SR.N1 hovercraft prototype

E379170

The SR.N1 hovercraft prototype was the world’s first practical hovercraft, a pioneering air-cushion vehicle that demonstrated the feasibility of Christopher Cockerell’s invention in the late 1950s.

All labels observed (2)

Label Occurrences
SR.N1 hovercraft prototype canonical 1
SR.N2 hovercraft 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf air-cushion vehicle
hovercraft
prototype vehicle
basedOn Christopher Cockerell’s hovercraft principle
canTravelOver land
marsh
shallow water
water
category experimental hovercraft
countryOfOrigin United Kingdom
designer Christopher Cockerell
developmentStartYear 1958
era Cold War
surface form: Cold War era
firstFlightDate 1959-06-11
hasAbbreviation SR.N1
hasAlternativeName Saunders-Roe Nautical 1
hasCrewCapacity 3
hasHullMaterial aluminium
hasPassengerCapacity small number of passengers
hasSkirtType peripheral air jet (early design without flexible skirt)
influenced SR.N1 hovercraft prototype self-linksurface differs
surface form: SR.N2 hovercraft

SR.N3 hovercraft
SR.N4 hovercraft
length approximately 9 m
liftSystem air cushion
manufacturer Saunders-Roe
maximumSpeed approximately 25 knots
notableEvent first hovercraft crossing of the English Channel
notableEventDate 1959-07-25
notableFor being the world’s first practical hovercraft
demonstrating feasibility of air-cushion vehicles
operator Saunders-Roe
partOf early hovercraft development program
poweredBy piston engines
preservedAt Science Museum, London
propulsionType propeller-driven
registrationNumber SR.N1
serviceEntryYear 1959
status retired
technologyDemonstrated low-friction surface travel
sidewall air-cushion principle
testLocation English Channel
Solent
usedFor cross-Channel trials
demonstration flights
experimental trials
publicity demonstrations
vehicleType amphibious craft
width approximately 4 m

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Christopher Cockerell developed SR.N1 hovercraft prototype
SR.N1 hovercraft prototype influenced SR.N1 hovercraft prototype self-linksurface differs
subject surface form: SR.N1
this entity surface form: SR.N2 hovercraft