AIRA02007V - Airfix 1/72 SR-N1 Hovercraft - WWHP113323

AIRA02007V - Airfix 1/72 SR-N1 Hovercraft - WWHP113323

Preowned, Original seal, Box damaged

The hovercraft principle was worked out by Christopher Cockerell, and in 1957 the Ministry of Supply sponsored a programme of assessment and research carried out by Saunders-Roe. The result was the SR-N1, an experimental machine with room for a pilot and observer, though on demonstration it once carried 20 fully equipped soldiers. Powered by a 450 hp Alvis Leonides engine, it weighed nearly four tons, measured 30 feet by 24 feet, hovered about 13 inches clear of the surface, and managed roughly 25 knots. In July 1959 it crossed the English Channel, fifty years to the day after Blériot's flight. This is Airfix's Vintage Classics reissue of the 1959 tooling, with 1965 Roy Cross artwork.

Box contents:

• 46 parts moulded in styrene
• Hull, skirt, and deck structures
• Central lift fan duct and swivelling exhaust nozzles
• Cabin with clear glazing
• Crew figures
• Waterslide decal sheet for Saunders-Roe SR.N1, National Research Development Corporation, English Channel, June 1959
• Illustrated multilingual assembly and painting instructions with Humbrol colour references
• Finished model measures 135 mm long and 105 mm wide