Air cushion ship - Air cushion ship

Japanese: エアクッション船 - エアクッションせん

It is commonly known as a hovercraft, a trademark name for a type developed in the UK. It is a vehicle that propels itself slightly by blowing air downward, creating an air layer (air cushion) between the bottom of the aircraft and the running surface, and is propelled by a propeller, jet, or the horizontal component of buoyancy. It is also called ACV (short for air cushion vehicle), GEM (short for grout effect machine), surface effect vessel, etc. Depending on how the air cushion is made, there are plenum chamber types, which use a fan to pressurize air into the inside of a shallow, upside-down bowl-shaped aircraft, increasing the internal pressure to lift it up, and annular jet types, which blow air along the periphery of the bottom of the vessel to create an air curtain. The former is slightly less efficient but has a simple structure and is lightweight, so it is used for small sports, while the latter is more efficient but has a more complex structure. Large transport aircraft are equipped with flexible skirts around the body to improve performance, and the type equipped with this flexible skirt all around is generally called a hovercraft. Most of them are propelled by gas turbine-driven propellers. Air cushion boats have the advantage of being able to travel at high speeds of over 100 km/h because there is almost no friction resistance with the running surface, but they have many problems with steering, braking, noise, etc. for road use, so they are mainly used for water. The founder was C. Cockrell of the UK. Research and development was actively carried out in the UK, and they were the first to be put into practical use, with regular service beginning in 1962, and a route across the English Channel by a large hovercraft carrying 500 people has also been opened. The first regular service in Japan was in July 1969, between Gamagori and Toba.
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Source : Heibonsha Encyclopedia About MyPedia Information

Japanese:

英国で開発された型式の商標名ホバークラフトの名で一般には知られる。空気を下方に噴出して機体をわずかに浮上させ，機体底面と走行面との間に空気層（エアクッション）を介在させ，プロペラ，ジェット，あるいは浮揚力の水平分力で推進する乗物。ACV（air cushion vehicleの略），ジェム（GEM，grourd effect machineの略），サーフェス・エフェクト船などとも呼ばれる。エアクッションの作り方によって，浅い椀(わん)を伏せたような形の機体の内面にファンで空気を圧送し，その内圧を高めて浮上するプレナム・チェンバ型と，船底周辺に沿って空気を噴出して空気のカーテンを作るアニュラージェット型がある。前者は効率はやや劣るが構造が簡単で軽量なので，小型のスポーツ用などに使用，後者は効率はよいが構造が複雑となる。機体周辺にフレキシブルスカートを付けて性能を向上させたものが大型の輸送用機体に使われているが，このフレキシブルスカートを全周にわたって装備した型が，一般にホバークラフトと呼ばれるもの。推進はガスタービン駆動のプロペラによるものが最も多い。エアクッション船は走行面との摩擦抵抗がほとんどないので，時速100km以上の高速で運航できる長所があるが，路上用としては操向，制動，騒音などに難点が多く，もっぱら水上走行用である。創始者は英国のC.コックレル。英国で盛んに研究開発が進められ，実用化も最も早く1962年に定期運航を開始，500人搭乗の大型ホバークラフトによるドーバー海峡横断航路も開かれている。日本では1969年７月蒲郡〜鳥羽に定期就航したのが最初。
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