HOVERCRAFT SKIRTS

Had it not been for the advent of the flexible skirt the hovercraft would not have been a practical proposition. Early skirt systems were adapted to suit the peripheral jet systems of existing craft and were crudely constructed from commercially available rubber materials using large numbers of bolts, rivets, etc. However, development in this country soon led to the introduction of the segmented or fingered skirt and this type, in one form or another, is now used on all the larger British built vehicles. This paper commences with a brief discussion of the various types of skirt system in use or under consideration both in this country and abroad and then goes on to consider the bag/finger skirt, ie, the type currently used by the british Hovercraft Corporation, in more detail. Static and dynamic characteristics, stability and control aspects, model testing techniques, methods of construction and recent advances are discussed and possible future developments are suggested.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Presented at the Conference on Hovering Craft, Hydrofoil and Advanced Transit Systems, Brighton, England, May 13-16, 1974.
• Corporate Authors:

  Kalerghi Publications

  51 Welbeck Street
  London W1,   England 
• Authors:
  • Wheeler, R L
• Publication Date: 1974-2

Media Info

• Serial:
  • Hovering Craft and Hydrofoil
  • Volume: 13
  • Issue Number: 5-6
  • Publisher: Kalerghi Publications

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Air cushion vehicles
• Old TRIS Terms: Hovercraft materials; Skirt configurations; Skirts
• Subject Areas: Marine Transportation; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00057270
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Maritime Research Center, Kings Point
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 16 1982 12:00AM