The ground effect effect

June 14, 2007 4:44 PM

Many Mefi members have wondered about how they should get from their private island to friends' private islands. Finally, SeaFalcon provides an answer. They have a built a wonderful vehicle that exploits ground effects to provide a rapid, efficient way to island hop. via
posted by sien (39 comments total)

could use that for Costco runs to Kahului to my secret underwater lair lee of Molokini.
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 4:48 PM on June 14, 2007

Amateurs.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 4:49 PM on June 14, 2007

Didn't Zaphod Beeblebrox have one of these?
posted by 235w103 at 4:49 PM on June 14, 2007

More.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 4:50 PM on June 14, 2007

So wait. Does this thing hop like a stone when thrown across a pond or something or am I just completely misunderstanding what this "ground effect" thing is...
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 4:53 PM on June 14, 2007

Looks like you can buy one of the russian ones.
posted by 445supermag at 4:53 PM on June 14, 2007

Wow. I live in the USVI. This would really make life cooler around here, if these things were around. I probably won't be buying my own, though.
posted by ibmcginty at 5:02 PM on June 14, 2007

Also covered before.
posted by banished at 5:05 PM on June 14, 2007

No, a "ground effect" vehicle actually isn't a vehicle that effects the ground by repeatedly striking it.

It's a vehicle that takes advantage of some of the peculiar properties of wings flown near the ground.
posted by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America at 5:07 PM on June 14, 2007

this "ground effect" thing

wings affect and interact with the air around them . . . eg. each wing creates a vortex that stretches back to the point in airspace where it first started moving.

wings within ~10' of the ground experience extra lift from the altered aerodynamics involved with the moving airmasses and the ground.
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 5:12 PM on June 14, 2007

Yes, yes, but what is this "ground effect" thing?

And why male models?
posted by The Deej at 5:17 PM on June 14, 2007

Pretty neat.

Obligatory Wikipedia entry for the big Russian Ekranoplans.

Well, it certainly can't hurt to have fast, highly fuel-efficient over-water transport.
posted by zoogleplex at 5:25 PM on June 14, 2007

"Can be operated with a sports boat license" = WTF
posted by Spacelegoman at 5:28 PM on June 14, 2007

You just know the people who buy this will take up two spaces on the dock so no one else can park next to them.
posted by brain_drain at 5:56 PM on June 14, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

So why don't we have these things instead of cars?
posted by ddf at 5:58 PM on June 14, 2007

We don't all commute across open water.

Though since these do work on "level" ground, they could work on freeways, I should think.

Those "ice road truckers" up north might find these useful as rescue vehicles...
posted by zoogleplex at 6:09 PM on June 14, 2007

This is how my aerodynamics prof explained ground effect: a plane wing essentially pushes air downwards and that's what keeps a plane up. Well, when you are very close to the ground, the air that's being pushed downwards can't go that far: hence its pressure goes up and it pushes the wing a bit more upwards, increasing the overall lift significantly.

(I am simplifying a bit, but this is essentially correct).
posted by costas at 6:20 PM on June 14, 2007

Oh, as to why WIG planes haven't succeeded that much: well, you need to fly close to the ground for the above to work, which is dangerous everywhere but in open sea. Which means that in effect you have to create a sea-plane of some sort that has to withstand splashing down: that means extra weight, which counteracts the WIG gains quite a bit. Oh, and so do the insurance premiums....
posted by costas at 6:23 PM on June 14, 2007

Neat. Where does one mount the laser cannons?
posted by stargell at 6:24 PM on June 14, 2007

Awesome! I was just wondering how to get to my friend's private island for the party tonight! One of those Russian monsters should do the trick nicely, and who can resist a craft called the ORLYONOK? (although I have my suspicions that the Volga Shipyard is just on-selling an Ikea kit ekranoplan)
posted by UbuRoivas at 6:31 PM on June 14, 2007

Ekranoplan design was conceived by revolutionary Soviet engineer Rostislav Alexeev

Revolutionary. Heh.

Here's more on the Caspian Sea Monster, including some coolo Google Earth photos.
posted by UbuRoivas at 6:41 PM on June 14, 2007

I always thought the Orlyonok would be an interesting long-range maritime SAR platform if it can take off and land in bad sea states.

From last fall: "In Search of the Caspian Sea Monster" in The Register.

And even better: The Boeing Pelican.
posted by pax digita at 6:53 PM on June 14, 2007

I've always had mixed feelings about these things. On the one hand, I appreciate the fact that some places are inaccessible to anyone who doesn't have either a week or two to get there or way too much money. I rarely visit such places, but it's somehow reassuring to know that they're still out there, peaceful anchorages where you might not see another boat for weeks at a time. If WIG aircraft ever became affordable and common, and people could traverse the sea as easily as driving a car, too many of those places could become just as crowded as the closer-to-civilization cruising spots already are. On the other hand, I want one.
posted by sfenders at 6:54 PM on June 14, 2007

There is some more info here, I think, though I don't read German, including real photographs and a video; however, in the video the thing never gets out of the water.
posted by enn at 7:04 PM on June 14, 2007

Not understanding German is no excuse for not putting on your best Colonel Klink accent & reading the words aloud.

How could anybody resist mouthing the following?

Bodeneffektfahrzeuge besitzen Eigenschaften von Schiff und Flugzeug. Für den schnellen Verkehr im Bereich von Binnen- und Randmeeren bieten sie eine Alternative zu existierenden Transportmitteln. Bodeneffektfahrzeuge transportieren Personen und Frachten in der Geschwindigkeits- und Kostenlücke zwischen Schnellfähren und Flugzeugen.

Bodeneffeckfahrzeuge! Those Germans have a word for everything!
posted by UbuRoivas at 7:16 PM on June 14, 2007

From mr_crash_davisesses's link:

There are lots of quite bad experiences with WIGs due to the unstability; accidents like a boat turning over. To be able to operate WIGs on a wavy water and during all seasons, some inherrient stability should they posses.

Is this an example of Germanglish?
posted by Kibbutz at 7:17 PM on June 14, 2007

Not Germanglish, but it is a rough translation of the word Bodeneffeckfahrzeuge.
posted by parallax7d at 8:19 PM on June 14, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Gülkız Doğan is a Turkish name, and I'm betting that .tr is Turkey's domain.

So, yes. Probably Germanglish.
posted by UbuRoivas at 8:24 PM on June 14, 2007

Rowboats remain the domain of the mega-butch.
*flexes big hairy muscles*
posted by Iron Rat at 8:34 PM on June 14, 2007

What about waves?
posted by _sirmissalot_ at 9:15 PM on June 14, 2007

This SeaFalcon, it floats?
posted by davejay at 9:19 PM on June 14, 2007

Video of the giant Russian ones in action (youtube).
posted by wsg at 11:32 PM on June 14, 2007

You flew one of these aircraft to get to Westworld.
posted by eye of newt at 12:05 AM on June 15, 2007

To be able to operate WIGs on a wavy water and during all seasons, some inherrient stability should they posses.

Sounds more like Yoda to me. Some inherent stability might be advantageous for anything travelling at 100+ mph.

The Caspian Sea Monster KM solved the problem by being honking HUGE and may be the ultimate example of the Soviet "anything worth doing is worth overdoing" school of engineering design.
posted by Enron Hubbard at 5:35 AM on June 15, 2007

Carrying 2.000 lbs at top speed of 120 mph with a range of 1.170 miles, spending only 4 gallons per hour in the process

It gets better mileage than my car.

/sigh

Seems like a 6 foot wave would be a problem though. Does anyone see where it says how high above the water if flies?
posted by Mr_Zero at 6:30 AM on June 15, 2007

Mr Z, they seem to say they max out at 9ft.
posted by nomisxid at 7:42 AM on June 15, 2007

What happens when you hit a flying fish?
posted by poppo at 9:24 AM on June 15, 2007

Presumably the fish dies.
posted by kavasa at 2:28 PM on June 15, 2007

Poor fish.

Are there many waterbirds in the Caspian? You probably wouldn't want to be flying one of these things with pelicans around, for example. Something like this might happen.

Aside from that, anybody know what the music is behind the YouTube clip of the Russian ekranoplans...? I like.

Seems like a 6 foot wave would be a problem though.

I'm really not so sure of that. Thinking back to hiskewl physics, f = mv, no? Mass is 540 tonnes, ie 540,000 kg. Velocity = 400 km/h, which equals, um, 111 metres per second.

That would mean the ekranoplan would hit the wave with a force of about sixty million somethings. Newtons or Joules or something. Sixty million! Think about that! That wave would not be long for the world.

Anyway, my guess is that a single wave wouldn't screw up the ekranoplan's velocity or momentum too much, but very choppy conditions might eventually throw it a little off balance.
posted by UbuRoivas at 4:51 PM on June 15, 2007