Ground effect vehicles

[Jon]

Ground effect vehicles rely on ground effect, the increased lift and reduced drag generated by an aircraft's wings when they are close to the surface. They're extremely similar to airplanes, although they're generally designed to stay within 100 feet or so of the ground. Because they usually don't enter free flight, they're not really considered airplanes, and are often instead classified as ships.

Ground effect vehicles are faster than airplanes that travel at normal altitude, and they're also much faster than ships that experience drag from contacting water. They can potentially be useful as low-cost transport vehicles; for this reason, many of history's ground effect vehicles were enormous.

However, ground effect vehicles have questionable utility, so their production has been limited. And flying close to the ground (or the sea) leaves limited options in an emergency.

Ground effect vehicles have some interesting history. They were first seen in the early '70s, pioneered by Russian designer Rotislav Alexeyev and the German engineer Alexander Lippisch, who came to the United States under Operation Paperclip. They were revolutionary technology at inception, and photos today are largely limited to satellite images, artist renderings, or photos of abandoned ground effect vehicles built by now-defunct governments. Some samples:

The famed Russian Caspian Sea Monster:


The Russian A-90 Orlyonok:


The German Skimmerfoil Jörg IV:


Don't worry though, you can easily build your own ground effect vehicle; Universal Hovercraft offers a kit! By adding wings on to one of their hovercraft kits, they've created the only ground effect vehicle available to build as a kit. Life insurance policy sold separately.

[Paul Jones]

Jon,

Interesting vehicles and thank you for your reference to Operation Paperclip. Over the years I use to keep in touch with some of my professors from graduate school. Many are now deceased but had a big influence on me. My PhD is a in Geophysics but in fact I took more graduate level math than geophysics. My most favorite graduate level math professor was Dr. Fritz Oberhettinger (B 1911, D 1993, see his books at https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...+Oberhettinger) who during WWII work for the Nazis and was an applied mathematician in special function theory. He worked on radar systems that could “see” over the horizon using a “creeping wave”. He walked with a slight limp because of a broken leg. He was running down a stairwell during an Allied bombing of a Nazi research building, he slipped, broke his leg, and it was never set correctly. Right near the end of the war the Americans brought Dr. Oberhettinger and many others including his friend Wernher von Braun (V2 rocket designer and later in the US, the Saturn V rockets) to the USA via Operation Paperclip ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Paperclip ).

In grad school in the 1970's, where I think I enrolled in six or seven classes on special function theory and other advanced applied mathematics taught by Dr. Oberhettinger. There were five to ten students in each class so we got to know Dr. Oberhettinger very well and he enjoyed talking about his past. When he came to the USA he did not speak English and had to learn English at night school and also by reading Chicago based gangster novels. He said these novels were very inexpensive so this was whart he read to improve his English. As a result, he talked like Tony Soprano with a heavy German accent and using all sorts of gangster idioms when describing the peculiar way the math functions operated and transformed. It was very entertaining despite being a difficult subject. Occasionally he would digress, sit on the edge of his class room desk, and tell us about his journey from Germany at the end of WWII to the USA. The stories now make more sense with all the new information available today on Operation Paperclip. The USA certainly got many top notch scientist and engineers through this operation.

Thank you,

Paul

[Jon]

AirFish 8 ground effect vehicle.

[Frank S]

Ground effect vehicles are extremely dangerous to maneuver. Straight line travel is safe enough but they rely on the cushion of air between the vehicle and the ground for flight rather than the pressure differential above and below their wings to maintain flight. any spillage of the cushion of air in a turn will result in the wing dipping and possibly coming in contact with the ground.

[ranald]

Ground effect vehicles are extremely dangerous to maneuver. Straight line travel is safe enough but they rely on the cushion of air between the vehicle and the ground for flight rather than the pressure differential above and below their wings to maintain flight. any spillage of the cushion of air in a turn will result in the wing dipping and possibly coming in contact with the ground.

looks scarey -" faster & safer"?

[Loose Ctrl]

I study these things from '06 to '08. They are not good for tight maneuvers. They're best in long distances across choppy water where they can build lift and speed. Depending on the design, they can generate enough lift to support themselves for low-level flight. In the water, they drive similar to an airboat. Some even have a stepped lower planing hull with protected rudders.

[Frank S]

They are more economical to operate than hover craft though for one thing their speed and under-body design does not require them to wear a skirt

[Loose Ctrl]

They are more economical to operate than hovercraft though for one thing their speed and under-body design does not require them to wear a skirt

I agree. Researching DIY hovercraft is what led me to research ground effect vehicles.

[sossol]

Their promo video from 2008 shows them deliberately dipping the wingtip into the water to show that it has no negative effect.

[mcthistle007]

Ha-Ha Classic Gold,At least you and others should'nt have been Bored,I think Inspired.A Real Good Teacher and Mentor.