Improvements in or relating to hovercraft.

摘要

A hovercraft (10) has a fan (12) mounted to rotate about a vertical axis (14). The airflow from the fan is directed to the skirt (80) to create lift and to horizontally aligned rearward and forward outlets (16,18) to positively propel the craft in forward and reverse directions respectively and, if necessary, to provide a braking force. A valve arrangement (20) including a flap (66) is provided to alter the relative rates of flow of air to the different horizontal rearward and forward outlets.