Cushioncraft

In 1960 Britten-Norman Ltd began trials of their new "Cushioncraft"—their name for an air-cushion vehicle built for Elders and Fyffes. It was used to study the potential of this type of vehicle for the carriage of bananas from plantations in the Southern Cameroons. Together with its associated company, Crop Culture (Aerial) Ltd, Britten-Norman studied the potential for the Cushioncraft in many different countries. These investigations revealed the possibility of a break-through in transportation techniques by the use of air cushion vehicles which could accelerate the pace of development in territories where roads are nonexistent and costly to build and rivers are seasonally unnavigable.

Cushioncraft was reconstituted as a separate company in 1967 to permit British Hovercraft Corporation (BHC) to take a minority share holding, and it revived the name under which Britten-Norman's initial ACV endeavours were launched. Cushioncraft has an authorised capital of £500,000 and issued capital of £450,000, BHC paid Britten-Norman £90,000 for a 20 percent stake in the company's hovercraft activities. The board of Cushioncraft comprised Messrs F. R. J. Britten, Desmond Norman, J. M. McMahon and F. H. Mann (all directors of Britten-Norman), Peter Winter (technical director), and A. R. B. Hobbs, BHC's nominee.

In 1971, Britten-Norman encountered financial problems, and one result was that the Cushioncraft company was sold in 1972 to the British Hovercraft Corporation.

Between 1960 and 1972 Cushioncraft designed six models of which five were produced.

CC1

CC1 was the "second" hovercraft to lift off in 1960. Circular (18 ft 10 in). The lift rotor—driven by 170 bhp 2-litre Coventry Climax FPF engine—ran round the periphery of the hull (a plywood construction); the engine also drove two propellers (taken from a Hiller helicopter) to steer through differential pitch. The cab, at the front of the hull, had space for the pilot and two passengers.The ground clearance of the CC1 was 12 to 15 inch.

CC2

The 11 passenger CC2 was originally designed without a skirt and using air deflection within the cushion for propulsion. The CC2 was heavily developed over the years with the addition of a skirt and two external engines each driving a propeller for propulsion. The "bodywork" was also heavily modified.

CC4

The CC4 was developed by Cushioncraft jointly with Hovercraft Development (created as a subsidiary of the National Research Development Corporation that employed Cockerell). It was intended to be the first car sized craft to be put into production; this never happened. Subsequent to development use by Cushioncraft, the CC4 was sold to the National Physical Laboratory for future research, HDL renamed it HU-4.