Model Hoverwing Ground Effect Vehicle's First Tests On Water

Having found by chance that there is a small lake in the Hogmoor Inclosure in Bordon, used until recently by SEME to train tank drivers, we have plucked up the courage to try the model hoverwing on water. A Hoverwing is a hovercraft fitted with wings to enable it to fly in ground effect, enhancing its capability. In effect it is a variant of a Wing In Ground Effect vehicle (aka WIG) or Ekranoplan. We have a relatively unique wingplan that is intended to provide good stability in both ground effect and free flight. To our pleasant surprise, it actually worked well, although we also discovered that the adhesive in Solarfilm is not waterproof and needed re-bonding with CA glue! We were particularly pleased with the way it can transition from water to land seamlessly. It did reveal, however, that there are some areas that would benefit from further development. For example, the wings will take minor water strikes, but if the tip goes in too far, the upper surface of the aerofoil pulls the wing under, causing the hoverwing to cartwheel. Existing ground effect vehicles and Ekranoplans have floats fitted to the wingtips to resolve this. At this stage, however, we are considering hydrofoil “legs” as those will create less drag in the water. If they fail, then we will have to upgrade to floats. Also, it will not currently do a standing start in the water. Mistakenly, we called this“plough-in” in the video, but it is in fact failure to get over the "hump". When standing in water, the front wings rest on the water and in fact can plough in. Wingtip floats or hydrofoils would help remedy this. Finally, we discovered that the model hoverwing will enter free flight if the need arises and be stable, indicating that our three-surface approach is right. Furthermore, we are now looking at developing a fixed wing drone based on these results. More at http://www.rylandresearch.co.uk/ground-effect-vehicles

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