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"Retire? Yeah, I want to die with my head in the typewriter. That's my idea of retirement."
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![]() Obviously, Gibson did not invent the hovercraft; but I like his description.
The first known design for vehicle using an air cushion was by the Swedish designer and philosopher, Emmanual Swedenborg, in 1716. The craft looked like a small boat turned upside down. The operator of this vehicle would "flap" a pair of oar-like air scoops, forcing compressed air beneath the hull. However, the inventor soon realized that the energy requirements were greater than a person could provide.
The name and concept of hovercraft were created by Sir Christopher Cockrell; the first working hovercraft was built by him in 1959. Hovercraft are today in common use; however, dreams of hovercars and other vehicles never came to fruition, owing to the excessive power requirements of getting a vehicle to "hover" on anything but the smoothest surface. Read more at The Hovercraft History and Hovercraft Museum.
For an amusing look at an intelligent (?) hovercraft, see the entry for hover-limo - hovercraft for hire from Steel Beach by John Varley. Comment/Join this discussion ( 2 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This | Additional
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