Hovercraft - Southsea to Ryde (Photography)

Just a few old photographs of the Island Express which used to operate between Southsea on the mainland UK across to the Isle of Wight. This particular hovercraft is British Hovercraft Corporation AP1-88 and was in operation between 2002 and 2017. I think these photographs were taken in 2004 on my old Pentax film SLR. The photos are slightly grainy for my liking. I don't recall what film they were taken on but I'm guessing 400. The photos were taken at Ryde.

I used to love watching these things in action as the noise is somewhat like an aircraft except you can get far closer than at any airport. I imagine they take some skill to pilot. This particular model has four 600 HP diesel engines which are used for both propulsion and lift and the craft can operate at speeds up to 50 knots (around 57 mph).

Here's the Island Express in action thanks to Andy Preston on YouTube.