Today in History: 1959 – First flight of a hovercraft
British boat-maker Christopher Cockerell from Lowestoft was experimenting on the muddy floor of his boatyard when he came up with the conceptual design of the
hovercraft – using an empty can of cat food, a coffee tin, a pair of kitchen scales and a vacuum cleaner set to “blow”.
He was testing the theory that reducing the amount of friction caused when a boat travels through the water could allow it to travel faster – but his research led to the creation of a completely revolutionary form of transport that could operate on both land and water.
The idea of the (yet to be named) hovercraft had been around for some time during Cockerell’s experimentation in the 1950s, but he was the first person to devise an effective way of trapping the crucial cushion of air needed to glide, making it a viable mode of transport.
Dubbed “Britain’s flying saucer”, it was a cross between an aircraft, a boat and a land vehicle. The hybrid vessel is able to hover just above the waves at sea and avoid any irregular surfaces on land.
Eventually, in 1959, Cockerell managed to get his idea removed from the secret list (when the military didn’t express interest) and he formed the Hovercraft Development Company Ltd., having gathered £150,000 of funding from the National Research Development Council to develop his ground-breaking design.
Saunders Roe, a boat firm at Cowes, was then given a contract to build the first ever, fully-functional hovercraft. They built the SRN-1 – a 29 ft long, 24 ft wide, 6,600 lb model on which the First public hovercraft flight took place.
The maiden voyage by a full-sized hovercraft took place off Cowes, Isle of Wight, UK, on 11 June 1959. The craft reached a speed of 68 knots (126 km/h; 78 mph). It weighed 4-tonnes (8,800 lb) and had a 680 kg (1500 lb) thrust Viper turbojet engine.
Read more https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/60at60/2015/8/1959-first-public-flight-by-a-full-sized-hov… here
Births On This Day
1933 Gene Wilder - American actor (Blazing Saddles, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)
1919 Richard Todd - Irish-born British actor (The Dam Busters, The Longest Day)
1910 Jacques-Yves Cousteau - French biologist, author, inventor, co-developed the aqua-lung
1864 Richard Strauss - German composer, conductor
1776 John Constable - English landscape painter (Hay Wain)
Deaths On This Day
2015 Ron Moody [Ronald Moodnick] - British composer, singer and actor (12 Chairs, Oliver!)
1999 DeForest Kelley - American actor (Star Trek)
1994 Jack Hannah - animator (Hannah – Barbera)
1993 Bernard Bresslaw - English comedian (Carry On…)
1979 John Wayne [Marion Mitchell Morrison] - American actor (Green Berets, True Grit)
The Funnies:
On the Menu Today – Honey Soy Grilled Pork Chops
Another nice simple one here, courtesy of Delish . It’s pretty much marinade, then grill. Couldn’t get easier. And it looks delicious, so I’ll be trying it at the socially distanced barbecue
I’m going to on Saturday!
Ingredients
- 1/4 c. honey
- 1/2 c. low-sodium soy sauce
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- Red pepper flakes
- 4 pork chops
Method
- Mix together honey, soy sauce, garlic, and red pepper flakes in a large bowl. Add pork chops then cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.
- Heat grill over medium-high heat and cook until seared and cooked through, 8 minutes per side.
- Let rest 5 minutes before serving.
Quote of the Day:
“We are here and it is now. The way I see it is, after that, everything tends towards
guesswork.”
― Terry Pratchett, Small Gods
Comic of the Day:
Mouseover: “Despite years of efforts by my physics professors to normalize it, deep down I remain convinced that ‘Dynamical’ is not really a word.”
Image Credit: xkcd: Dynamic Entropy
Inspirobot Always Controversial, Occasionally Inspirational Quote of the Day:
Read yesterday’s electrically charged Spark! here
