Fifty Years of the Hovercraft

On July 25th, 1959, Cockerell and test pilot Peter Lamb successfully flew their SR-N1 machine on a cushion of air across the English Channel
Edward Miller / Getty

Changing Channel
On July 25th, 1959, Cockerell and test pilot Peter Lamb successfully flew their SR-N1 machine on a cushion of air across the English Channel from Calais, France, to Dover, England. It coincided with the fiftieth anniversary of Louis Blériot's pioneering flight across the same stretch of open water.

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