By Judy Foley

Editor's note:  Schatze Thorp edits a column featuring readers' most wild or most heartwarming moments. Readers are encouraged to share their stories. Send your story with a photo (if possible) to Schatze Thorp at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Stories should not exceed 800 words but need not be that long and can be as short as a few sentences.

Oct. 12, 2016:  I began my overseas adventures at the age of 20, when I left my beloved hometown, Salisbury, Rhodesia – now known as Harare, Zimbabwe – to visit my eldest sister in London.

My first task upon arriving was to find a job, which meant scouring the jobs section in the daily Evening Standard newspaper. After several days of fruitless looking, I came across an ad for a hovercraft pilot. I, of course, had no clue what a hovercraft was, but I was curious and went for the interview anyway. To my amazement, I got the job and found myself two weeks later, on a train to the Isle of Wight, for two weeks of training.

I was one of three young ladies hired to drive two two-seater 12’ x 7’ hovercrafts. Along with our mechanic and a rather large trailer that towed the two crafts, we started on a three-month journey all around England to demonstrate the smaller version of the hovercraft used by the army for their amphibious exercises. Our demonstrations took place at county fairs, air shows, and boat shows.

We quickly learned that because hovercrafts were elevated above the ground to enable them to transfer from land to sea, they were very easily influenced by wind gusts, which meant that you could be unexpectedly pushed off course. We often demonstrated in front of local dignitaries, and, depending on how brave they were, town mayors, visiting members of Parliament, and even the local village vicar would occasionally hitch a ride around the arena, airfield, or harbor.

One of our stops was to a county fair in Peterborough, where we were informed that Queen Elizabeth herself would be in attendance. Typically, at these fairs, there would be an arena with a dirt track around the perimeter, which was often used to parade animals such as prize bulls, hybrid sheep, or thoroughbred horses. That day I was the lucky one picked to demonstrate my hovercraft in front of Her Royal Highness.

The weather was crystal clear, all the seats were full, and I started my demonstration in the middle of the grassy arena. All was going well and I could hear the applause of the crowd over the roar of the engines, which eased my nerves, and I began to rather enjoy the ride. However, before I knew it, a gust of wind blew up and very quickly pushed me onto the red dirt track right in front of the Royal box. Much to my horror, the beautifully raked track was now being sprayed out from under my hovercraft, targeting the Queen, who was wearing a beautiful peach-colored outfit with a matching peach-colored hat. I saw the look of distress on her face as this red cloud gently descended upon her. To add insult to injury, I also drove over the red carpet, promptly displacing it.

During our training, from the pilots who flew the large passenger hovercrafts traveling across the Solent from England to Europe, we practiced all sorts of scenarios that could possibly arise, but this was definitely not one of them!

Comprehending the magnitude of what had just happened, I managed to get my hovercraft under control, steered it back onto the grass, and positioned it directly in front of Her Highness. I lowered it to the ground, stepped out of the vehicle on very shaky legs, curtsied, which is Royal protocol, then rapidly exited from the arena.

There was a public announcement made over the loudspeaker with an apology to the Queen, who was sitting there with a slightly shocked expression on her face and a very different-colored outfit. Gracious person that she is, she raised her hand and gave the Royal wave, much to my enormous relief.

I have never forgotten how mortified I was that day, and I sometimes still wonder if she remembers it, too.

Pictured here:  Judy Foley and the hovercraft she drove.  

Photo of Judy Foley by A. Warner; photo of hovercraft courtesy Judy Foley.