Tag Archives: BHC

The Super 4 is a Beast

When I was a small kid, BHC was stretching a couple of the SRN-4s to the Super 4 configuration. Despite living in the same town, I never saw them while they were being tested. The late 90s and I got to travel on one for a Channel crossing as we went on holiday to France. Not long after that, they were withdrawn from service. The two hovercraft made their way to the Hovercraft Museum at Lee on Solent. One has since been scrapped but the other survives and is on display.

Getting this close to it, you really appreciate the size of the machine. It is interesting to wander through the passenger cabins on the side, up the main ramp, through the car deck and around the outside. It really is a most impressive piece of engineering. It dominates the grounds of the museum and gets you thinking about what it was like when it was in service rising high up on the massive skirt.

It was a cold and dreary day when I was there. The grey skies don’t provide a nice backdrop to the exterior vie and I will have to try and go back on a nicer day at some point. However, it was worthwhile having the chance to view it when few other people were around so a cold and gloomy winter day might have had it advantages.

Coast Guard SR-N6

The Canadian Coast Guard has operated hovercraft for many years.  As a school kid on work placement at BHC, I saw one of their AP1-88s under construction.  These have since been replaced but they were, in their turn, replacements for the original SR-N6s.  They have an operating base alongside Vancouver International.  Despite having been to YVR on a number of occasions, I had never been out to the Coast Guard base.  On our way back from the city one weekend, I made a short diversion out to see their gate guard.  It is behind the fencing but you can shoot it from an angle over the fencing.  It took me back to my childhood riding these things from both Ryde and Cowes.