A newly refitted Hoverguard 800 (ex Heathrow Airport Rescue craft) has made her first successful sea trial at Lee-on-Solent today. Originally laid down in 1990 and powered by a Ford V6 engine , she served for over 10 years at Heathrow Airport as a rescue craft to navigate the marshland areas that eventually became Heathrow Terminal 5. The craft is privately owned, but stored at the Hovercraft Museum on permanent loan since 2003 and has been overhauled in the Museum’s workshops. She is the only American Hovercraft in The Hovercraft Museum Trust’s collection!
Photos courtesy of Warwick Jacobs.