Updated Jan 2011
Somerleyton Hovercraft Celebration
M S Oakes
Having laid the foundation of the Hovercraft Column for us when we started construction in 2008, and helped us with anything that arose along the way, it is entirely in keeping with the spirit of the story that M S Oakes returned and lifted the cast bronze replica of the original Model Prototype Hovercraft into place to complete the project.
The bronze is based on a copy of the Model Prototype which can be seen in the Flight Gallery of the Science Museum at South Kensington in London. Allowing for small casting differences it is very close to the size of the original that formed the basis of the first patent in December 1955. Indeed this original might be thought of as one of the Crown Jewels of the Hovercraft industry.
M S Oakes sent Steven (top left) and Mark on the 28th April 2010. In no time they safely harnessed the bronze and raised it into position, fixing it without an incident of any kind.
Oulton Broad Scaffolding, who had given great co-operation by modifying the scaffold to the immediate needs of the project, began dismantling it within hours and by the end of the day the finished Hovercraft Column could be admired by all.
