Hovercraft turns back due to strong winds.

[@gosportferryfan9409]

sometimes the hovercraft pilot dosent inflate the skirt fully to ride across the waves better but sometimes the wind is so strong that thy have no choice but to turn back and a few weeks before this video was published the same hovercraft lost all its rudders on one side and 1 blade snap of the other side so they probaly wanted to ruduce that from happening again hope this help you out Gosport ferry fan

[@timlong7289]

I'm only about 4 years late to comment, but there's definitely some mechanical issue there. Just after it enters the sea, as they rev up, the skirt loses inflation and she is a boat not a hovercraft. The skirt is flopping in the breeze and not supporting the craft at all. They veer to port and you can see the starboard engine is not running at full speed. It is kind of hard to really tell because of camera rolling shutter but if you look at the air currents behind the craft, the port engine is producing a strong wash but there's little to nothing coming from the starboard engine). At the point the puff of black smoke is seen, that engine suddenly spins up and the skirt fills up a bit, as they limp back to land. I think they had an engine issue and took the decision to abort (correct call in my opinion). The other hovercraft that runs through the shot is doing fine against the wind and riding high.

[@paul756uk2]

There's no mechanical issue. The craft is unable to get over its 'hump' speed. A hovercraft has to get to a certain speed before it rides above the waves. Until then it actually displaces a certain amount of water and sits lower down. It requires a lot more power to do this but because of the wind it can't reach that speed.

[@ScubaGirl68]

It looks like there was something else going wrong rather than the wind on the occasion. That black smoke from the engine might be a clue. In another video from someone else, she manages to ride much heavier seas and an easterly wind that is much stronger.

[@gosportferryfan9409]

the black smoke is the engines working harder than they should

[@ValleyRC]

It's normal for those engines to put out soot when they rev up. Every time an AP1-88 launches they belch out some black smoke but it usually shoots straight out of the back and is diffused by the fans. They were definitely having to work hard due to the weather but it is a totally normal behaviour for the engines to have black smoke when they are working hard. You'll see the same thing with diesel locomotives.

[@Snowman5646cj]

Are we sure that they aren’t just training? Is the other hovercraft in the footage the one being used for passengers. The hovercraft the video is focusing around looks to have no one on bored but crew. Could Hovertravel be taken advantage of the bad weather. Instead of wind or technical issues. Maybe it was just a demo for new crew on bored.

[@terabyte1695]

The fans at the rear can be controlled independently and the wind is so strong the hovercraft can t get going to full speed, the captains using his port engine to try and turn and the nozzles to come back in , when she comes up the ramp, the skirt looks pretty inflated to me .

[@yousefamed7753]

The 2nd fan is not working , so there is not enough power to fly over the water waves level .

[@paul756uk2]

That's to do with the frame rate of the camera.

[@CurvedGD]

Hovercraft be like: Ight, I’m out

[@SamM-oh2cx]

Even the power of mankind can’t compete with Mother Nature!

[@doveronefoxtrot4417]

Got to be mechanical failure, hence the reason the skirt lacked inflation.

[@ChannelReuploads9451]

No, did you see the other hovercraft in the Solent, coming from the isle of wight ?, it too turned around, and went back to Ryde. The Pilot can control the inflation to control the ride on the waves. If it is too inflated, and he hits a higher wave than is advised for the full inflation, coupled with the high wind, the hovercraft could flip. As was the case with the 1972 accident, the Hovercraft hit an unusually large wave, which flipped the craft..

[@tomedy_official]

Well safety is first

[@thetessellater9163]

Problem with the skirt at the back there probably caused the abort. It clearly is sitting too low in the water at the stern, better to be safe than suffer any further damage.

[@paul756uk2]

There's no issue with the skirt. The craft is unable to get over its 'hump' speed. A hovercraft has to get to a certain speed before it rides above the waves. Until then it actually displaces a certain amount of water and sits lower down. It requires a lot more power to do this but because of the wind it can't reach that speed.

[@christopherhampson265]

Lightweights !!!

[@adrianattrell7808]

IF IT CANT HOVER ....... IT CANT FLY ...... INFLATION SEEMS THE PROBLEM PLUS ENGINEDDONT LOOK RIGHT ALSO ....... BEST PLAN CARRIED OUT RETURNING SAFE

[@ozz100]

the cushion isnt fully inflated.. thats why.

[@UKWMO]

Yeah I'm with you on that one too! At least with the two new craft they should be more reliable and being more powerful and having larger propellers and ducts they should be in a better position to fight against strong winds and rough seas.

[@gosportferryfan9409]

the two new hovercraft are less power but more reliable that why they got them

[@1701_FyldeFlyer]

Mechanical issue.

[@SimonRML2456]

Definitely mechanical failure...

[@paul756uk2]

Bo there isn't a mechanical failure. The craft isn't able to reach its 'hump' speed.

[@benj_a2647]

@@paul756uk2 hi Paul - you are correct about hump speed but in this instance there was a mechanical issue that caused the craft to turn back. Winds/wave height in the video are well within limits for the craft.

[@paul756uk2]

@@benj_a2647 ok. Do you know what the issue was? The lift engines seemed to be ok

[@V7EX]

msg me!