Editing Hovercraft (section)

===Early efforts===
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 vehicle]]s and [[hydrofoil]]s 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'' was by Swedish scientist [[Emanuel Swedenborg]] in 1716.<ref>{{citation |title=House of Commons Debates: Hovercraft Bill |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1968/may/16/hovercraft-bill |url-status=live |work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |volume=764 |at=cc1479-522 |date=1968-05-16 |access-date=2012-05-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121127082737/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1968/may/16/hovercraft-bill |archive-date=2012-11-27}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite news |title=BBC ON THIS DAY - 11 - 1959: Hovercraft marks new era in transport |date=11 June 1959 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/11/newsid_4333000/4333329.stm |url-status=live |publisher=[[BBC News]] |access-date=2007-07-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080106211645/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/11/newsid_4333000/4333329.stm |archive-date=2008-01-06}}</ref>

[[File:Pörtschach Werzerstrand Luftkissengleitboot Leadership 22092016 4503.jpg|thumb|Luftkissengleitboot replica]]

In 1915, the Austrian [[Dagobert Müller von Thomamühl]] (1880–1956) built the world's first "air cushion" boat ({{lang|de|Luftkissengleitboot}}). Shaped like 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 a fast [[torpedo boat]], the {{lang|de|Versuchsgleitboot}} had a top speed of over {{convert|32|kn|km/h|lk=in}}. 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Technic - Austro-Hungarian Hovercraft - The Development |url=http://homepages.fh-giessen.de/~hg6339/data/ah/minor-crafts/1915_ah-gleitboot/tec_versuchsgleitboot-1.htm |url-status=dead |publisher=Homepages.fh-giessen.de |date=1915-03-26 |access-date=2012-05-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071009235953/http://homepages.fh-giessen.de/~hg6339/data/ah/minor-crafts/1915_ah-gleitboot/tec_versuchsgleitboot-1.htm |archive-date=2007-10-09}}</ref>

The theoretical grounds for motion over an air layer were constructed by [[Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky]] in 1926 and 1927.<ref>{{citation |last=Tsiolkovskii |first=Konstantin |title=Friction and resistance of air |publisher=personal archive published by the [[Russian Academy of Sciences]] (in author's own handwriting) |pages=[http://www.ras.ru/CArchive/pageimages/555/1_013/054.jpg 55] and [http://www.ras.ru/CArchive/pageimages/555/1_013/055.jpg 56] |language=ru}}</ref><ref name=flightint>"{{cite journal |title=Russia and the Ground-effect Vehicle |url=https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1962/1962%20-%200515.html |url-status=live |journal=[[Flight International]] |date=1962-04-05 |access-date=2015-10-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151005220008/https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1962/1962%20-%200515.html |archive-date=2015-10-05}}</ref>

In 1929, Andrew Kucher of [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]] began experimenting with 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 [[caster]]s and wheels in factories and warehouses, where the concrete floors offered 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.<ref name="cars that fly">{{cite magazine |url=http://blog.modernmechanix.com/cars-that-fly/ |title=Cars that Fly |magazine=Modern Mechanix |date=October 1959 |pages=92–95 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160129112314/http://blog.modernmechanix.com/cars-that-fly/ |archive-date=2016-01-29}}</ref>

[[File:NJAHOF GlideMobile.JPG|thumb|Charles Fletcher's Glidemobile in the [[Aviation Hall of Fame and Museum of New Jersey]]]]

In 1931, Finnish aero engineer Toivo J. Kaario began designing a developed version of a vessel using an air cushion and built a prototype {{lang|fi|Pintaliitäjä}} ('Surface Glider'), in 1937.<ref>{{cite web |title=TamPub |url=http://tutkielmat.uta.fi/pdf/gradu01659.pdf |url-status=live |work=uta.fi |access-date=2010-01-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120326014315/http://tutkielmat.uta.fi/pdf/gradu01659.pdf |archive-date=2012-03-26}}</ref> His design included 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 {{lang|de|Versuchsgleitboot}}. Levkov designed and built a number of similar craft during the 1930s, and his L-5 fast-attack boat reached {{convert|70|kn|km/h}} in testing. However, the start of [[World War II]] put an end to his development work.<ref>{{cite web |title=Судно на воздушной подушке |trans-title=Hovercraft |publisher=[[Great Soviet Encyclopedia]] |language=ru |url=http://bse.sci-lib.com/article107392.html |access-date=2013-05-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814063710/http://bse.sci-lib.com/article107392.html |archive-date=2011-08-14 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPOwRA2xRBc |title=Первый боевой корабль на воздушной подушке, советский торпедный катер Л-5 |trans-title=The first air-cushion warship, the Soviet torpedo boat L-5 |via=YouTube |year=1940 |access-date=2017-11-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190510163502/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPOwRA2xRBc |archive-date=2019-05-10 |url-status=live}}</ref>

During World War II, an American engineer, [[Charles Joseph Fletcher|Charles Fletcher]], invented a walled air cushion vehicle, the ''Glidemobile''. Because the project was classified by the U.S. government, Fletcher could not file a patent.<ref>{{citation |title=Inventor of the week: Christopher Cockerell |url=http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/cockerell.html |publisher=MIT |date=August 2007 |access-date=2012-04-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120613034314/http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/cockerell.html |archive-date=2012-06-13}}</ref>

[[File:Curtis-wright-gem-2500.jpg|thumb|[[Curtiss-Wright]] Model 2500 Air Car, late 1950s]]

In April 1958, [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]] engineers demonstrated the Glide-air, a {{convert|3|ft|m|0|adj=mid|spell=on|disp=flip}} model of a wheel-less vehicle that speeds on a thin film of air only 76.2 μm ({{frac|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 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 {{convert|1000|mi|km|disp=flip}}".<ref name="cars that fly"/>

In 1959, [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]] displayed a hovercraft [[concept car]], the [[Ford Levacar Mach I]].
<ref name= the-engineer2019>{{cite news  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190618154305/https://www.theengineer.co.uk/floating-new-idea/ |archive-date=June 18, 2019 |url= https://www.theengineer.co.uk/floating-new-idea/| title= June 1960: Floating a new idea| first= Jason| last= Ford |date= 18 June 2019 | work= [[The Engineer (UK magazine)|The Engineer]] | via= theengineer.co.uk | access-date= 11 May 2020}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite news  |title=Locomotion |url=https://s3-eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/centaur-wp/theengineer/prod/content/uploads/2019/06/18150539/Page-45-Image-on-930.pdf  | work= [[The Engineer (UK magazine)|The Engineer]] | via= theengineer.co.uk  |access-date=4 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503235645/https://s3-eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/centaur-wp/theengineer/prod/content/uploads/2019/06/18150539/Page-45-Image-on-930.pdf |archive-date=2022-05-03 |page=930 |date=June 3, 1960}}
</ref>

In August 1961, ''[[Popular Science]]'' reported on the Aeromobile 35B, an air-cushion vehicle (ACV) that was invented by [[William R. Bertelsen]] and was envisioned to revolutionise the transportation system, with personal hovering [[autonomous car|self-driving car]]s that could speed up to {{convert|1500|mph|km/h|abbr=on|disp=flip}}.