Melville Whitnel Beardsley,
American Inventor of the Air-Cushion Vehicle

Dear hovercraft historians!
Thanks for reviewing this story of Mel Beardsley's seminal role in the development of ACV's and hovercraft. I hope you find it of interest!
All the material included here, with the possible exception of the newspaper articles, is public domain for free use in your publications and displays. Better quality images may be obtained on CD from us upon request. - John Beardsley

Biographical sketch:

Little Mel, the young Missouri sodbuster.

Melville Beardsley was born in Kansas City, Missouri on 10 October, 1913, to George and Ella Whitnel Beardsley. His father and grandfather Beardsley were attorneys. He was the third generation of his family to graduate from the University of Illinois, where he took a degree in mechanical engineering. From childhood he was fascinated with flight, and soon after college he joined the US Army Air Corps as a pilot. By the time World War 2 broke out, he was one of the Army's few experienced pilots and spent the war years as a flight instructor at Hondo Field, Texas.

The Army (and later Air Force) sponsored post-graduate education in aeronautics and management at Georgia Tech and the University of Chicago. He was USAF project officer for aircraft development projects, including Northrup's famous "flying wing."

A biographical article was published in the Kansas City Star newspaper on 3 January, 1960, which describes his involvement in early air-cushion vehicles. The full text of this article follows:

His Air-Cushion Car Is Tried by Army and Marines

Patents of a former Kansas Citian Involve Vehicle That Moves 15 Inches Above Ground -- In School Days Here, a Glider in Garage Caused Worry as "Mel" Beardsley Studied Flight Principles -- Grandson of Former Mayor.

by John Alexander [A Member of The Star's Staff]

YOU'RE driving along in a car that has no wheels. The sensation is amazingyou have a feeling of floating. You're riding along on a springy cushion of air. You come to a river and you simply float across the surface of the water without getting wet. Such a vehicle may be the car of the future, if the invention of a former Kansas Citian is perfected. He is Melville W. Beardsley, a grandson of a former mayor of Kansas City, Henry M. Beardsley. His father was the late George D. Beardsley, lawyer and a United States commissioner here. The air-cushion car was an inevitable topic of conversation with Beardsley and Kansas City friends while he was visiting here last week. One of them asked him: "Mel, how long will it be until we can take one of those things out on the turnpike?" "We're not quite that far along with it," Beardsley said. "For one thing, the 'puff' of wind from a passing car would cause you to veer off to one side."
Tryout by Army.
But Beardsley, pointing out that certain types of airplanes, for example, were available for special use long before they could be turned over to the public, said the military was already "very interested" in air-cushion cars. "We've produced the only vehicles the government has purchased and is operating," he said. "The Army has one of the vehicles and the Marines have one  and they're giving them a workout to see what their possibilities might be in combat." For civilian use the possibilities would be truly startling. No wheels, no tires, no axles or shock absorbers, brakes, springs or conventional steering mechanisms; no transmissions, no gear shifting. Not even any highways in the usual heavy-load bearing sense. One suggestion is that a smooth road surface for air-cushion vehicles could be prepared for a few hundred dollars a mile! Oddly enough, the public's first contact with the air-cushion principle has come far ahead of the wheelless car in the form of a certain kind of vacuum cleaner. On the market for the past two years, this machine exhausts the air through the bottom in a manner that causes the cleaning unit, which weighs about fifteen pounds, to skim just above the floor. Beardsley said the firm of which he was a co-founder, National Research Associates of College Park, Md., is pioneering another air-cushion use which may find its innovation in amusement parks.
Scheme for Amusement.
"It will be a 'flying saucer' ride," Beardsley said. "Space-minded youngsters will love it  and it will give grownups an idea of what is ahead in the way of transportation." A slender man of 46, 5 feet 7 inches tall, Beardsley presents the appearance of an average good-looking man of brown eyes and thinning black hair. But when he talks about the prospects of air-cushioned locomotion, the pace of his thinking process is reflected in judicious choice of words, in a pensive manner of tamping his pipe, in making freehand pencil sketches of models made and models planned. This is the thoughtfulness that flew in the face of the Beardsley family's 2-generation tradition of lawyers. It started in his boyhood, while the family home was at Fifty-eighth street and Pennsylvania avenue. The sight of airplanes buzzing through the sky fired Mel's youthful imagination. He knew that nothing in the world would ever be able to compete with the excitement of flying.
Worry for His Mother.
Remembering those days, Beardsley said: "Model planes started me off. I can't even remember when I began making themI was just a kid in Bryant school." His mother, Mrs. George D. Beardsley, 407 Ward Parkway, remembers the worry that filled her mind while Mel was building a glider in the 2-car garage at their home. "It wasn't two cars in the garage, thoughit was just a car and the glider," she recalled. "Mel built it with care  he weighed everything that went into it. He was going to take it out in the country and fly it off a steep hill; that's what worried us." Mel's father, who died in 1936, often took his son to the airport to watch the planes. The father's main interest was cars, however, and he encouraged Mel and his brother, Henry, who lives in Miami, to tinker with jalopies. Mrs. Beardsley believes that the boys' long summer trips in repaired jalopies saved the day for Mel  he never found time to launch the glider. One of those car trips was a 7,000-mile saga that included California and New Orleans. "When the boys parked the car in the back yard after that trip, it just sort of sank down and collapsed," Mrs. Beardsley said. "We finally had it towed away." Anyway, it came natural to Mel to favor more exciting activities than contracts and torts, and after his graduation from Southwest high school he sought out aeronautical courses at the University of Illinois and was graduated in mechanical engineering in 1935.
Learns to Fly in Army.
With his fresh new diploma in hand, Beardsley did not look for a job. He still was interested in flying, so he entered Army Air Corps flight training at San Antonio. "This was the answer to a lifetime ambition," he said. "It was tough, but it was wonderful. The Army was saving money by not commissioning us; they just kept us on a year in active duty as flying cadets." Cadet Beardsley spent his year at Mitchell Field, Long Island. Then, still fascinated by the technical aspects of flight, he spent a year in Georgia Tech, Atlanta, as a research assistant in the engineering experiment station. He stayed on another year as a research fellow and delved into a project that bore no relation to powered flight. These were studies in processing flax so it could be worked in the cotton machinery of the South. After receiving his master's degree in 1939, he had varied experience with Chrysler and with an Indianapolis firm that was experimenting with a new-type ignition system. Then, going with the Civil Aeronautics Authority, he was assigned to the Kansas City office as a power plant specialist. But the war clouds soon broke, and he was ordered to active duty as a First Lieutenant. "They sent me back to San Antonio," he recalled. "I was part of a cadre forming a navigation school. They moved us over to Hondo, Texas, in 1942."
Worked on the Snark.
Later he was assigned to 'the B-32 project at Wright field, Dayton, Ohio, and in March, 1946, was discharged as a Lieutenant Colonel. For a time he was an aerodynamics engineer for Northrup aircraft in California, and assisted with preliminary design studies of the guided missile now known as the Snark. One thing that annoys Beardsley is criticism of the Air Force for lagging with space programs. "Years before Sputnik," he said, "we were considering operations in space, and attempts were made to lay the technological groundwork for these. But even any use of the word 'space' was forbidden then by explicit directive from the Defense department." Early in 1949 Beardsley was tempted away from aerodynamics to help develop a vacuum process for pre-cooling lettuce. He became vice-president of the concern, with headquarters at Salinas, California. The cooling method has been employed widely through the lettuce industry, but Beardsley didn't get a chance to stay with it. Korea came along, and in June, 1951, he was called back to active duty. Not that Colonel Beardsley got to Korea. "Here I am, a real old-timer with the Air Corps; two wars, and never out of the country," he says. Instead, he was sent back to Wright Field in the Air Research and Development command. He returned to civilian life as a Colonel in the reserves, In May, 1958. With another former officer, William H. Alper, he formed the National Research Associates, Inc., to develop air-cushion equipment. They have shops in Laurel, Md., with 15 employees and a rustic log-cabin office in a quiet spot for creative thinking at College Park.
His Air-Cushion Patents.
Beardsley has a half dozen patents in the air-cushion field, mostly in the research and development stages, and presently sufficiently promising that their future may be very rewarding. He says the present operation is shoestring size. Beardsley's invention, known as the peripheral jet system, is one of three types of air-cushioning methods. The air taken in by four 6-bladed 42-inch fans (on the vehicles under military test) is pumped out through jets located around the outer edges of the vehicle. The air discharges vertically downward or slightly toward the interior, giving the benefit of jet reaction plus the pressure lift caused by nearness to the ground. The test vehicles, which weigh 950 pounds, can carry a load equal to their weight while floating along aboveground. Steering is by movable vanes in the main jets. Hot-rodders would love this: the driver can turn around and around in a "parked" position. The military test vehicle never gets more than 15 inches above the surface, and already has shown ability to skitter over rougher terrain than the developers had expected. Says Beardsley modestly: "This one is still in the pre-model-T days."
Two Other Types.
The two other types of air-cushion vehicles are air-bearing and plenum chamber. In the air-bearing type, which requires smooth, highly prepared surfaces, air is forced out of small openings at extremely high pressure. This would elevate the vehicle very slightly, perhaps a six-thousandth of an inch. Such a method, Beardsley said, would be employed by vehicles running on tracks at speeds of 200 to 300 miles an hour. Plenum chamber refers to a space in which the air is under a pressure higher than it is on the outside. In vehicles of this type (such as Curtiss-Wright is developing) air is pumped into a chamber under the vehicle, and pressure builds up enough so that the air flows out all the way around it. Beardsley believes the air-cushion boat has a great future. His development prototype, a scow-like vessel 12 feet Long with a 5-foot beam, is powered by a 5 h.p. outboard motor. The craft is made in such a way that it rests on an air cushion sealed by contact with the water on both sides and in front. "It's a real thrill to see this in action," Beardsley said. "We poke along about six miles an hour until we turn on the pump that builds up the air cushion. Then suddenly we raise up off the, water and we're scooting along at 20 miles an hour at no change of engine speed." Mr. and Mrs. Beardsley have two children, Susan, 13 and John, 10. Mrs. Beardsley, the former Marie Stimson of Los Angeles, was a niece of the late Henry L. Stimson, former Secretary of State and Secretary of War.

(End of KC Star article)

Beardsley's Early Years in ACV Development:

It's difficult to establish exactly when Mel. Beardsley conceived the air-cushion vehicle, but he worked on a Navy hydrofoil project in southern California about 1950, and this was his first known involvement in marine vehicles. The air-cushion may have been a low-friction boat-hull solution, to which Beardsley added forced air as the missing element for the basic air-cushion vehicle. It is certain than Beardsley and the British inventor Cockerell conceived the air-cushion vehicle independantly. There was no way that they might have known of eachothers work. One may say that "the idea was in the air."

Beardsley's further personal research led to his patents of the early 1950's. After completing another 7 years of military service, Beardsley founded National Research Associates, Inc. (NRA) in College Park and Laurel, Maryland to build practical air-cushion vehicles.

Mel Beardsley's Resume

A personal employment resume prepared in 1965 gives a backward timeline of his career as follows:

RESUME:
MELVILLE W. BEARDSLEY
Home Address: 40 Windward Drive
Severna Park, Md. 21146
Telephone: 301-555-0526

JOB OBJECTIVE:
NEW-PRODUCT PLANNING, RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, to productively utilize extensive experience and interest.

QUALIFICATIONS:
Accomplishments: Independent analysis and evaluation resulted in formation of a company to employ a new cooling process which has now revolutionized a large part of the vegetable-produce industry. Made significant process inventions, designed equipment, and set up operations. Originated (in U.S.A.) major technical concepts used in all large ground-effect machines (GEMs or Hovercraft), and have probably designed and built as many GEMs of various sizes as anyone else in the world. Technical Experience: More than 20 years of research, development, and engineering. In addition to GEMs, experience includes propulsion systems, engines, aircraft, missiles, hydrofoils, vacuum cooling, materials handling, and textile fiber processing. Experience indicates ability to make original contributions in any field in which engaged. More than 15 patents granted or pending.
Management Experience: Vice President of two small companies. Responsible, first-hand experience with: new-product planning, development, market studies, patents and licensing, return-on-investment analysis, break-even charts, preparation and presentation of proposals, budgets, cash-flow projections, work management to meet contract cost estimates and schedules. Some experience, as Officer, in all phases of Air Force R & D management.
Interest: An inherent interest in the creative application of technology to produce results best meeting requirements or objectives, particularly with cost-effectiveness or return-on-investment orientation.

EDUCATION: University of Chicago, 1952 MBA Management of Research & Development
U.C.L.A., 1946-47 Aero., Supersonic Aero., Nuclear Piles
Georgia Tech 1937-39 MS M.E., Thermodynamics, Combustion Kinetics
Air Corps Flying School 1935-36 Airplane Pilot - Bombardment
University of Illinois 1931-35 BS M.E. , Thermo., Internal-combustion Engines
MILITARY SERVICE:
Colonel, Air-Reserve (inactive); Senior Pilot; C.O. of Navigation Training Group, plus 10 years in R&D at Wright Field, Hq., Air Research & Development Command, and Pentagon. Airplane Project Officer and various staff positions including: Chief, Innovations Div. and Chief, Flight Mechanics Div.; AFSC, R&D Director.
PERSONAL DATA:
U. S. Citizen - Married, two children - Secret Clearance
5 ft. 7, 155 lb. - Born Oct. 10, 1913 - Health Excellent
Member of Phi Delta Theta, American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics, Air Force Association.
References on request.

EXPERIENCE:
May, 1963 to present
CONSULTANT(self-employed)
New products: conducts search and evaluates technical feasibility and economic profitability of potentials - innovation ideas to companies for acquisition. Prepares and presents conclusions and recommendations in concise meaningful terms. Prepares and presents proposals for clients. Designs and fabricates air-cushion vehicles and devices for special purposes to meet client requirements.

May, 1958 to May, 1963
NATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATES, Inc. (Salary: $18,000/yr.) VICE PRESIDENT Responsible for all technical and manufacturing operations. Supervised direction of Engineering and Shops including: Design, construction, and test of various air-cushion vehicles, Management of work performed under contract, Preparation of cost and schedule estimates, Preparation and presentation of proposals and reports, Preparation and presentation of operation and cash-flow projections, break-even charts, and related information for consideration in regard to financing proposed new products and acquisition possibilities, Conception and evaluation of potential new products, Supervision of preparation and prosecution of patent applications. Participated in major discussions and negotiations concerning sales, financing, acquisition, and merger.

June 1951 to May 1958
AIR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT COMMAND, U. S. AIR FORCE (Sal.:$9,000,approx.) Lt. Col.; various Hq. staff positions, including: Chief, Flight Mechanics Div. and Chief, Innovations Div. All positions required broad scope knowledge of technological state of the art and A. F. requirements. Supervised and coordinated preparation and conduct of A. F. R&D programs in Flight Mechanics which included aerodynamics, structures, crew protective systems, certain test facilities, and others. Performed preliminary evaluation of innovations. Prepared and coordinated establishment of policy and procedures to be used in evaluating proposed innovations in Command. Prepared original papers: "Maximum Air Force Effectiveness per Dollar Through Application of a Rational Weapon System Replacement Policy"and "Management of Research and Development - An Investment Approach".

Prior to June 1951
CONSULTANT - Designed and installed vacuum cooling plants.
JOSHUA HENDY,Inc., Engr.- Propulsion studies, Navy hydrofoil project.
VACUUM COOLING CO.,Vice Pres.- Was a founder of this company which introduced the vacuum cooling process for refrigerating vegetable produce. Participation in this venture was induced by my independent evaluation of technical feasibility and economic soundness of this process - now confirmed by fact that process is in general use, and has revolutionized industry for lettuce & others.
NORTHROP AIRCRAFT, Inc., Aerodynamics Engr.- Propulsion studies, missiles.
USAAF, Lt. to Lt.Col.,Senior Pilot; Commander, Navigation training Group, and Airplane Project Officer at Wright Field, WW II. C. A. A., Power Plant Engr.;
P. R. MALLORY,Inc., Design Engr.
CHRYSLER CORP., Student Engr.;
GEORGIA STATE ENGINEERING EXPERIMENT STATION, Research Fellow

National Research Associates, Inc.

NRA was founded in 1958 by Mel Beardsley and an Air Force colleague, Bill Alper, in College Park, Maryland. He had sunk his inheritance into financing this company, and for five fruitful years, NRA produced a large variety of air-cushion vehicle prototypes at their Laurel shop, and a few civilian and military product lines as well. Alper was the President, while Beardsley, owner of the patents, prefered to concentrate on the creative role. The photos, articles and promotional materials shown below will give an idea of the breadth of their endeavors.

Col. Beardsley aboard a very basic test platform.

Another early test platform.

A single seater, stripped. Its shell can be seen in the background. This model was called "The Flying Saucer."

An early use for a similar single-seater (but not self-propelled, being inflated by blowers below the deck) was a ride at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Disney licensed the technology from NRA. Below is a photo of that popular ride, and an NRA promotion of a similar ride as imagined by Beardsley and an artist.

In the above center can be seen the GEM-Jr., a single seat prototype for land-only conveyance. The name GEM is derived from the acronym for ground-effects machine. The GEM-Jr. is enlarged below.

By 1961, more mature and practical amphibious vehicles had come into production at NRA, as shown and described in the pictures and articles below.

The Aqua-GEM, of which a few dozen were produced and sold.

An artist's version of the Aqua-GEM.

The stylish model (essentially a longer Aqua-GEM) shown above did not make it to production. Two articles about the launch of the Aqua-GEM line appeared in local newspapers. These are reprinted in full below:

from the Baltimore Sun, August 3, 1961

Amphibian Vehicle Riding On Air Cushion Is Shown

by Albert Sehlstedt, Jr. [Sun Staff Correspondent]
Bay Ridge, Md., Aug. 2  An amphibian vehicle that can cruise-above the waves, skim over seaweed and drive up a sandy beach was demonstrated here today by a Laurel (Md.) company. The craft, called an Aqua Gem, rides on a cushion of air and moves forward with the thrust of a large propeller mounted above the stern. Someday the Aqua Gem might be used for family transportation by people who want to avoid crowded highways. A nearby river could be negotiated easily by this kind of automobile. This air pressure causes the Aqua Gem to rise a few inches above the water, Mr. Alper said. The Aqua Gem was designed and built by National Research Associates, of Whiskey Bottom road, Laurel, a company that has developed similar vehicles for evaluation by the armed forces.
Civilian Use Possible
Although today's demonstration was primarily for the Maritime Administration, the Marine Corps and the Office of Naval Research the company believes the machine could be used profitably for civilian purposes, such as ship-to-shore transportation and commercial fishing in shallow waters. William H. Alper, President of National Research Associates, explained how the Aqua Gem works. Two large fans in the bow of the craft blow air down around the periphery of the boat's bottom.
Inventor Is Official
The stern-mounted propeller, powered by a 50-horsepower engine, drives the boat forward. Each fan in the bow is powered by a 20-horsepower engine, according to M. W. Beardsley, vice president of the company and the inventor of the Aqua Gem. Five rudders, side by side and directly aft of the stern propeller, guide the craft. Such air-cushioned vehicles are called ground-effects machines; hence the word "Gem" in the title of this particular version. In today's demonstration, Alfred G. Anderson, a company engineer, operated the boat near the shoreline of this Chesapeake Bay community. Mr. Anderson drove the boat several hundred yards up and down the water, parallel to the beach. Then he turned the craft toward the land. The vehicle rode right up on the sand, coming to a stop only when Anderson cut the engines. Thick seaweed immediately below the water's surface did not seem to hamper the craft in any way. Mr. Beardsley said the boat will move in the water without employing the ground effect or air cushion, but it will move very slowly. When the air pressure raises the hull out of the water the craft can reach a speed of about 40 miles an hour. The inventor said the Aqua Gem model used today is a prototype 28 feet long and 9 1/2 feet wide. The water vehicle can carry a load of 1,500 pounds, he said. Mr. Alper said the company is producing the Aqua Gem. Twelve of the craft have been sold to industrial users, he said. (end of Sun article)

from The Evening Star, Washington, DC, 4 August 1961

Produced at Laurel
Jet-Age Boat Tested on Bay

A watercraft geared strictly for the jet age got a workout this week before both civilian and high ranking service officials at Bay Ridge, Md. The craft is one of the Aqua GEM line being produced by National Research Associates at Laurel, Md. Its chief attribute is the fact that, riding entirely on a cushion of air and propelled by two powerful fans mounted in the stern, it can skim at high speed over shallow waters, marshes or mud banks. If the water gets too rough, it even can skim ashore, still supported on its air cushion. It also can operate as any conventional vessel would, without support from its cushion of air, but still propelled by the twin fans. Three Models in Line One model was displayed by National Research at the Chesapeake Boat Show in Baltimore this spring. Now there are three, the Air Liner, which can carry 10 persons, the Air Carrier, a cargo craft, and the Air-Sport, for the yachtsman. All are of futuristic design and each has two 40-horsepower, water-cooled, two-cycle engines that force air through jets in the hull to raise the boat on its cushion of air and an 80-horsepower, water-cooled, two-cycle engine that powers the fans that provide propulsion. The Air Liner is a fully-enclosed hardtop with center hinged doors, molded fiberglas passenger seats and complete soundproofing. It is designed for commuters, sightseers and general water taxi service.
Air Sport a Yacht
The Air Carrier has a cutaway hardtop roof for the crew area, which seats two, and a cargo space 8 feet wide and 12 feet long. The Air Sport is fitted out as a yacht with galley that includes a two-burner alcohol stove and sink, head and foam rubber berths for four. All hulls are 30 feet long with a beam of 9 feet, 6 inches. The armed forces are interested because air-cushioned boats may provide much speedier landing ,craft than the LCVP's of World War II. National Research says its models cruise at 40 miles per hour and can do 50. A somewhat similar craft, the Hydrokeel, made by the Anti-Friction Hull Corp., also of Laurel, has an $89,000 contract with the Navy. National Research says its boats differ by being propelled entirely above the surface of the water while others use propulsion systems that must make contact. National Research also has designed a 70-passenger, 75 mile-per-hour turbine-powered model which may be used at the 1964 World's Fair in New York. It envisions providing fairgoers with a spectacular 10-minute ride from midtown Manhattan right to the Flushing Meadows fairgrounds. (end of Evening Star article)

The next year seemed full of promise, as indicated in this article:

from the New York Times, June 15, 1962

Craft is Designed for Cushion-Air (sic) Trip to World's Fair

By STACY V. JONES - Special to the New York Times
WASHINGTON, June 15 - A Maryland manufacturer of air cushion vehicles hopes to build a ferry on which Passengers can glide between Manhattan and the New York world's fair grounds in 1964 and 1965. A patent for the new craft will be issued next week. The inventor is Melville W, Beardsley, vice-president of National Research Associates. Inc., of Laurel, Md. The company has built a score of vehicles that ride on air, and regards itself as the leading manufacturer in the field. The proposed ferry has been discussed with world's fair officials. The manufacturer has also suggested to the Port of New York Authority the use of air cushion emergency vehicles at the airport.
Next week's patent (No. 3,039,550) covers a new principle called conformal flow. Under the vehicle is a "plenum chamber" like the inside of an inverted bathtub. Fans force air downward past baffles and around the inside of the shell against the water or ground.
Mr. Beardsley invented "peripheral jet" system of air lift eight years ago. His patent application for this is involved in an interference action to determine whether he or an English rival was the first inventor. The other claimant is Christopher S. Cockerell, holder of a British patent for the Hovercraft.
National Research Associates has built air-lift vehicles for the Army, Marine Corps and amusement parks, and is now offering three models of its Aqua-GEM for use over water. Since it can move onto the beach, the craft requires no mooring. Prices start at $17,500. These "boats that fly" are built with peripheral jets, which require considerable ducting. Advantages claimed for the conformal flow design are simplicity and the elimination of the ducts. The Army Surgeon General is evaluating the National Research Associates air-cushion litter, of which nine were made under contract. A motor inflates the litter and lifts it off the ground so that one stretcher-bearer can maneuver it.
The company was organized in 1958 by Mr. Beardsley and William H. Alper, the president. It sold stock publicly in 1960. A Denver small business investment company recently announced an investment of $60,000 in the subsidiary that makes the Aqua-GEM. One current product is an amusement ride "The "Flying Saucer" at Disneyland was made inder license from National Research.

Sketch of air-cushion vehicle designed by National Research Associates of Laurel, Md.
(end of Times article)

Some military prototypes were developed for the US Army:

An air-cushion litter for transporting wounded soldiers.

Alas, the hoped-for military contracts were not forthcoming, the cash dried up, and NRA closed its doors in 1963.

A patent dispute had developed in the early 1960's to determine who had first come up with the ACV-hovercraft concept, Cockerell or Beardsley. Many factors are involved besides mere truth. Beardsley's company was in a cash-crunch, and his lawyer betrayed him by witholding vital proofs for the payment of fees. Ultimately Cockerell payed a settlement of $70,000 to Beardsley for his rights.

Beardsley Air Car Company and Skimmers, Inc.

Mel Beardsley was now without a job, but had a suitcase full of designs. One of the prototypes NRA made also came home with him -- the "Little Skimmer." It was a very basic solo ACV which could get up to a harrowing 15 MPH. It was tricky to master, and took great balance! He established successively two companies in his home, Beardsley Air Car Company and Skimmers, Inc., and set out to see what market there was for sports model ACV's.

Col. Beardsley aboard the Little Skimmer at NRA's Laurel shop.

Col. Beardsley aboard the Little Skimmer on the upper Severn River, Maryland.

Beardsley's son John has less success at getting to speed.

One of the wackier applications was "The Flying Carpet," dreamed up by a carpet manufacturer. This was described in a trade publication below.

Beardsley also single-handedly built a more advanced model in his home basement, as described in the local newspaper article below:

from The Maryland Gazette, 10 Dec, 1964

'The Little Skimmer' From Fairwinds

Unique Amphibious Vehicle Rides On Cushion Of Air, Goes About 20 MPH

by ARLENE SOUTHERN. An amphibious vehicle that rides on a cushion of air. No wings, wheels, or boat or such type bottom supporting it is under completion in Col. Melville W. Beardsley's garage at 40 Windward Drive, Fairwinds, Severna Park. "The Little Skimmer," as Beardsley calls it, rises about 15 inches off the ground (measuring from the framework to the ground) with a passenger and travels with equal success over pavement, mud, sand, water, ice, and rough terrain.
What purpose does a vehicle like "The Little Skimmer" serve? It could serve a myriad of purposes in transportation and in play, but Beardsley is concentrating on the latter. He sees these little vehicles as a substitute for the formerly popular go-carts. They have great possibilities especially because they are amphibious and give an interesting sensation. Also they are in keeping with the space age, and seem to be erally intriguing to young and old, said Beardsley. Because of their great versatility - their potential ability to go faster than boats and their present ability to ride on both water and land - Beardsley thinks machines like the "skimmer" will eventually "be a substantial replacement for popular boating."
For persons who want to get away from the incerased highway traffic or take a vacation, particularly in the sporting vein, the "skimmer" could offer a practical alternative. Many places not accessible by boat, car or plane, are accessible to the "skimmer," because it can travel over almost any surface.
"The automobile used to be a Sunday afternoon affair too, and look what it has turned into," said Beardsley, emphasising the "skimmer's" potential. "
The little Skimmer" works on a principle long under experimentation in Britain, and also by the armed services and some private companies in the US. In the "skimmer," air is drawn in from above the vehicle by a fan, which is placed horizontally beneath the body. This fan directs the air forcefully under the vehicle and towards the ground, thus producing the elevation. To provide forward motivation, the air is directed toward the rear of the vehicle. The body of the "skimmer" is about the size of a go-cart. From underneath the four corners of the rectangular body, four aluminum pipes extend outward in an "X" shape to a large oval framework (also aluminum pipe), surrounding the body. Vinyl coated Nylon fabric, stretched over the ramework and hanging 15 inches below the framework when the machine is elevated, confines the airflow to the space immediately below the skimmer. This enables the "skimmer" to rise and move on a cushion of air. The nylon fabric which hangs from the framework is called a "skirt,"and almost touches the ground when the machine is elevated. The "skimmer" is 11 feet long and eight feet wide. However, Beardsley has made the vehicle collapsible so that, when taken, apart, no one piece is longer than five feet. It weights 75 pounds, can easily be carried by two persons and will fit into the back of a station wagon.
This is not the first "hovering" machine Beardsley has made. In September he completed the last of three "flying carpets," vehicles similar to the "skimmer," which hover 15 inches above the ground, and which he was commissioned to make by the Chemstrand corporation in New York City. The "flying carpets," are the only vehicles of their kind, to Beardsley's knowledge. The Chemstrand people covered the vehicles with carpets made with their fibers and used them for advertising purposes. The "flying carpet," explained Beardsley, differs from the "skimmer" in that the latter is more of a vehicle.
The "skimmer" has a definite forward pull and although he has not yet tested it estimates indicate that it will go over 20 miles per hour. In contrast, the "flying carpet" has no forward motion, it just hovers over the ground. Forward movement is slow and is facilitated by the operator leaning forward. Steering on both the "skimmer" and the "flying carpet" is by kinesthetic control, that is, by the operator leaning in the direction he wants to go. Because the vehicle is frictionless, it is slippery to control. Sharp turns are impossible, because the vehicle would skid. To make a successful turn, the operator has to get up enough speed in order to make the air controls more dynamic. Like a bicycle, Beardsley said, balance depends to a degree on speed. With speed, inertia will take the skimmer through a turn.
One possible disadvantage to the present "skimmer" is that it has difficulty getting up long hills. Small ditches or bumps in the ground do not affect its performance, but large and especially long hills require such a large force of air, that it is difficult for the skimmer to climb them.
A five horsepower, two cycle engine powers the fan. Beardsley makes his own fans for these machines because he can not find one manufactured that is light weight, strong and that runs at a high rate of speed. One half gallon tank of fuel, a mixture of gasoline and lubricating oil, said Beardsley, will run the "skimmer" for one half hour. And if the "skimmer" runs out of fuel while on the water, the operator can relax.
The vehicle is equipped with a structure like an air raft that inflates when the machine starts, stays inflated whether the machine is in operation or not, until the operator lets the air out.
Right now, Beardsley is considering starting a business with the "skimmer." Quite a few persons are interested and enthusiastic over prospects of using the vehicle especially on the water. Some see possibilities of success in the amusement ride line. Beardsley helped Disneyland develop an amusement ride using vehicles similar to the "skimmer," but the vehicles at Disneyland are controlled and powered by fans which blow air up from the floor, so all of the vehicles could be started and stopped at once. This is reportedly the most popular ride there, said Beardsley.
If he could produce the "skimmers" in quantity, said Beardsley, he could sell them for $400 to $450 each. Otherwise, it would cost $800 or $900 to produce only one. At first, said Beardsley, production would be limited. By subcontracting persons to make the basic parts and putting the parts together himself, he probably could produce about four "skimmers" per month. But the "skimmer" business hasn't started yet.
Presently, Beardsley is a consultant to various companies on the feasibility of a generation of new products. Most of the testing and work on the "skimmer" has been done in his garage during his spare time.
"When I operate it outside, it attracts so much attention I can't work. Children gather around to watch and it even stops traffic," he said. He might move his work into a shop, Beardsley said.
In 1958, when he was working with National Research Associates, the company built over 20 man-carrying hovering vehicles, carrying from one to six passengers. This was more than any other company working for the government had built at the time. Many larger passenger carrying vehicles operating on the same principle as Beardsley's vehicles have been constructed by researchers in Britain and the US. Britain has done extensive research with hopes that these vehicles might eventualy replace ships.
Two years ago, the British ran a 24 passenger ferry service across the Dee estuary in Wales with a hovering type vehicle. The trip, which takes two and a half hours by rail or highway, took 30 minutes in the experimental vehicle, according to George P. Miller in an article in "Saturday Review," Dec. 1, 1962. Hovering or "ground effect" machines, as they are sometimes called, might also speed up transportation of goods on the Mississippi River and other internal waterways, wrote Miller. The government is experimenting with small "ground effect" machines to carry injured men from combat. Ordinarily would take four men to carry an injured man from combat on a stretcher. A ground effect machine would only require one operator.

(end of Gazette article)

Little Skimmer, model 2, drawings and specifications. Thankfully, a seat was added in the finished model.

These small solo vehicles were relatively slow. Rather than add an extra engine and fan facing the rear, as in the larger Aqua-GEM, Beardsley conceived a single-engine, single-fan design which was a forerunner of modern sports hovercraft. His original dated design sketch is shown below.

After some more time and work in his basement-shop, Beardsley completed his first working "Fan-Jet Skimmer" and he and a friend tested it on the Severn, as seen in the photos below.

Financial backing was not found to begin production, but Col. Beardsley sold a few hundred sets of plans for $15 each. By 1967 he gave up on the idea of starting his own ACV empire, and went to work at the Naval Ship Research and Development Laboratory near Annapolis, Maryland. Again he was working on ACV's, an early one of which is shown below on the Severn near the Lab.

The work he performed at the labs was classified, but it is safe to assume that Mel Beardsley had much input on the huge ACV landing craft currently in use by the US Marines.

Col. Beardsley at his desk at the Naval Lab, about 1970.

He retired from the lab in 1980 and moved with his wife Marie to Carmel, California. In his retirement he invented, tested, and patented the Beachbuilder system of beach erosion prevention.
Col. Melville Beardsley passed away 26 November, 1998.

Mel Beardsley was an exceptional engineer with a broad-ranging intellect. History will judge if he should be credited as the true inventor of the Air-Cushion Vehicle, aka the Hovercraft. Those of us who were privileged to know the man acknowledge him for being the very finest gentleman in all respects.

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