Hovercraft

The teams in this programme are given the task of constructing a remote-controlled mini-hovercraft using the contents of a garden shed. Which group of engineers will win? The guest judge is pioneer hovercraft engineer Ray Wheeler. An early concept for the hovercraft was evolved by British engineer Sir John Thornycroft in the 1870s. He looked into reducing a ship's drag by introducing a concave hull that allowed for air to pass between the craft and the water. The idea was developed further by Sir Christopher Cockerell, who invented the cross-Channel hovercraft, which first launched in 1959.