Before proceeding with this Chapter, the reader might pause for a moment and glance again at the photograph in Figure 2.1 in Chapter 2 and imagine a wing-in-ground-effect (WIG) craft (or “ship”) flying close to the water to obtain the lift advantage from “ground or surface effect” in those same sea conditions. One might also wonder why all the photographs that have appeared in the literature from the small personal aircraft using the WIG principle to the largest sizes in the Russian, Chinese and German work on WIG, and with the US PAR WIG and other variants of wing-in-ground-effect, are all taken in calm waters or in relatively calm seas. This is a problem that needs to be addressed and will be referred to in this chapter on this promising concept to achieve high speed over the seas of the world.

Aerodynamic Underpinnings

The basic aerodynamic principles that apply to aerodynamic air cushion craft can be traced to before the Wright brothers first flew at Kitty Hawk on 17 December 1903. In the late 1800s several scientists and renowned engineers were developing the theory of flight and building practical man-powered gliders. Sir George Cayley (1773–1857) in Scarborough, Yorkshire, England is frequently referred to as “the father of aeronautics” because of his extensive work in determining the four basic forces for flight: lift, drag, thrust and weight and building the first glider to carry a man aloft. The first flight was in 1849 with a young boy as pilot. A much larger glider that flew across Brompton Dale (near Scarborough, Yorkshire) was in 1853 with a grown man as pilot. Historical records are not clear as to who the pilot was but possibly an employee or probably Sir Cayley's grandson. A history of Sir George Cayley and his work may be found in Richard Dee's excellent 2007 book.1 Sir George Cayley was a prolific inventor and well versed in basic research methods. An interesting and prescient set of short articles written by him appears in the 1809 and 1810 Journal of Natural Philosophy2 where he outlines the governing principles for flight.