Hovercraft

Hi Rod222

The Ajman jam jar lable shows a French N300 hovercraft. The ships and hovercraft set was issued in 2 mini sheets 210 x 147 mm and 82 x 100mm
with stamps 46 x 32mm and 17 x 23mm. I tried to show these sheets but they wont be accepted because they are more than 90KB.

Other Cinderella's you might like are here.
The Sao Tome & Principe mini sheet (which shows Famous Bridges of the World is 128KB so too big but the single hovercraft stamp shows an Australian-built Mustang craft. There is no logic sa to why the background shows the Oresund Bridge which links Denmark and Sweden! This craft has no connection with the area, though 3 AP1-88 craft (similar to the craft on your Madagascar stamp) operated for SAS linking Copenhagen and Malmo airports until the bridge was built.

Have you noticed on the Madagascar stamp that it seems to show two different values; 300FMG and 60ARIARY? The craft is UK-built AP1.88/100-008 "North Wind" which was operated by the Northern Shipping Company in the far north of Russia on round trips from Archangel. The trips lasted for 2 to 3 days. Because of the length and remoteness of the route, a satellite communications system was installed. Seating in the passenger saloon was reduced from 100 to 64 seats which allowed crew accomodation and a galley was incorporated. It was sold to Cuba in 2003/4 and had the cold weather stuff removed and A/C installed!. Sold in 2006 to Hoverlines International for a service in Bahamas and renamed 'ACV Falcon'. I'm not sure but I think it is one of 5 or 6 used AP1.88 craft currently in the UK for refurb and resale.

The other mini sheet is from Guinea Bissau and shows, what they call, Hydrofoils. Top right stamp shows an SR N4 cross-Channel craft (UK-France) and the bottom left shows the first man carrying craft - the SR N1. The SR N1 was a test bed for the hovercraft theory and was shipped to France for the return to Dover on the 60th Anniversary of Bleriot's first crossing by air (25 July 1959). The Guinea Bisau stamps were available in single stamp sheetlet and a mini sheet with one stamp (not on the mini sheet) showing a Russian-built hydrofoil of Greek flag, but the surround shows an SR N4 and a Japanese MV-PP 5 hovercraft.

I hope you are still awake and I haven't bored you!

Regards from a sunny (for now) Wirral, UK

Ken

Not bored :)
Thanks, but will read again on the morrow.
(PS I have cinderellas from the Wirral Scout groups.

By the Way Ken,
you are new here, so probably not obvious,
but SCF is a fantastic searchable database.

By you posting two headings or topics under "hovercraft"
you have fragmented a very valuable knowledge source,
you may wish to reply in future under the original heading

I am not upbraiding you :) just friendly guidance.
Look forward to more posts from you.


also: please note Bobby's Image resizer! a great way to get those large images down to 90Kb ! ;)

even more :)

I meant to ask you, something I have always pondered,
how does the energy consumption of a hovercraft rate
against a normal diesel driven boat?
Hovercrafts seem to me to be huge energy users? comments?

The dual currency is the local currency and FMG=Franc Malagache.

Hi Rod222.
The SR N4 craft had 4 engines which EACH used 1 ton of fuel per hour!! OK when they were built but totally uneconomic these days. The last 2 craft were sold and are still in store at the Hovercraft Museum (www.hovercraft-museum.org). They will never operate again. They are privately owned but nobody knows what will happen to them. Diesel craft are being built by Griffon Hoverwork in the UK and have been supplied to the UK Military and others (ie India, Sweden etc). Quieter and cheaper to operate.
No idea what the resizer is but I will look into it another time. 10.50pm Friday now so time for bed!
Thanks for your interest.
Ken

Thanks Ken,

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