It was supposed to be the future of travel along the Wirral coastline, connecting the peninsula to Wales like never before.
A state of the art, world first, but experimental, hovercraft that would ferry up to 24 passengers at speeds of 70mph across the choppy seas from Wallasey to Rhyl in just 30 minutes.
The Vickers VA-3 Hovercraft, designed and built by Hovercraft Developments Ltd and Vickers-Armstrongs, was said to be "unsinkable" and made its first passage along the coast in July 1962.
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At the time, journalist James Lewis was on board the very first voyage from the shores of Moreton with perhaps an insight into what was to become of the project.
Writing in the Crewe Chronicle in 1962, he said: "As the passengers filed into their cabin, upholstered in grey and brown, kerosene-type fuel was being pumped into the stand at the rate of 75 gallons a minute.
"The passenger door was closed and the sound-proofing made it almost impossible to hear the loud hailer which a British United Airways official was using to clear the take-off area of sightseers and to clear swimmers out of the water.
"Then the two Bristol-Siddeley Turmo turbine engines, mounted in huge pods on the port and starboard sides, roared into life and the craft shook as the four-bladed propellers gathered speed.
"Another roar, rapidly changing into a high-pitched whine, as two more Turmo engines started up to drive the large centrifugal fans under the machine.
"The Hovercraft trembled, rose slightly, fell again, then rose clear of the ground, sending a fierce sand spray in all directions.
"Instantaneously, the screaming propellers sent the craft gliding easily towards the water.
"The sand-spray gave way to a fine spray of water as the machine, gathering speed with every second headed straight out to sea in the sunlight."
He went on: "A short seaward leg was followed by a sharp starboard swing and a fifteen-minute run up the Welsh Channel to the disused Point of Ayr Lighthouse.
"The ride at first was gentle, rather like riding in a car with worn-out shock absorbers, but the craft started to buck as the sea grew heavier.
"The noise level - a subject of considerable discussion - was not s much as to prevent a shouted conversation between passengers in neighbouring seats and adjoining rows, but was sufficient to restrict it to the bare essentials.
"As the journey progressed so the heat within the cabin grew, but an adjustable cold air jet thoughtfully provided by the designers above each seat was sufficient to prevent discomfort."
The first voyage was hailed as a success and it was hoped the new hovercraft would forge a booming sunseekers route along the Wirral coastline to Rhyl.
It was scheduled to make 12 trips a day at the cost of £2 a ticket and it opened to the public shortly after James Lewis' journey to Wales.
But due to the conditions along the Dee Estuary, it only managed 19 days of travel out of the scheduled 54.
Add to the choppy weather at sea, came quadruple engine failure on September 14 halfway across its 17 mile journey to Rhyl.
With no engine to steer, the hovercraft was sent smashing into the Rhyl promenade wall and the passengers rescued by lifeboats.
The crash happened days before its trial period was to come to an end.
Ahead of its time perhaps, the service wasn't renewed and the project was never revisited.
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