First hovercraft flight

First hovercraft flight
WHO
Saunders-Roe SR.N1
WHAT
First
WHERE
Cowes
WHEN
11 June 1959
The first public flight by a full-sized hovercraft was made by the 4-tonne (8,800 lb) Saunders-Roe SR.N1 at Cowes, Isle of Wight on 11 June 1959. With a 680 kg (1500 lb) thrust Viper turbojet engine, this craft reached 68 knots (126 km/h or 78 mph) in June 1961. The hovercraft was the brainchild of Sir Christopher Cockerell (UK).