Ground Effect Vehicle
A ground effect vehicle (GEV) is one that attains level flight near the surface of the Earth, making use of the aerodynamic interaction between the wings and the surface known as ground effect. Most known are the Soviet ekranoplanes, but names like wing-in-ground-effect (WIG) vehicle, flarecraft, sea skimmer, SkimMachine, or wing-in-surface-effect ship (WISE) occur. In recent years a large number of different GEV types have been developed for both civilian and military use. However, these craft are yet to be put in general use.
Read more about Ground Effect Vehicle: Design, Classification, Advantages and Disadvantages, History
Famous quotes containing the words ground, effect and/or vehicle:
“I feel ruefully sure, also, that one must be at least one sort of fool to rush in over ground so well trodden by the angels.”
—J.L. (John Langshaw)
“An actor must communicate his author’s given message—comedy, tragedy, serio- comedy; then comes his unique moment, as he is confronted by the looked-for, yet at times unexpected, reaction of the audience. This split second is his; he is in command of his medium; the effect vanishes into thin air; but that moment has a power all its own and, like power in any form, is stimulating and alluring.”
—Eleanor Robson Belmont (1878–1979)
“How strange a vehicle it is, coming down unchanged from times of old romance, and so characteristically black, the way no other thing is black except a coffin—a vehicle evoking lawless adventures in the plashing stillness of night, and still more strongly evoking death itself, the bier, the dark obsequies, the last silent journey!”
—Thomas Mann (1875–1955)