Christopher Cockerell, the 'father' of the hovercraft, not only liked sailing boats, but designing and building them as well. Like every serious boat builder before him, he tried to think of ways to reduced the friction between the water and the hull but UNLIKE those before him, he realised that the only medium was air. Here is the story of the development of the hovercraft from its experimental inception as two tin cans, a domestic vacuum cleaner and a set of kitchen scales to the vehicles of land, sea, ice and desert in peacetime and in the war. Illustrated with many black and white photographs.