Issue No 22 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN 71
operations with a total of nine stations. By the
mid-1960s the company was also offering low-
cost 50min sightseeing flights over San Francisco
and the Bay Area.
THE JET SKIMMER SERVICE
In early 1965 the company started trials with
two 15-passenger Westland-Bell SK-5 hovercraft
(an American licence-built version of the British
Westland SR.N5), which would serve two
routes; the re-opened Downtown San Francisco
Heliport—OAK and OAK—SFO (the hovercraft
never served directly between Downtown San
Francisco and SFO) — which were opened
officially on August 1, 1965.
The idea had been instigated by Westland
Chairman Sir Eric Mensforth during a 1964
visit to Oakland Airport to inspect S-61s at
work, and the company was awarded a Mass
Transportation Demonstration Grant, for a year’s
operation, by the Federal Housing & Home
Finance Agency (FHHFA), which had an interest
in investigating technology relevant to future
urban development in the USA.
The airline advertised its hovercraft as “Jet
Skimmers”, capable of speeds of up to 80
m.p.h. (130km/h), reportedly with a ride as
smooth as “sitting on one’s living-room sofa”.
It was expected that the hovercraft would be
able to operate safely in waves up to 4ft (1·2m)
high. The SK-5s, powered by a pair of 1,000
s.h.p. marine-modified General Electric T58
turboshaft engines, were fitted with radar and
VOR equipment for operation in fog and rain.
The plan was for the hovercraft to continue
running in near-zero visibility weather when
the helicopters were grounded. The new service
was hailed as the first and only scheduled
IN THE DECEMBER 30, 1965, issue of FlightFlightFlight, ,
journallist NEIL HARRISON reported on SFO’s
hovercraft service, sampling for himself a routine
flight between San Francisco International and
Oakland Airports. Boarding SK-5 “007” (“seventh
built — not licensed to kill, but even more versatile
than its secret-agent namesake”) at Gate 56, he
describes a typical trip across San Francisco Bay:
“Up on the cushion we slipped from the pier,
pirouetted gently and awaited our turn along
the taxiway behind a Boeing 727. We travelled
smoothly and quietly along the taxiway, over the
runway and down a short-and-sharp ramp on to
the glass-smooth water. On that still autumnal
morning those first few moments were immensely
exhilarating: a gentle plunge, the purposeful
acceleration and a brief glimpse of the airport
building fading behind a cloud of fine silver spray
and the mist.
“Capable of more than 60kt, the SK-5 is
limited to 50kt by a Coast Guard ruling. From the
International Airport to Oakland Airport, a distance
of just over 11 miles [18km] across the widest part
of San Francisco Bay, the scheduled block-time is
a conservative 30min (7min by helicopter).
“At the time of our crossing there were hundreds
of migrating wildfowl taking a breather on the
still surface of the water. Their radar was not half
so good as ours and as the bulbous monster
loomed out of the mist, flocks of them charged
along in front, straining to get airborne before
plunging below the surface at the last moment to
unexpected but no doubt welcome safety.
“At Oakland Airport another simple tarmac
slipway led up from the water’s edge on to the
apron where the SK-5 was steered with precision
among the parked airliners to SFO Helicopter’s
gateway. In these conditions, the ACV must be
one of the most comfortable means of transport
devised by man.”Westland-Bell SK-5 Port of Oakland
arrives on the ramp at Oakland with its
cushion fully inflated on July 27, 1965;
SFO Helicopter operated two
SK-5s during 1965–66.
ACROSS THE BAY BY SFO JET SKIMMER
devised by man.”COLLECTION OF SFO MUSEUM