I'm crazy about my two person hovercraft, but my first love remains the larger machines and I'm always happy to get new information about any hovercraft with a hover height that gets measured in feet rather than inches. I was recently delighted to find a book which gave me a lot of new information on large hovercrafts and what's more, the book *is currently on sale*.That's right -- first James Perozzo's excellent new book, and now this one too! Just as James' book gives a complete description of the world of build-it-yourself hovercrafting, this new book gives a complete description of the world of large hovercrafts. Well, at least, the large hovercrafts built by Westland/British Hovercraft Corp, which include the SRN series, the BH-7, and the AP1.88. The book, by Raymond L. Wheeler, is titled "From River to Sea" and is subtitled "The Maritime Heritage of Sam Saunders" It was first published by Cross Publishing in 1993. ISBN: 1 873295 05 7 (Hardback) Raymond Wheeler served as the Chief Designer of British Hovercraft Company, later served as Technical Director, Business Development director, and Systems Support Director... As a result, we get a behind the scenes account of the Company's design and testing of its various hovercraft. The book includes the most interesting hovercraft photos I've ever seen. We've all seen the glamour shots in Janes Surface Skimmers and in introductory hovercraft books. This book shows hovercrafts the way engineers at the company saw them. Here's a very partial list of some of the cool photos in the book (unfortunately all are in black and white): Christopher Cockerell filming his model hovering over water, the SRN1 under construction, first hover and first sea trials of the N1, the N1 passing the Queen Mary on Press Day, the N1 carrying 20 marines, the N1 crossing the channel - Christopher Cockerell can be seen prone hanging on for dear life on the bow amidst the spray acting as ballast!!!!!! SRN1 Mark IV alongside the SRN2 -- very neat photo showing relative sizes, a great photo of the N2 hovering on concrete -- you can see clearly underneath all the way around, shot of the N2's cockpit, SRN3 operating with marines -- interesting details of the loading door are visible, N3 with SRN5 in rough seas -- again interesting size comparison, N3 operating in displacement mode with retractable water screws (I had no idea it even had water screws!), N5 on water with 20 marines inside and 20 outside -- overloading tests, cockpit shot of the N5, a great close up of the weird-looking stern skirts on the N5 and N6 (I think many people looking at photos of the N5/N6 don't realize what a complicated set of skirts the crafts have -- the pictures and diagrams in the book makes it more clear), four N6s and the N3 in formation, pictures of how they failed to destroy the N3 after blowing up mines right under it (it was damaged but returned to base under its own power), many more interesting shots, great closeups of various engineering details, and photos of the SRN4, the BH-7, and the AP1.88..... Oh, and there are 3-d cut-away schematic diagrams of each craft -- these and the construction photos answered a lot of my questions about how the beasties were put together. Also, to my surprise, Cushioncraft's CC-7 "the Whispering Hovercraft" is covered -- BHC bought Cushioncraft Ltd and oversaw the production of the final three CC-7s..... In addition to the pictures, there are great stories. Here's one about the SRN1: "Early in the sea trials of SRN1 it was soon found that the bow tended to bury itself in head seas particularly in shallow water. A rudimentary bow structure was added to prevent this happening just before the craft left Cowles for the Channel crossing. In December 1959 the company was honored by a visit from the Duke of Edinburgh, perhaps encouraged by his Uncle, Lord Louis Mountbatten, to see this wonderful new invention for himself. Naturally he wished to helm the craft himself and he drove the craft down a fairly strong Westerly wind past Osborne Bay at a speed approaching 35 knots and was, apparently, very impressed. On return to base it was found that the plating of the bow had been 'dished'. This minor damage was never allowed to be repaired and was affectionately known by both works and design staff as the Royal Dent." Here's another story about the SRN1, this one about getting it ready to show it to the press for the first time (and about the very first sea trial!): "During the initial trials a number of development problems occurred as is usual in a new engineering project. The engine cooling was inadequate; the control valves fluttered but the worst problem was in the propulsion ducts which were unmanageable. The simpler flap vanes were removed and far larger gate valves were installed in the propulsion ducts in their place. It still proved possible with the frantic expenditure of much physical and mental effort to present the craft to an astonished press on June 11th." "After seeing a model of the Nl perform the full scale craft was maneuvered slowly on the Columbine slipway with just under one foot of hover height and rested back on its landing pads. This was intended to be the end of the show but the press demanded to see the craft at sea. She was towed out of the harbor by the company launch and then in a cloud of spray she set off down the Solent and with amazing good luck was photographed passing the 'Queen Mary'." And I won't give it away, but one of the best stories in the book concerns a hoverlloyd SRN4 and a bomb! I fully recommend this book to anyone interested in large hovercrafts. I do have one caution: only the last third of the book is about hovercrafts! The book is actually about all the activities of the company founded by Sam Saunders (the "S" in SRN), and the first two thirds of the book concern the various boats the Saunders Roe company produced prior to 1959. But no matter -- the last third of the book is so fascinating it stands on its own. -----------how to order------------------------------- The book is in print in the U.K. I didn't have any luck trying to order the book through North American bookstores but I found the book for sale for 25 pounds (about 39 US dollars) at: The Book Shop: International Direct Mail Services 20 High Street, Princes Risborough Bucks England HP27 0AX Tel: +44 (0)1844 346876 Fax: +44 (0)1844 346876 Email: bookhc@bic.eunet.co.uk WWW: http://www.bookshop.co.uk/ Contact them for payment arrangements and over-seas shipping charges.