United Kingdom–1969 was a landmark year for innovation, with the first flight of the Boeing 747, man’s first moon landing and the birth of a concept now known as the internet. However, at Pegwell Bay near Ramsgate, 1969 was a landmark year for the institution of cross-Channel passenger and car services. On 2nd April Hoverlloyd ran their first service to Calais – kick starting a technological revolution that would enable people to cross the Channel at speeds the like of which had never been achieved before or are ever likely to be again.
On a Cushion of Air: The Story of Hoverlloyd and the Cross-Channel Hovercraft captures the heroic upsurge and unavoidable demise of one of the country’s most dominant cross-Channel service providers.
Penned by Robin Paine and Roger Syms after nearly 3 years research, the book tells an intriguing story of young men and women who painstakingly worked to make Hoverlloyd the fearless cross-Channel giant it once was. Detailing near disasters, Government fall-outs and eventual roaring success, the book also tells the sad tale of the cross-Channel hovercraft’s eventual demise. The story begins with the history of Saunders-Roe and their involvement as a result of the discovery by Christopher Cockerell in 1953 that heavy weights could be supported on a cushion of low pressure air and that the concept could be practically applied.

United Kingdom–1969 was a landmark year for innovation, with the first flight of the Boeing 747, man’s first moon landing and the birth of a concept now known as the internet. However, at Pegwell Bay near Ramsgate, 1969 was a landmark year for the institution of cross-Channel passenger and car services. On 2nd April Hoverlloyd ran their first service to Calais – kick starting a technological revolution that would enable people to cross the Channel at speeds the like of which had never been achieved before or are ever likely to be again.
On a Cushion of Air: The Story of Hoverlloyd and the Cross-Channel Hovercraft captures the heroic upsurge and unavoidable demise of one of the country’s most dominant cross-Channel service providers.
Penned by Robin Paine and Roger Syms after nearly 3 years research, the book tells an intriguing story of young men and women who painstakingly worked to make Hoverlloyd the fearless cross-Channel giant it once was. Detailing near disasters, Government fall-outs and eventual roaring success, the book also tells the sad tale of the cross-Channel hovercraft’s eventual demise. The story begins with the history of Saunders-Roe and their involvement as a result of the discovery by Christopher Cockerell in 1953 that heavy weights could be supported on a cushion of low pressure air and that the concept could be practically applied.