317

1 GROUNDEFFECTTODAY

“Groundeffect”isknowntheoreticallyfromstartof

aviationthankstofirst works byA.E. Raymondor

C. Wieselberger and pilots known, that practically

does not exist when a plane flies more than one

wingspanabovethesurfaceoflandorsea.

Different civil and military configurat

ions were

tested,butthefirstGroundEffectCraftnamedAirfish

8 (8 seats) produced by Airfoil Development Gmbh

(AFD)wascertifiedinlate90‐iesbyGermanischer

Llyod(+100A0WIG–A,WH0,5/1,5EXP).

Currently, under license by Korean

companyWingshipTechnologyCorp.(WSTCorp.) is

produced in Singapore like the Hoverwing 50 alias

WSH500(50seats!).

Source:AFDAirfoilDevelopmentGmbH

Figure1.Flightship8

"Ground effect" Inter-Modal Fast Sea Transport

Z.T.Pagowski&K.Szafran

InstiuteofAviation,Warsaw,Poland

ABSTRACT:Energyandemissionreductionstrategies are extremely important inactualtransportsituation.

“Ground effect”technology recognized from the late sixties has a problem with wide expanding in sea 

transport.Itisconnectedwithstabilityandcontrolsystems,aerodynamicsoflandingandtakeoffalsosea

state of civil and milit

ary Ground Effect Craft named also WIGs ((Wing in Ground effect) or ekranoplanes

AirfoilDevelopmentGmbh(AFD)wascertifiedinlate90‐iesinterestingdesignofekranoplane“Airfish8”

byGermanischerLlyod(+100A0WIG–A,WH0,5/1,5EXP)likethefistcivilekranoplane.TheHoverwing

50aliasWST500‐hassuccessfulflowninKoreaunderAFDlicence.Lastdevelopmentsintheav

iationfield

indicates new role in maritime transport of WIG’s. Innovations in the fields of aviation improving the

performancesofWIGsinnewfuturemakepossibletointroducethisidealikeʺGroundeffectʺInter‐ModalFast

SeaTransport,whichcomplementothermodesoftra

nsportandflowofpassengersalso.

http://www.transnav.eu

the International Journal

on Marine Navigation

and Safety of Sea Transportation

Volume 8

Number 2

June 2014

DOI:10.12716/1001.08.02.18

318



Sourcehttp://hoverwing.webs.com/

Figure2.WSH500.

LikewasinformedinMay2013WSH‐500isunder

sea trials in Korean waters and in the process ofa

fullcertificationbyLloydʹsRegisterUK.Startofthe

commercialoperationinKoreanroutebetweenports

of Gunsan and Jeju at cruising speed of 180 km/h

(maximum speed of

 200 km/h) is expected.On

Europeanmarketpracticallythistypeoftransportis

marginally existed in Russia.ATT company

introduced new similar civil programmewith

certifiedbyAquaglide5and30seatsWIGspeedboat

see Fig 3 & 4. Also under license from Russia

Aquaglide 5 is produced in China

like CYD‐11 see

Fig5



Source:ATTKinvest

Figure3.Aquaglide5onNeva(St.Petersburg)



Source:ATTKinves

Figure4.Aquaglide30



Figure5.CYG11

Fleet of ekranoplanes radar‐evading named

Bavar2 is used in Iran to patrol its coastal  areas

beginningfrom2010.ThedesignisbasedonGerman

designX‐113ofAlexanderLippish.



Figure6.Bavar2

The main parameters ofthese ekranoplanesare

submittedinTable1:

Table1

_______________________________________________

TypeofWIG  Fs8 WSH500 A5A30

_______________________________________________

Dimensions(m),

L17,22  2910,7  22,5

W15,16  285,911,3

H3,35  73,46,5

Cruisingspeed 160  175  150/170 200

(km/h)

Crewpers.3313

Seats850428

Range (km)  200  300  350/450 700

Wavedrag(m) 2.02.00.35  1.5

_______________________________________________

2 INTER‐MODALFASTSEATRANSPORT

The research concerning the consolidation of

maritime and other type of transport is needed to

reduce emission reductionandfuel consumption

of all type of transport especially in the seas in

Europewhichhasnoownreservoirs ofcrudeoiland

gas and politically

 unstable theirplaces of origin

like Russia or the Middle East. “Ground effect”

transportasinitiationofintermodalandinternational

mode of fasttravel in area ofEuropean seas

(Baltic,NorthSea,Mediterranean,AdriaticSea,Black

Sea) begin to be discussed andexpected, however

was not explained on map of

Europe on EPATS

propositions – see white area  of seas on scenario in

319

2035 for the use of small aircraftin EPATS/SAT

below.



Figure6 Scenario of small aircraft flight in 2035 by

EPATS/SATRdmp

Acc. preliminary analysis for Baltic sea by AFD

Airfoil Development GmbH using WIG technology

decreasingoftimeoftripandcostefficientmaritime

transport between main ports is expected and

reduced in comparison with car or ship. Below in

table2areshowncalculationforroutefromRostock

toTreleborgon

Balticsea(Fig.7).

Table2

_______________________________________________

TypeCar  Ship  Ekranoplane

_______________________________________________

Timeh.min 5.30  2.4557

CostEuro 103  3621

_______________________________________________



GenerallyalltransporttimeonEuropeanseaswill

bedecreasinginalldirectionandwill be attractive

alternative to travel for small distances (based on

EPATS < 300km?)in range of max. 350 km/h in

existing technologies acc. WIG Page (Fig. *)of all

type of business or tourist

tours creating better

conditionsfortraveling.

Firststepsof“groundeffect”transportofcourse

must take under care ofnew customer needs and

buildnewhabitsandeffectivecompetitionwithother

modesoftransport.

Theintroductionof“groundeffect”transportwill

also require innovations in the global economic

contexsupportedby

publicfundsbecausewillbekey

driver in the cross‐countryintegration in Europe

probablyfirstly on Baltic sea and havestrategic

importancenotonlytoEuropebuttoAfricaorother

continentstoo.



Figure 7. Routes of ekranoplane by Fischer Flugmechanik

undAFDAirfoilDevelopmentGmbH



Figure8Comparisonchartoftypesoftransport

Coincidence with ship routs needs new type of

professionalpilots/captains,thenetworkofregional

seaports including “ground effects” vehicle

infrastructure prepared toweather and sea

conditions.new type ofautomated control &

guidance,IFRoperationsandetc,.Onlong  distance

betweenEuropeandAmericawillbeveryinteresting

idea of

 “floating airports” as a emergency port for

necessaryaircraftrepairsandafueldockforsmaller

WIGs..LikeinEPATStwotimeperspectives2020

and 2035in line with ACARE Strategic Research

andinnovationagendaaregoodidea.Thefutureof

320

ʺGround effectʺ Inter‐Modal  Fast Sea Transport is

dependingontheconsolidationoftopicalstudieson

this specific transportand interdisciplinarygroup of

aviationandmarinespecialistswithtourists/business

agenciestoo.



Figure9 SomeʺGround effectʺ Inter‐Modal Fast Sea

Transport routes by Fischer Flugmechanik und AFD Airfoil

Development GmbH

3 CONCULSION

Authors concluded that European “Ground Effect”

transportinfrastructureneeds:

 general  characteristics andhierarchy list of

seaportsforintermodaltransport

 general requirements for “Ground effect” sea

airports

 number of operations, flow ofpassengers in

additionaltypetransport(GA,Businessetc.)

 seaportsdistancesand distribution from several



points of view (touristic, business, special  taxi

systemetc)

 potentialdemandforGEIMSEATSanditscosts

 confirmed specifications and performance of

currentlyproduced“Groundeffect”aircrafts

 overviewofcurrentR&Deffortsconducted

 a vision and future for performancesof

“Groundeffect”aircrafts 

 newproposals

foradequateresearchprogramsat

HORIZON2020, SME Instrument,MED Program

in area of aeronautics, aerodynamic design,

composite materials, control systems, system of

intermodaloperations,technologyimplementation

fromGAandcommercialaviation

 classification of nomenclature and definitions at

the EU and national levels, TRL classification of

proposalsubmitted,overviewthrough

patentand

researchconnected with WiGaircrafts, submitted

inEUregisters 

REFERENCES

[1]http://archive.today/abPS‘TheWIGpage”

[2]D 3.1 The ROADMAP for technology development for

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