RSS
Twitter
Duck! It's A Low-Flying Gigaplane
from the but-can-you-fish-from-it? dept
It seems that Boeing is working on a project to build the world's largest plane with a wing span of almost 600 feet. That's not the most interesting part, though. The plane is being designed to fly over water at a constant altitude of 20 feet. Not 20,000, but 20. Two-zero. Apparently, it will make use of the "ground effect" that is caused by a low flying plane creating pressure which helps to push the plane, decreasing the drag, and giving it much better mileage.
Reader Comments
(Flattened / Threaded)
Are they on crack or what?
What happens when a big wave comes along?
A 40-foot rogue wave can appear in the calmest of seas. It's caused by the resonance effect of smaller waves combining to form a bigger wave. Blub blub blub, there goes a thousand soldiers and ten tanks.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: Are they on crack or what?
I'd be more concerned about FOD. Wouldn't the ground effect act on the rogue wave and maintain altitude?
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: Are they on crack or what?
Rogue waves are known to come zooming in at incredibly fast speeds (80 mph), appearing out of nowhere. A fisherman may or may not witness one in his career.
Another issue would be bird strikes. Will the Pelican hit a pelican and turn the passengers into pelican food?
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: Are they on crack or what?
A 600 foot wingspan would give good ground effect much higher than 20 feet, but at decreased efficiency. Also, I would think they could use a predictive "ground following" radar ala the F-111 to avoid whacking into a good sized wave.
Found this on the web:
As a rule of thumb, Ground Effect is accepted as being up to 1 1/2 times wing span, expressed as height above surface. However, at heights greater than half the chord length the craft tends to be less efficient.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
No Subject Given
sounds like what the russians did 10 or 20 years ago. they had a huge ground effect (sea)plane that could carry a tank.it was tested in the caspian sea but i think they ran out of money. i wonder if boeing "appropriated" their technology....
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Add Your Comment