INTRODUCTION This report is a summary of the ground covered during a 6 month pilot study encompassing a number of aspects of hovercraft operations. It is hoped that the experience gained. during this period of study will enable more specific tasks involving much more detailed analysis of particular aspects of operations to be carried out. a) the nature of data available on past operations; b) expected future data; c) topics expected to yield the greatest benefits to all parties concerned (i.e. Cranfiela, Mintech., the Operators and the Manufacturers, present and prospective) both in the short and long term: and a) manpower available. Unfortunately the latter restriction proved more severe than had been initially envisaged. Fields of study considered were as follows: (i) A study of the Problems involved in the derivation of a Standard Method for Estimating the Operating Costs of Hovercraft. (ii) An attempt to Standardise the data collection proceedures from the various current U.K. Operators. iii) An analysis of all currently available data. iv) An investigation into the possible use of Automatic Data Processing techniques for the collection and analysis of operating data. (v) An analysis of the causes and effects of delays and cancellations in current scheduled operations. (vi) A study of the traffic carried on and the demand for current scheduled services, and the effect of varying fare structures on this.