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According to Yahoo! Reference, the term "hovercraft" is actually a commercial name patented in 1955 for an air-cushion vehicle. This refers to any vehicle that travels above the surface land or water. Air-cushion vehicles can use one of several methods to "float," but a hovercraft relies on a powerful cushion of downwardly directed air powered by fans and trapped inside a flexible skirt, greatly increasing its lift capacity. A thrust propeller allows the craft to move forward. As we learned at the web site of the Hovercraft History Museum,
the concept of a hovercraft has been around since the 18th century. The craft was conceived of to reduce the drag on ships and boats as they cut through the water. But it wasn't until the early 20th century that hovercrafts became a reality due to the advent of the internal combustion engine. In 1956, a British engineer named Christopher Cockerell created an operational air-cushion vehicle from a prototype model involving a coffee tin, an industrial air blower, and some kitchen scales. Today hovercrafts are widely used in ferry transport and have a sizeable recreational audience.
You can shop for some nifty remote control hovercrafts in the Hovercraft Shopping category of the Yahoo! Directory. We were also pleased to learn that Hovercraft is the name of an indie rock band fronted by the wife of Eddie Vedder.
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