Christopher Bland on Transport

I mean, as far as I’m concerned I think I saw the glory days. I mean I saw … I was there at the very beginning because before I was with Hovertravel, I was with Britten-Norman and we were having big decisions as to whether you should steer it with your feet or your hands, I think it was that basic and I think you steer the big ones with your feet but I think the little ones are still steered by a steering wheel aren’t they?

So it’s never really gone full circle. We realised then that it was becoming … it was very romantic at the beginning and everybody thought it was the latest thing, you know, this Hovercraft in the same way that when I was very young we were all going to roll around to each other’s cocktail parties in helicopters, in 1945, 1947.

Hovercraft have settled down now. It’s basically a military vehicle with one or two commercial applications which I think are few and far between.