1. Now as a Mk II, this picture shows the craft on the Calais pad being readied for its return journey |
2. Underway in mid-Channel in the early days of operations |
3. Another view of the craft underway coming towards the camera |
4. An interesting shot of one of the air intakes for the lift fans on the roof of the craft |
5. The control cabin of the craft circa 1974. The large piece of equipment in the centre of the photo is the radio equipment fit ! |
6. The radar operator's station with much earlier equipment than is carried today |
7. A close up of the radar equipment |
8. Looking towards the front of the cabin, this view shows the Captain's station at the front |
9. Approaching Pegwell Bay hoverport in the height of the craft's service with Hoverlloyd |
10. Sir Christopher approaches the Pegwell Bay pad in the late 1970s |
11. Mounting the pad, the ground crew are ready to swarm in to action |
12. Finally reaching it's pad position, the engines are shut down and the craft comes to rest |
13. The crew are rotated and the craft is cleaned and refuelled ready for another journey to France |
14. A postcard showing artwork of the Mk II craft landing at Calais |
15. Now in Hoverspeed livery, this view shows the Sir Christopher mounting the pad at Calais (Hoverspeed) |
16. The front ramp is opened and the ground crew do their stuff (Hoverspeed) |
17. The craft underway passing a ship of ALA/Sealink behind (possibly at Dover) |
18. The craft underway - I've left the linked .JPG image large as this is such a great photo |
19. Taken from a Hoverspeed sales brochure, this images shows the craft on a beach at Calais |
20. From the same brochure, the craft is settled on the Calais pad not long before her retirement |
Link to pictures of Sir Christopher Mk I
Link to pictures of the craft's lay-up and scrapping
(All images courtesy of BHC / The Hovercraft Museum Library / The Author unless credited otherwise)
Click on thumbnails above for larger images
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