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English engineer, best known as the inventor of the hovercraft.
Sir Christopher Cockerell was one of the most remarkable inventors of the 20th Century. He studied engineering at Cambridge University, and joined Marconi as a wireless engineer in 1935. In his life he filed dozens of patents related to radio technology, radar, and of course hovercraft. Christopher Cockerell worked as an electrical engineer until he was 40. He also offered design service for custom-built boats, and beginning in about 1953 he became intrigued with the idea of floating a boat on a cushion of air instead of water. After performing experiments in his home with tin cans, an electric fan, and a vacuum cleaner, he built a working model of a hovercraft from balsa wood, patented the concept. His SR-N1, the first full-sized hovercraft, made its maiden voyage crossing the English Channel from Calais to Dover on 1 June 1959. In later life Cockerell developed the Cockerell Raft, a wave power hydraulic device which may have implications in the future for electricity generation. Sir Christopher Cockerell died on the 40th anniversary of the launch of the hovercraft, June 1st 1999.
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variant spelling:
COCKERELL, Christopher
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Curriculum vitae
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* 04.06.1910
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Cambridge
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born
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1955
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He had built a working model from balsa wood and had filed his first patent for the hovercraft, No 854211.
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1955
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The NRDC formed a subsidiary called Hovercraft Development Ltd. Cockerell was the Technical Director and the company controlled the patents which it used to license several private sector firms to manufacture craft under the registered trademark of Hovercraft.
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1965
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Cockerell was awarded the Howard N. Potts Medal.
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1966
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Cockerell was made a CBE in 1966.
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1967
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Cockerell was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1967.
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1969
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Cockerell was knighted in 1969 for his services to engineering.
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† 01.06.1999
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Hythe, Hampshire
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died
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