81-458: The Osaka Metro Nankō Port Town Line ( 南港ポートタウン線 , Nankō Pōto-taun-sen ) , also called New Tram , is an automated guideway transit line in Suminoe-ku, Osaka , Japan. The line is operated by Osaka Metro , and was constructed to serve as the main rapid transit line for newly built Osaka South Port habitations and facilities. An extension of the line from Cosmosquare to Trade Center-mae
162-482: A Royal Navy officer, C.H. Latimer-Needham , who sold his idea to Westland (by then the parent of Saunders-Roe's helicopter and hovercraft interests), and who worked with Cockerell to develop the idea further. The first passenger-carrying hovercraft to enter service was the Vickers VA-3 , which, in the summer of 1962, carried passengers regularly along the north Wales coast from Moreton, Merseyside, to Rhyl . It
243-472: A PRT system, known as ULTra , to connect Terminal 5 with the long-term carpark; its full operation began in September 2011. Air cushion vehicle A hovercraft ( pl. : hovercraft ), also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV , is an amphibious craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and various other surfaces. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below
324-493: A capacity of 418 passengers and 60 cars. These were later joined by the French-built SEDAM N500 Naviplane with a capacity of 385 passengers and 45 cars; only one entered service and was used intermittently for a few years on the cross-channel service until returned to SNCF in 1983. The service ceased on 1 October 2000 after 32 years, due to competition with traditional ferries, catamarans ,
405-666: A characteristic rounded-rectangle shape. The first practical design for hovercraft was derived from a British invention in the 1950s. They are now used throughout the world as specialised transports in disaster relief, coastguard, military and survey applications, as well as for sport or passenger service. Very large versions have been used to transport hundreds of people and vehicles across the English Channel , whilst others have military applications used to transport tanks, soldiers and large equipment in hostile environments and terrain. Decline in public demand meant that as of 2023 ,
486-466: A design that relied only on the momentum of the air to provide lift, like a helicopter . In terms of power, a hovercraft would only need between one quarter to one half of the power required by a helicopter. Cockerell built and tested several models of his hovercraft design in Somerleyton, Suffolk, during the early 1950s. The design featured an engine mounted to blow from the front of the craft into
567-775: A fast torpedo boat , the Versuchsgleitboot had a top speed of over 32 knots (59 km/h). It was thoroughly tested and even armed with torpedoes and machine guns for operation in the Adriatic . It never saw actual combat, however, and as the war progressed it was eventually scrapped due to a lack of interest and perceived need, and its engines returned to the air force. The theoretical grounds for motion over an air layer were constructed by Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovskii in 1926 and 1927. In 1929, Andrew Kucher of Ford began experimenting with
648-526: A new form of high-speed land transportation, probably in the field of rail surface travel, for fast trips of distances of up to about 1,600 kilometres (1,000 mi)". In 1959, Ford displayed a hovercraft concept car , the Ford Levacar Mach I . In August 1961, Popular Science reported on the Aeromobile 35B, an air-cushion vehicle (ACV) that was invented by William R. Bertelsen and
729-471: A number of niche roles where its combination of features were advantageous. Today, they are found primarily in military use for amphibious operations, search-and-rescue vehicles in shallow water, and sporting vehicles. Hovercraft can be powered by one or more engines. Smaller craft, such as the SR.N6 , usually have one engine with the drive split through a gearbox. On vehicles with several engines, one usually drives
810-604: A number of smaller cylindrical skirts instead of one large one in order to avoid the problems noted above. During the early 1960s he developed a series of prototype designs, which he called "terraplanes" if they were aimed for land use, and "naviplanes" for water. The best known of these designs was the N500 Naviplane , built for Seaspeed by the Société d'Etude et de Développement des Aéroglisseurs Marins (SEDAM). The N500 could carry 400 passengers, 55 cars and five buses. It set
891-660: A plane; and the Army were 'plain not interested'." This lack of military interest meant that there was no reason to keep the concept secret, and it was declassified. Cockerell was finally able to convince the National Research Development Corporation to fund development of a full-scale model. In 1958, the NRDC placed a contract with Saunders-Roe for the development of what would become the SR.N1 , short for "Saunders-Roe, Nautical 1". The SR.N1
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#1732790838673972-488: A section of a large aerofoil (this creates a low-pressure area above the wing much like an aircraft), the craft was propelled by four aero engines driving two submerged marine propellers, with a fifth engine that blew air under the front of the craft to increase the air pressure under it. Only when in motion could the craft trap air under the front, increasing lift. The vessel also required a depth of water to operate and could not transition to land or other surfaces. Designed as
1053-613: A service to Calais from Dover, which was soon superseded by that of Seaspeed . As well as Saunders-Roe and Vickers (which combined in 1966 to form the British Hovercraft Corporation (BHC)), other commercial craft were developed during the 1960s in the UK by Cushioncraft (part of the Britten-Norman Group) and Hovermarine based at Woolston (the latter being sidewall hovercraft , where the sides of
1134-458: A space below it, combining both lift and propulsion. He demonstrated the model flying over many Whitehall carpets in front of various government experts and ministers, and the design was subsequently put on the secret list. In spite of tireless efforts to arrange funding, no branch of the military was interested, as he later joked, "The Navy said it was a plane not a boat; the RAF said it was a boat not
1215-470: A speed record between Boulogne and Dover of 74 kn (137 km/h). It was rejected by its operators, who claimed that it was unreliable. Another discovery was that the total amount of air needed to lift the craft was a function of the roughness of the surface over which it travelled. On flat surfaces, like pavement, the required air pressure was so low that hovercraft were able to compete in energy terms with conventional systems like steel wheels. However,
1296-409: A suggestion made by his business partner Arthur Ord-Hume. In 1958, he suggested the use of two rings of rubber to produce a double-walled extension of the vents in the lower fuselage. When air was blown into the space between the sheets it exited the bottom of the skirt in the same way it formerly exited the bottom of the fuselage, re-creating the same momentum curtain, but this time at some distance from
1377-698: A walled air cushion vehicle, the Glidemobile . Because the project was classified by the U.S. government, Fletcher could not file a patent. In April 1958, Ford engineers demonstrated the Glide-air, a one-metre (three-foot) model of a wheel-less vehicle that speeds on a thin film of air only 76.2 μm ( 3 ⁄ 1000 of an inch) above its tabletop roadbed. An article in Modern Mechanix quoted Andrew A. Kucher, Ford's vice president in charge of Engineering and Research noting "We look upon Glide-air as
1458-533: A wave of similar developments around the world. However, the market for these systems proved to be overestimated, and only one of these US-designed small AGT's was constructed as a mass transit system, the Morgantown PRT . Small scaled AGT systems are also known as people movers. Although the mass transit world showed a lack of interest, AGT systems quickly found a number of niche roles that they have continued to fill to this day. Tampa International Airport
1539-516: A way to serve outlying areas or as feeders to a metro system. Kobe 's Port Liner is the world's first mass transit AGT, which began operating in 1981. It connects Kobe's main rail station, Sannomiya Station , with the dockyard areas and Kobe Airport to the south. Many similar systems have been built elsewhere in Japan. The Véhicule Automatique Léger (VAL) system in Lille , France , opened in 1983,
1620-401: Is a type of fixed guideway transit infrastructure with a riding or suspension track that supports and physically guides one or more driverless vehicles along its length. The vehicles are often rubber tired or steel wheeled, but other traction systems including air cushion, suspended monorail and maglev have been implemented. The guideway provides both physical support, like a road, as well as
1701-736: Is often cited as the first AGT installed to serve an existing urban area. Larger scale INNOVIA advanced rapid transit (ART) systems in Toronto , and Vancouver followed in the next few years, and then the Docklands Light Railway in London . VAL and ART systems have seen continued installations around the world such as in Airport Express in Beijing and have been joined by a variety of new systems with similar features, like
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#17327908386731782-639: Is relatively rare because most people movers are automated. Larger systems span a variety of conceptual designs, from subway-like advanced rapid transit (ART) systems to smaller (typically two to six passengers) vehicles known as personal rapid transit (PRT) which offer direct point-to-point travel along a switched network. AGT was originally developed as a means of providing mass transit services aimed at serving rider loads higher than those that could be served by buses or trams, but smaller than those served by conventional subways . Subways were too expensive to build in areas of lower density, such as smaller cities or
1863-565: Is used as a high-speed ferry for up to 47 passengers and 47,500 pounds (21,500 kg) of freight serving the remote Alaskan villages of King Cove and Cold Bay . An experimental service was operated in Scotland across the Firth of Forth (between Kirkcaldy and Portobello, Edinburgh ), from 16 to 28 July 2007. Marketed as Forthfast , the service used a craft chartered from Hovertravel and achieved an 85% passenger load factor . As of 2009 ,
1944-674: The 2007 UK floods . Since 2006, hovercraft have been used in aid in Madagascar by HoverAid, an international NGO who use the hovercraft to reach the most remote places on the island. The Scandinavian airline SAS used to charter an AP1-88 hovercraft for regular passengers between Copenhagen Airport , Denmark, and the SAS Hovercraft Terminal in Malmö , Sweden. In 1998, the US Postal Service began using
2025-783: The AnsaldoBreda Driverless Metro . Automated monorail systems, such as the Innovia Monorail 200 system in Las Vegas , are becoming more common AGT systems. Monorails are less obtrusive because they only require a single, narrow guidebeam. Once limited to larger airports and a small number of metro systems, AGT have undergone something of a renaissance since the late 1990s. Lower capital costs compared to conventional metros have allowed AGT systems to expand quickly, and many of these "small" systems now rival their larger counterparts in any measure. For instance,
2106-465: The Aérotrain . These designs competed with maglev systems in the high-speed arena, where their primary advantage was the very "low tech" tracks they needed. On the downside, the air blowing dirt and trash out from under the trains presented a unique problem in stations, and interest in them waned in the 1970s. By the early 1970s, the basic concept had been well developed, and the hovercraft had found
2187-461: The Levapad concept, metal disks with pressurized air blown through a hole in the centre. Levapads do not offer stability on their own. Several must be used together to support a load above them. Lacking a skirt, the pads had to remain very close to the running surface. He initially imagined these being used in place of casters and wheels in factories and warehouses, where the concrete floors offered
2268-616: The Vancouver SkyTrain started operations in 1986, but has expanded so rapidly that its track length roughly matches the Toronto subway which pre-dates it by 30 years. Although the original introduction of PRT systems did not result in the widespread adoption as expected, Morgantown Personal Rapid Transit in West Virginia's success, along with a renewed interest in new forms of transit, has led to several new PRT projects since 2000. London Heathrow Airport has installed
2349-409: The hull , or air cushion, that is slightly above atmospheric pressure . The pressure difference between the higher-pressure air below the hull and lower pressure ambient air above it produces lift, which causes the hull to float above the running surface. For stability reasons, the air is typically blown through slots or holes around the outside of a disk- or oval-shaped platform, giving most hovercraft
2430-589: The British built Hoverwork AP1-88 to haul mail, freight, and passengers from Bethel, Alaska , to and from eight small villages along the Kuskokwim River . Bethel is far removed from the Alaska road system, thus making the hovercraft an attractive alternative to the air based delivery methods used prior to introduction of the hovercraft service. Hovercraft service is suspended for several weeks each year while
2511-756: The Center at the top of a hill in Brentwood ; this system places the motor outside the vehicle at the top of the guideway to reduce the weight lifted up the hill and thus improve efficiency. Small AGT systems are also used as circulator or feeder systems within urban centers. The city of Miami installed its Metromover system in 1986 and later extended it by 4.4 miles and added 12 new stations it in 1994. Similar INNOVIA APM 100 systems operate in Singapore's Bukit Panjang district and in Guangzhou , China. Over time,
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2592-554: The English Channel. Hoverlloyd operated from Ramsgate , where a special hoverport had been built at Pegwell Bay, to Calais. Seaspeed operated from Dover, England, to Calais and Boulogne in France. The first SR.N4 had a capacity of 254 passengers and 30 cars, and a top speed of 83 kn (154 km/h). The channel crossing took around 30 minutes and was run like an airline with flight numbers. The later SR.N4 Mk.III had
2673-495: The Leitner Group, better known for their ski lift systems, provide AGT systems for the airport market. Although the smaller vehicle systems were not successful in the marketplace, larger AGT were simpler to integrate into existing mass transit systems. Many higher capacity AGT systems that looked and operated in a fashion similar to a small subway have since become a common fixture of many existing metro systems, often as
2754-655: The SR.N1 Mk II. A further upgrade with the Armstrong Siddeley Viper produced the Mk III. Further modifications, especially the addition of pointed nose and stern areas, produced the Mk IV. Although the SR.N1 was successful as a testbed, the design hovered too close to the surface to be practical; at 9 inches (23 cm) even small waves would hit the bow. The solution was offered by Cecil Latimer-Needham , following
2835-563: The US/Canadian Great Lakes operate hovercraft for water and ice rescues, often of ice fisherman stranded when ice breaks off from shore. The Canadian Coast Guard uses hovercraft to break light ice. In October 2008, The Red Cross commenced a flood-rescue service hovercraft based in Inverness , Scotland. Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service received two flood-rescue hovercraft donated by Severn Trent Water following
2916-547: The aegis of P & A Campbell, the paddle steamer operators. Operations by Hovertravel commenced on 24 July 1965, using the SR.N6, which carried 38 passengers. Two 98 seat AP1-88 hovercraft were introduced on this route in 1983, and in 2007, these were joined by the first 130-seat BHT130 craft. The AP1-88 and the BHT130 were notable as they were largely built by Hoverwork using shipbuilding techniques and materials (i.e. welded aluminium structure and diesel engines) rather than
2997-524: The aerospace firms that had initially designed most of these systems left the industry and sold off the AGT divisions to other companies. Most of these were picked up by existing transportation conglomerates, and through additional mergers and buyouts, many of these are today owned by either Siemens or Bombardier . During the same period, a number of new companies entered the field with systems designed solely for these smaller installations. Poma , Doppelmayr and
3078-506: The aircraft techniques used to build the earlier craft built by Saunders-Roe-British Hovercraft Corporation. Over 20 million passengers had used the service as of 2004 – the service is still operating (as of 2020 ) and is by far the longest, continuously-operated hovercraft service. In 1966, two cross-channel passenger hovercraft services were inaugurated using SR.N6 hovercraft. Hoverlloyd ran services from Ramsgate Harbour, England, to Calais , France, and Townsend Ferries also started
3159-481: The back to push the craft forward. The British aircraft and marine engineering company Saunders-Roe built the first practical human-carrying hovercraft for the National Research Development Corporation , the SR.N1, which carried out several test programmes in 1959 to 1961 (the first public demonstration was in 1959), including a cross-channel test run in July 1959, piloted by Peter "Sheepy" Lamb, an ex-naval test pilot and
3240-475: The bottom of the craft. Latimer-Needham and Cockerell devised a 4-foot (1.2 m) high skirt design, which was fitted to the SR.N1 to produce the Mk V, displaying hugely improved performance, with the ability to climb over obstacles almost as high as the skirt. In October 1961, Latimer-Needham sold his skirt patents to Westland , who had recently taken over Saunders Roe's interest in the hovercraft. Experiments with
3321-472: The chief test pilot at Saunders Roe. Christopher Cockerell was on board, and the flight took place on the 50th anniversary of Louis Blériot 's first aerial crossing. The SR.N1 was driven by expelled air, powered by a single piston engine. Demonstrated at the Farnborough Airshow in 1960, it was shown that this simple craft can carry a load of up to 12 marines with their equipment as well as
Nankō Port Town Line - Misplaced Pages Continue
3402-402: The cost of a subway system is due to the large vehicle sizes, which demand large tunnels, large stations and considerable infrastructure throughout the system. The large vehicles are a side-effect of the need to have considerable space between the vehicles, known as " headway ", for safety reasons due to the limited sightlines in tunnels. Given large headways and limited average speed due to stops,
3483-667: The disappearance of duty-free shopping within the EU, the advancing age of the SR.N4 hovercraft, and the opening of the Channel Tunnel . The commercial success of hovercraft suffered from rapid rises in fuel prices during the late 1960s and 1970s, following conflict in the Middle East. Alternative over-water vehicles, such as wave-piercing catamarans (marketed as the SeaCat in the UK until 2005), use less fuel and can perform most of
3564-502: The ending of Project Apollo and the winding down of the Vietnam War , there was concern that these companies would be left with few projects in the 1970s and 80s. Expecting widespread deployment of PRT systems through the late 1970s and 80s, many of the major US aerospace companies entered the AGT market, including Boeing , LTV and Rohr . Car companies followed suit, including General Motors and Ford . This, in turn, sparked off
3645-474: The extra thrust could be directed fore or aft, differentially for rotation. The SR.N1 made its first hover on 11 June 1959, and made its famed successful crossing of the English Channel on 25 July 1959. In December 1959, the Duke of Edinburgh visited Saunders-Roe at East Cowes and persuaded the chief test-pilot, Commander Peter Lamb, to allow him to take over the SR.N1's controls. He flew the SR.N1 so fast that he
3726-413: The fan (or impeller ), which is responsible for lifting the vehicle by forcing high pressure air under the craft. The air inflates the "skirt" under the vehicle, causing it to rise above the surface. Additional engines provide thrust in order to propel the craft. Some hovercraft use ducting to allow one engine to perform both tasks by directing some of the air to the skirt, the rest of the air passing out of
3807-601: The first Local Authority fire service in the UK to operate a hovercraft. It is used to rescue people from thick mud in the Weston-super-Mare area and during times of inland flooding. A Griffon rescue hovercraft has been in use for a number of years with the Airport Fire Service at Dundee Airport in Scotland. It is used in the event of an aircraft ditching in the Tay estuary. Numerous fire departments around
3888-468: The first to demonstrate a practical vehicle in continued use. A memorial to Cockerell's first design stands in the village of Somerleyton . Cockerell came across the key concept in his design when studying the ring of airflow when high-pressure air was blown into the annular area between two concentric tin cans (one coffee and the other from cat food) and a hairdryer. This produced a ring of airflow, as expected, but he noticed an unexpected benefit as well;
3969-701: The following train types are used on the line, all formed as four-car sets. A fleet of four-car 200 series trainsets was introduced between 2016 and March 2017, all finished in different colour liveries. The first set, 01, entered revenue service on 29 June 2016, followed by the second set, 02, in October 2016. As of July 2019, the 200 series fleet consists of twenty sets (numbered 01 to 21 (excluding 13)), and formed as follows. The trains have stainless steel bodies. Automated guideway transit An automated guideway transit ( AGT ) or automated fixed-guideway transit or automatic guideway transit system
4050-408: The guidance. An automated line can be cheaper to run than a conventional line, due to the shorter trains and stations. AGT covers a wide variety of systems, from limited people mover systems commonly found at airports, to more complex automated train systems like the Vancouver SkyTrain . In the people mover role the term "automated people mover" (APM) is sometimes used, although this distinction
4131-444: The hovercraft became an effective transport system for high-speed service on water and land, leading to widespread developments for military vehicles, search and rescue, and commercial operations. By 1962, many UK aviation and shipbuilding firms were working on hovercraft designs, including Saunders Roe/ Westland , Vickers-Armstrong , William Denny , Britten-Norman and Folland . Small-scale ferry service started as early as 1962 with
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#17327908386734212-427: The hovercraft lift system acted as both a lift and a very effective suspension, and thus it naturally lent itself to high-speed use where conventional suspension systems were considered too complex. This led to a variety of " hovertrain " proposals during the 1960s, including England's Tracked Hovercraft and France's Aérotrain . In the U.S., Rohr Inc. and Garrett both took out licences to develop local versions of
4293-784: The hovercraft's marine tasks. Although developed elsewhere in the world for both civil and military purposes, except for the Solent Ryde-to-Southsea crossing, hovercraft disappeared from the coastline of Britain until a range of Griffon Hoverwork were bought by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution . Hovercraft used to ply between the Gateway of India in Mumbai and CBD Belapur and Vashi in Navi Mumbai between 1994 and 1999, but
4374-785: The hull projected down into the water to trap the cushion of air with normal hovercraft skirts at the bow and stern ). One of these models, the HM-2, was used by Red Funnel between Southampton (near the Woolston Floating Bridge ) and Cowes . The world's first car-carrying hovercraft was made in 1968, the BHC Mountbatten class (SR.N4) models, each powered by four Bristol Proteus turboshaft engines. These were both used by rival operators Hoverlloyd and Seaspeed (which joined to form Hoverspeed in 1981) to operate regular car and passenger carrying services across
4455-480: The launch of the Vickers-Armstrong VA-3. With the introduction of the 254 passenger and 30 car carrying SR.N4 cross-channel ferry by Hoverlloyd and Seaspeed in 1968, hovercraft had developed into useful commercial craft. Another major pioneering effort of the early hovercraft era was carried out by Jean Bertin 's firm in France. Bertin was an advocate of the "multi-skirt" approach, which used
4536-422: The loss of lift at that point, and this led to further pressure on the skirt. After considerable experimentation, Denys Bliss at Hovercraft Development Ltd. found the solution to this problem. Instead of using two separate rubber sheets to form the skirt, a single sheet of rubber was bent into a U shape to provide both sides, with slots cut into the bottom of the U forming the annular vent. When deforming pressure
4617-586: The modern features of a lift engine blowing air into a flexible envelope for lift. Kaario's efforts were followed closely in the Soviet Union by Vladimir Levkov, who returned to the solid-sided design of the Versuchsgleitboot . Levkov designed and built a number of similar craft during the 1930s, and his L-5 fast-attack boat reached 70 knots (130 km/h) in testing. However, the start of World War II put an end to his development work. During World War II, an American engineer, Charles Fletcher , invented
4698-411: The only way to increase passenger capacity is to increase the size of the vehicle. Capital costs can be reduced by elevating the tracks instead of burying them, but the large tracks needed present a major visual barrier, and the steel-wheels-on-steel-rails are very noisy rounding bends. Headway can be reduced via automation, a technique that was becoming feasible in the 1960s. As the headway is decreased,
4779-570: The only year-round public hovercraft service in the world still in operation serves between the Isle of Wight and Southsea in the UK. Oita Hovercraft is planning to resume services in Oita, Japan in 2024. Although now a generic term for the type of craft, the name Hovercraft itself was a trademark owned by Saunders-Roe (later British Hovercraft Corporation (BHC), then Westland ), hence other manufacturers' use of alternative names to describe
4860-420: The pilot and co-pilot with only a slight reduction in hover height proportional to the load carried. The SR.N1 did not have any skirt, using instead the peripheral air principle that Cockerell had patented. It was later found that the craft's hover height was improved by the addition of a skirt of flexible fabric or rubber around the hovering surface to contain the air. The skirt was an independent invention made by
4941-614: The possibility of establishing a permanent service is still under consideration. Since the Channel routes abandoned hovercraft, and pending any reintroduction on the Scottish route, the United Kingdom's only public hovercraft service is that operated by Hovertravel between Southsea ( Portsmouth ) and Ryde on the Isle of Wight . From the 1960s, several commercial lines were operated in Japan, without much success. In Japan
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#17327908386735022-575: The rail and replace it with a "virtual" one that is read by sensors on the vehicle without the need for any mechanical connection. AGT systems, and the personal rapid transit concept (or "dial-a-cab"), became a major area of research after the publication of the HUD reports in 1968, and subsequent funding by the US Department of Transportation . Political support was particularity strong in states with large concentrations of aerospace companies; with
5103-505: The river is beginning to freeze to minimize damage to the river ice surface. The hovercraft is able to operate during the freeze-up period; however, this could potentially break the ice and create hazards for villagers using their snowmobiles along the river during the early winter. In 2006, Kvichak Marine Industries of Seattle , US built, under licence, a cargo/passenger version of the Hoverwork BHT130 . Designated 'Suna-X', it
5184-567: The services were subsequently stopped due to the lack of sufficient water transport infrastructure . In Finland, small hovercraft are widely used in maritime rescue and during the rasputitsa ("mud season") as archipelago liaison vehicles. In England, hovercraft of the Burnham-on-Sea Area Rescue Boat (BARB) are used to rescue people from thick mud in Bridgwater Bay . Avon Fire and Rescue Service became
5265-425: The sheet of fast-moving air presented a sort of physical barrier to the air on either side of it. This effect, which he called the "momentum curtain", could be used to trap high-pressure air in the area inside the curtain, producing a high-pressure plenum that earlier examples had to build up with considerably more airflow. In theory, only a small amount of active airflow would be needed to create lift and much less than
5346-450: The size of the vehicle, so the guideway was often separate from the running surface. Typical solutions used a single light rail embedded in the ground or attached to the guideway wall, with a wheel or slider that was pressed against the guideway rail and steered the running wheels through a linkage. A suspension-like system is needed to smooth out the imperfections in the guideway and provide a comfortable ride. More modern systems can eliminate
5427-462: The size of vehicle needed to transport a given number of passengers per hour also decreases, which, in turn, decreases the infrastructure needed to support these smaller vehicles. Everything from track supports to station size can be reduced, with similar reductions in capital costs. Additionally, the lighter vehicles allow for a wider variety of suspension methods, from conventional steel wheels, to rubber tires, air cushion vehicles and maglevs . Since
5508-428: The skirt design demonstrated a problem; it was originally expected that pressure applied to the outside of the skirt would bend it inward, and the now-displaced airflow would cause it to pop back out. What actually happened is that the slight narrowing of the distance between the walls resulted in less airflow, which in turn led to more air loss under that section of the skirt. The fuselage above this area would drop due to
5589-511: The smoothness required for operation. By the 1950s, Ford showed a number of toy models of cars using the system, but mainly proposed its use as a replacement for wheels on trains, with the Levapads running close to the surface of existing rails. In 1931, Finnish aero engineer Toivo J. Kaario began designing a developed version of a vessel using an air cushion and built a prototype Pintaliitäjä ('Surface Glider'), in 1937. His design included
5670-440: The suburbs of larger ones, which often suffer the same gridlock problems as larger cities. Buses could be easily introduced in these areas, but did not offer the capacities or speeds that made them an attractive alternative to car ownership. Cars drive directly from origin to destination, while buses generally work on a hub-and-spoke model that can increase trip times. AGT offered a solution that fit between these extremes. Much of
5751-462: The system has to be automated in order to reduce the headways enough to be worthwhile, by automating the steering as well the operational costs can also be reduced compared to crewed vehicles. One key problem in an automated system is the steering system's negotiation of turns in the right-of-way. The simplest solution is to use a rigid guideway, like conventional rails or steel rollercoasters . For lighter AGTs, these solutions were over-specified given
5832-407: The vehicles. There have been many attempts to understand the principles of high air pressure below hulls and wings. Hovercraft are unique in that they can lift themselves while still, differing from ground effect vehicles and hydrofoils that require forward motion to create lift. The first mention, in the historical record of the concepts behind surface-effect vehicles, to use the term hovering
5913-642: The world, and today they are relatively universal at larger airports, often connecting terminals with distant long-term parking lots. Similar systems were also a fixture of a number of amusement parks, notably the Walt Disney World Monorail System and the Toronto Zoo Domain Ride . The Getty Center in Los Angeles uses a unique vertically oriented AGT to bring visitors from a parking lot off Interstate 405 to
5994-436: Was applied to the outside of this design, air pressure in the rest of the skirt forced the inner wall to move in as well, keeping the channel open. Although there was some deformation of the curtain, the airflow within the skirt was maintained and the lift remained relatively steady. Over time, this design evolved into individual extensions over the bottom of the slots in the skirt, known as "fingers". Through these improvements,
6075-548: Was asked to slow down a little. On examination of the craft afterwards, it was found that she had been dished in the bow due to excessive speed, damage that was never allowed to be repaired, and was from then on affectionately referred to as the 'Royal Dent'. Testing quickly demonstrated that the idea of using a single engine to provide air for both the lift curtain and forward flight required too many trade-offs. A Blackburn Marboré turbojet for forward thrust and two large vertical rudders for directional control were added, producing
6156-478: Was by Swedish scientist Emanuel Swedenborg in 1716. The shipbuilder John Isaac Thornycroft patented an early design for an air cushion ship / hovercraft in the 1870s, but suitable, powerful, engines were not available until the 20th century. In 1915, the Austrian Dagobert Müller von Thomamühl (1880–1956) built the world's first "air cushion" boat ( Luftkissengleitboot ). Shaped like
6237-422: Was envisioned to revolutionise the transportation system, with personal hovering self-driving cars that could speed up to 2,400 km/h (1,500 mph). The idea of the modern hovercraft is most often associated with Christopher Cockerell , a British mechanical engineer. Cockerell's group was the first to develop the use of a ring of air for maintaining the cushion, the first to develop a successful skirt, and
6318-464: Was once owned and operated by a subsidiary of the City of Osaka, Osaka Port Transport System Co., Ltd. [ ja ] . The operation of the section was later merged into Osaka Municipal Transportation Bureau itself to increase the number of passengers by reducing fares and simplifying the previously separate fare structures. All stations are in Suminoe-ku, Osaka . As of 1 April 2019,
6399-458: Was powered by a 450 hp Alvis Leonides engine powering a vertical fan in the middle of the craft. In addition to providing the lift air, a portion of the airflow was bled off into two channels on either side of the craft, which could be directed to provide thrust. In normal operation this extra airflow was directed rearward for forward thrust and blew over two large vertical rudders that provided directional control. For low-speed manoeuvrability,
6480-609: Was powered by two turboprop aero-engines and driven by propellers . During the 1960s, Saunders-Roe developed several larger designs that could carry passengers, including the SR.N2 , which operated across the Solent , in 1962, and later the SR.N6 , which operated across the Solent from Southsea to Ryde on the Isle of Wight for many years. In 1963 the SR.N2 was used in experimental service between Weston-super-Mare and Penarth under
6561-647: Was the world's first to incorporate an AGT system as an inter-terminal connector in 1971. Its landside/airside set up allows the airport to increase capacity without spreading out. The LTV Airtrans was another early AGT systems which was installed at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and went into operation in January 1975 (later replaced by the DFW Skylink system in 2005). Similar systems followed at airports around
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