Subtitles (54)
0:00NARRATOR: We've just ripped
the 800-foot rubber skirt
0:03off The Princess
Margaret hovercraft,
0:06but that was only part
of the system that
0:09allowed this thing to hover.
0:12Time to take a look at the fans.
0:14Just how big did they
need to be to lift
0:17this beast into the air?
0:20There are four fans, but
getting to them is tricky.
0:24We have to cut through
the side of the hovercraft
0:26and don't want to damage the
interior before we've had
0:29a chance to salvage the seats.
0:32Hovercraft have kind of a
cult following around here.
0:34And these seats could actually
sell to collectors at auction.
0:37[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]
0:42Roy has a special
machine for this job.
0:45It's a set of hydraulic
jaws with a surprisingly
0:52 And it's amazing
how accurate you can
0:54be with such a huge machine.
0:56 Good job, [INAUDIBLE].
1:01 It's amazing to have
this kind of a view
1:03on a giant machine like this.
1:05NARRATOR: Now I can
climb right into the guts
1:07of this huge hovercraft.
1:09 I bet I could crawl
in through the blades
1:11and get a closer look.
1:13[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]
1:20NARRATOR: This is
not where you'd want
1:21to be when the engines start.
1:23I'd be sliced and diced.
1:35NARRATOR: I'm in a giant fan.
1:38It's mounted not vertically,
but horizontally.
1:42It sucks in thousands of tons
of air to this giant inlet
1:46and forces it down to the skirt
and into the plenum chamber
1:52This is what made
the hovercraft hover.
2:00Each of the four
fans is 12 feet wide
2:04and could spin at over
400 miles an hour.
2:08That was fast enough to fill
the enormous skirt in just six
2:11seconds and create
the air cushion
2:15that made the 300-ton
Princess Margaret hover.
2:19It solved the very problem
that had driven Cockerell
2:22to invent the hovercraft.
2:25The Margaret didn't have to
drag its bulk through the water.
2:29Instead, it could fly
over the top, creating
2:32almost no surface friction.
