December 2003
Hovercrafter
It wasn't always smooth sailing for the inventor of the hovercraft.
By Lisa Scanlon
Hundreds of thousands of people ride them every year, from tourists visiting the British Isles to postal workers delivering goods to remote Alaskan villages. British engineer Christopher Cockerell patented the hovercraft, which travels on a cushion of air over land and water, in 1955-but he struggled to arouse any interest in his device. It wasn't until his prototype crossed the English Channel in 1959 that it really took off.
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology