Re:Ekranoplan
by stcredzero on Saturday April 06, 2013 @03:51PM
(#5504785)
The economic problem is that flying near the ocean surface is quite dangerous. You can have swells as high as 50 feet and rogue waves even higher than that. This means that erkranoplan either to be built as sturdy enough boats to wait out storms and incur the economic penalty of waiting, or as capable enough aircraft to be able to fly over them. Either prospect makes them less desirable economically.
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Please note that the Lun was not an obligate ground-effect plane: its ceiling was 7500m, though it obviously lost efficiency without ground effect and needed ground effect to take off and land.
Re:Ekranoplan
by stcredzero on Saturday April 06, 2013 @07:59PM
(#5505535)
I didn't know the Lun had that high a ceiling! There's still a potential problem if it can't land in a storm, however. It might climb above the swells, then run out of fuel at high altitude.