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448:, a wall of moving air that would limit the amount of air that would leak out. This meant that the same cushion of high-pressure air could be maintained by a much smaller engine; and for the first time, a craft could be lifted completely out of the water. Cockrell tested his designs in the Broadland village of Somerleyton, Suffolk.
481:
He therefore approached the
British Government with a view to interesting them in possible defence applications. The leaders of the defence groups were not interested in providing funding and put the idea of the hovercraft on the government's secret list. Being on the secret list stopped Cockerell
428:
After
Cockerell left the Marconi Company, he bought Ripplecraft Ltd., a small Norfolk boat and caravan hire company, with a legacy left by his father-in-law. The firm made little money, and Cockerell began to think how the craft could be made to go faster. He was led to earlier work by the
501:(Saunders-Roe – Nautical One) and was manufactured under licence from the NRDC. On 11 June 1959, the SR.N1 was first shown to the public, which was capable of carrying four men at a speed of 28 miles per hour. Weeks later, it was shipped over to France. It successfully crossed the
440:, grew out of this work. It occurred to him that if the entire craft were lifted from the water, the craft would effectively have no drag. This, he conjectured, would give the craft the ability to attain a much higher maximum speed than could be achieved by the boats of the time.
520:
In
January 1959, the NRDC formed a subsidiary called Hovercraft Development Ltd. Cockerell was the Technical Director and the company controlled the patents which it used to license several private sector firms to manufacture craft under the registered trademark of Hovercraft.
443:
Cockerell's theory was that instead of just pumping air under the craft, as
Thornycroft had, if the air were to be instead channelled to form a narrow jet around the perimeter of the craft, the moving air would form a
647:, marks the location of White Cottage, where Cockerell lived and worked. The Cottage has been demolished, but the garage still stands. The plaque was erected by Friends of East Cowes with financial support from the
478:. Cockerell had found it impossible to interest the private sector in developing his idea, as both the aircraft and the shipbuilding industries saw it as lying outside their core business.
463:
was found to have potential, but the idea took some years to develop, and he was forced to sell personal possessions to finance his research. By 1955, he had built a working model from
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Cockerell was awarded £5,000 by the
British Government of the 1960s, the only practical official recognition of the value of his work, though he was given a knighthood.
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In later life, Cockerell developed many other improvements to the hovercraft, and invented various other applications for the air cushion principle, such as the
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In later life, Cockerell developed the
Cockerell Raft, a wave power hydraulic device which may have implications in the future for electricity generation.
386:, and soon afterwards he married Margaret Elinor Belsham (4 September 1913 – September 1996). They lived at the now Grade II listed Gay Bowers Cottage in
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It remained classified until 1958, upon news of similar developments on the continent, it was declassified, and
Cockerell was introduced to the NRDC (
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Wheeler, R. L. (2001). "Sir
Christopher Sydney Cockerell, C.B.E., R.D.I. 4 June 1910 -- 1 June 1999: Elected F.R.S. 1986".
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in 1934 to study radio and electronics, he went to work at the Radio
Research Company. In 1935, he went to work at the
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After the war he contributed to the development of several sophisticated pieces of equipment, including
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company, in which a small vessel had been partially raised out of the water by a small engine.
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to read mechanical engineering. He later returned to
Cambridge to study radio and electronics.
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318:(4 June 1910 – 1 June 1999) was an English engineer, best known as the inventor of the
873:"Christopher Cockerell, 88, Inventor, Dies; Father of Hovercraft and Marconi Devices"
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924:"British Hovercraft Corporation SRN4 (Mountbatten Class):: jameshovercraft.co.uk"
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760:(44): 28. 1959 – via W. H. Allen Engineering Association Document Archive.
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on his death in 1999 where it was reassembled and is now on show to the public.
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on 25 July 1959, 50 years to the day after the historic crossing by
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He tested his theories using a vacuum cleaner and two tin cans. His
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Cockerell's hovercraft model from 1955 in the Science Museum, London
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772:"Sir Christopher Sydney COCKERELL + Lady Margaret Elinor BELSHAM"
551:, Hampshire on 1 June 1999, three days before his 89th birthday.
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wood and had filed his first patent for the hovercraft, No.
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He began his career as a post graduate pupil working for
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The History and Register of Gresham's School, 1555–1954
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Lidell, Charles Lawrence Scruton & Douglas, A. B.,
708:"Sir Christopher Cockerell - St Faith's School Website"
842:"Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh: Honorary Graduates"
946:, Hovercraft-Museum.org. Accessed 5 January be 2023.
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Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society
897:Liubov Shilova, Alexander Solovyev (January 1999).
49:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
803:, historicengland.org.uk. Accessed 3 January 2022.
628:was named after its inventor. It was operated by
350:. Christopher attended the preparatory school of
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654:Cockerell's workshop, including his left-handed
412:technology, and the first equipment used by the
397:, he led a research team in the Marconi hut at
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346:. His mother was the illustrator and designer
1000:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
16:English engineer, inventor of the Hovercraft
944:Information about Sir Christopher Cockerell
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751:"Association of Past and Present Students"
493:for the first full-scale hovercraft. This
378:from 1931 to 1933. After returning to the
342:, having previously been the secretary of
547:After a short illness, Cockerell died at
487:National Research Development Corporation
109:Learn how and when to remove this message
636:) across the channel from 1972 to 1991.
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450:
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815:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
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230: 1937; died 1996)
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401:and worked on many systems, including
593:for his development of the Hovercraft
613:Cockerell's workshop reassembled at
436:Cockerell's greatest invention, the
47:adding citations to reliable sources
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985:People educated at Gresham's School
871:Kaufman, Michael T. (4 June 1999).
831:(Bath, Parragon Books, 2002) p. 305
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1015:Howard N. Potts Medal recipients
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307:Sir Christopher Sydney Cockerell
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990:Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge
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818:(Oxford University Press, 2004)
600:for his services to engineering
482:from making his design public.
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34:needs additional citations for
1020:20th-century British engineers
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354:. Christopher was educated at
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812:"Cockerell, Christopher", in
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995:Fellows of the Royal Society
899:"Cockerel[l]'s Raft"
639:A plaque in Cockerell Rise,
348:Florence Kingsford Cockerell
7:
585:Fellow of the Royal Society
372:W. H. Allen, Sons & Co.
250:Fellow of the Royal Society
10:
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928:www.jameshovercraft.co.uk
712:St Faith's School Website
660:Lowestoft Maritime Museum
615:Lowestoft Maritime Museum
565:
497:craft was designated the
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139:Memorial to Cockerell at
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326:Early life and education
380:University of Cambridge
58:"Christopher Cockerell"
694:10.1098/rsbm.2001.0005
626:GH2008 Sir Christopher
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530:Heriot-Watt University
524:Cockerell received an
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330:Cockerell was born in
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288:Mechanical Engineering
980:People from Cambridge
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591:Elmer A. Sperry Award
573:Howard N. Potts Medal
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360:Peterhouse, Cambridge
358:. He matriculated at
338:, was curator of the
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258:Elmer A. Sperry Award
196:Peterhouse, Cambridge
127:Christopher Cockerell
43:improve this article
1010:Royal Medal winners
801:Gay Bower's Cottage
658:, was given to the
393:During his time in
390:from 1940 to 1951.
758:The Allen Magazine
618:
526:Honorary Doctorate
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340:Fitzwilliam Museum
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970:English inventors
620:In his life, the
571:1965 Awarded the
302:Cockerell in 1976
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279:Scientific career
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848:. Archived from
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714:. Archived from
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418:Alexandra Palace
336:Sydney Cockerell
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269:Albert Medal
175:(1999-06-01)
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99:January 2023
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41:Please help
36:verification
33:
965:1999 deaths
960:1910 births
882:17 December
877:NYTimes.com
776:tolliss.com
624:hovercraft
431:Thornycroft
262:Royal Medal
173:1 June 1999
158:4 June 1910
975:Hovercraft
954:Categories
666:References
641:East Cowes
634:Hoverspeed
630:Hoverlloyd
558:Other work
542:hovertrain
536:Later life
461:hypothesis
438:hovercraft
424:Hovercraft
395:Chelmsford
352:St Faith's
320:hovercraft
206:Hovercraft
154:1910-06-04
69:newspapers
786:4 January
532:in 1971.
495:prototype
470:GB 854211
332:Cambridge
186:, England
184:Hampshire
164:, England
162:Cambridge
722:28 April
598:Knighted
505:between
238:Children
908:28 July
856:7 April
632:(later
515:Bleriot
399:Writtle
376:Bedford
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83:scholar
688:: 67.
566:Awards
507:Calais
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285:Fields
272:(1966)
265:(1966)
246:Awards
212:Spouse
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754:(PDF)
656:lathe
622:SR.N4
596:1969
549:Hythe
528:from
511:Dover
499:SR.N1
465:balsa
403:radar
226:(
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181:Hythe
90:JSTOR
76:books
910:2022
884:2018
858:2016
788:2012
724:2016
509:and
170:Died
148:Born
62:news
690:doi
579:CBE
416:in
414:BBC
374:of
316:FRS
313:RDI
310:CBE
254:RDI
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