry. So he quit his job, used all his savings, and started a small shipbuilding company with his wife.

At this point, Coclaire's mind was on how to build a faster boat. He believes that the reason for the low speed of the boat is the drag caused by the friction between the bottom of the boat and the water surface. After repeated research, he found that if air was used as an "air cushion" between the ship and the water, it was possible to reduce friction and thus increase the speed of the ship.

Coclaire concretized this idea by filling an empty can of cat food with an empty coffee can and experimenting with a hairdryer that was used to blow his hair. As a result, he was very pleased with the float effect created by the exhaust. He then built a model boat about a meter long, experimented in the river, and succeeded.

Its principle is exactly the same as that of today's practical hovercraft.

At this time, Coclair was ready to give his invention to the entrepreneur, but was rejected. The reason is very interesting, the shipbuilder considers it an airplane and not a ship. However, Halspelley, the general manager of the British research and development company, had the foresight to foresee the importance of the hovercraft and helped Koclell obtain a patent.

At that time, Koclell joined NEDC and began to officially build a hovercraft with a length and width. The hovercraft successfully crossed the English Channel, becoming the world's first actually sailing hovercraft. It also fully shows the superiority of hovercraft.

There are two main forms of hovercraft: fully floating and sidewall. The largest existing hovercraft in the world is the British-built SRN4-

Type III hovercraft. It is fully floating, characterized by an air propeller (like an airplane's propeller), and the bottom of the boat is surrounded by an "apron" made of nylon rubber cloth, from which high-pressure air is ejected, creating an air cushion between the bottom and the water to support the weight of the hull to reduce navigational resistance. With an average speed of 100 kilometers per hour, it can carry 416 passengers and 55 cars.

The fastest is the American sidewall hovercraft, which reaches 167 kilometers per hour.

Hovercraft is a high-power ship that uses the high-power fan on board to generate air higher than atmospheric pressure to press into the bottom of the ship, form an air cushion between it and the water surface or ground, and lift all or most of the hull off the water surface and sail at high speed. Hovercraft are divided into full-lift hovercraft and sidewall hovercraft according to the sailing state. In 1959, the British built the world's first fully cushioned hovercraft, the SRN1.

It departed from Calais, France, and in 2 hours and 5 minutes, successfully crossed the English Channel. The appearance of hovercraft caused a sensation in the world for a while.

A full-cushion lift hovercraft is also known as a full-floating hovercraft. On the perimeter of this kind of boat, there is a flexible apron made of nylon rubber cloth, and the lift fan of the door is used to fill the bottom of the boat with air to form an air cushion, so that the hull of the ship is completely vacated and floated on the "air cushion". The propulsion power of the full-cushion hovercraft is an air-borne propeller or jet propulsion.

This kind of hovercraft not only has a speed of up to 50 70 knots, but also has good amphibious characteristics, can surpass obstacles and complex terrain, and its own magnetic field, water pressure field and sound field are very small, and its anti-explosion performance is also relatively good, so it is an ideal tool for carrying landing troops on land and anti-mines. However, when sailing in strong winds and waves, the stall is large and prone to side drift. At present, it is only used in the military to make small ships, such as landing craft, minesweepers, missile boats, patrol boats, etc.