SKIRTS, SEALS & MATERIALS FOR AIR CUSHION VEHICLES

Checkmate Flexible Engineering is, arguably, the world’s leading manufacturer of air cushion vehicle skirt components. These include parts for hovercraft and surface effect ships (also known as sidewall hovercraft). Our considerable experience in the development, design and manufacture of elastomeric products has established a worldwide reputation in this field.

Materials
Through our long involvement with the Air Cushion Vehicle industry we have developed materials with exceptional durability. Our unique appreciation of skirt/seal materials technology is backed by a long history of extensive "on-craft" and laboratory experimentation. The result is that customers’ requirements can be accommodated by carefully selecting and matching the coating compound to the base fabric. This ensures correct specification to allow for varying degrees of ozone and oil contamination, abrasion and flagellation that may be encountered in use.

Coating Compounds
Natural/synthetic rubbers and Polychloropene make up our range of skirt compounds which are calendered onto specially engineered base fabrics. Specific materials from this range (or asymmetrically coated versions) may be plied up to enhance tear strength for highly demanding areas.

Design
Checkmate Flexible Engineering’s wide range of expertise also extends to the complete design of bow and stern components for Surface Effect Ships.

Manufacturing
Working with ACV manufacturers and operators has led to design and building techniques which optimize the life of components. We are aware that commercial operators compete in environments where costs and down time have to minimized in order to ensure profitability. The increased life provided by the use of the best manufacturing methods and materials makes economic sense in the running of all Air Cushion Craft.