Kilcullen man takes his homemade hovercraft across the plains of Kildare.

Pat Maloney from Kilcullen in County Kildare tries out a hovercraft he made himself on the Curragh. The vehicle was built from plywood, canvas, and two lawnmower engines, at a cost of less than two hundred pounds.

A three and a half horsepower lawnmower engine provides the lift-off, while a five-horsepower lawnmower engine propels the intrepid hovercraft pilot at speeds of up to forty miles an hour.

Mr Maloney has tested his hovercraft on the Blessington Lakes as well as the grassy expanses of the Curragh.

An RTÉ News report broadcast on 24 July 1978. The reporter is Dermot Mullane.