Cushioncraft

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Cushioncraft Ltd was formed in 1960 as a division of Britten-Norman Ltd (manufacturer of aircraft) to develop/build hovercrafts. Originally based at Bembridge Airport on the Isle of Wight, Cushioncraft later moved to the Duver Works at St. Helens, these works gave ready access to the sheltered water of Bembridge Harbour.

In 1971, Britten-Norman encountered financial problems, and one result was that the Cushioncraft company was sold in 1972 to the British Hovercraft Corporation.

Between 1960 and 1972 Cushioncraft designed 6 models of which 5 were produced.

1 Production
- 1.1 CC1
- 1.2 CC2
- 1.3 CC4
- 1.4 CC5
- 1.5 CC6
- 1.6 CC7
2 Later years
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Production

[edit] CC1

CC1 was the "second" hovercraft to lift off the face of the earth in 1960. The ground clearance of the CC1 was 12 to 15 inch.

[edit] CC2

The 11 passenger CC2 was originally designed without a skirt and using air deflection within the cushion for propulsion. The CC2 was heavily developed over the years with the addition of a skirt and two external engines each driving a propellor for propulsion. The "bodywork" was also heavily modified.

[edit] CC4

The CC4 was developed by Cushioncraft jointly with Hovercraft Development. It was intended to be the first car sized craft to be put into production - this never happened. Subsequent to development use by Cushioncraft, the CC4 was sold to the NPL for future research, HDL renamed it HU-4.

[edit] CC5

One 6/8 seater CC5 was built, during tests off of Priory Bay (Isle of Wight) it capsized and was written off in October 1966.

[edit] CC6

The CC6 concept hovercraft was designed circa 1966. This was to be a small vehicle/passenger craft (4 to 6 cars and 30 to 40 passengers) using the quiet centrifugal fan configuration for lift and propulsion developed from the CC4 and CC5.

[edit] CC7

The CC7 was a development of the CC5, built in aluminium with inflatable side decks - the first Cushioncraft to use a gas turbine engine (all previous being piston).

A stretched version offering 17 passenger places was proposed after the company was taken over by BHC.

[edit] Later years

After Cushioncraft was taken over by BHC, the "unique" fan lift/propulsion arrangement design of the later quiet Cushioncraft vehicles was allowed to quietly slip into history.

The Duver Works has since be used by Hovertravel/Hoverwork as a maintenance centre and in the 1980s/90's was used to fit out the AP1-88 craft.