How about a human powered Ekranoplan?

I've just been working on a short article about an interesting electric Wing in Ground effect project (WIG).

Maritime Journal | Isn’t it time you got a WIG? https://www.maritimejournal.com/news101/vessel-build-and-maintenance/ship-and-boatbuilding/isnt-it-time-you-got-a-wig

It strikes me that compared with a human powered aircraft (Incredibly difficult, but doable), a human powered craft running in ground effect might be easier to achieve. Lower power requirement and stability less of an issue? Or do human powered planes only work in ground effect anyway?

Obviously I know this one is well beyond the reach of the hobyist, but just interested to know if it's being thought about.

As a subsidiary question, is a sail powered WIG craft perhaps in the future for things like the America's Cup?

Whether these are boats or not I guess depends on whether you want to have anything touch the water. To sail, you'd need a Hapa foil or keel of some sort and rudder.

Human powered could use an airscrew or water propeller plus rudder. In terms of an HPB, you could say it's the next stage on for Decavitator. Wings in air instead of water!

Same with the America's Cup- Wings in air instead of water. Once they're up and going the apparent wind is well forward so it's not like your trying to get the wings to work in a sidewind.

Perhaps a bit of both, so foils in the water to give initial lift. I note that the vessel/ aircraft linked above has water foils too.

Jake

 

Thinking about it for a second, there's no WAY you'd get off the water with human power. A human powered aircraft has a smooth runway and low rolling resistance wheels and tyres to allow it enough speed for takeoff. A foiling human powered WIG would be to heavy to get onto its foils and therefore would never attain the speed to get into ground effect flight.
But... my query re sail power still stands.
It could use a wind generator to gearbox to propeller system. Upwind it would be a thing to behold! Apparent wind building with forward speed increasing lift on the wings and power at the same time!

 

Sounds like you're skating in the direction of Perpetual Motion.

 

Human powered aircraft mostly fly within ground effect, but to win the Kremer prize Gossamer Condor had to start and finish the course flying over a 10ft. high barrier.

 

Build it!!

What a waste of words.

 

Do Flying Fish depend on ground effect ? Some people say they don't really fly, but that isn't my observation.

 

Need to spend more effort on the steroid use and doping and less on the design of craft...... get that watt output higher than Lance Armstrong at the height of his doping.

 

Re skating close to perpetual motion.
Not so. Turbine to pylon to gearbox to prop sailing craft
A) exist
and B) have their fastest point of sailing dead upwind.

 

Cite an example, please? Just guessing here, but I would expect this system to perform very poorly downwind.

 

What does this have to do with human powered performance.
Rock stars sing nice, another fact that has nothing to do with this thread.

 

Do a free body diagram of the forces involved and check the results. For example, the force of the wind on the turbine needs an opposite reaction force or it won't turn.

 

Gonzo,

You had better define a free body diagram.
You don't really expect someone who made that statement to understand - do you?

 

this is a cart but same difference. Travels 2x windspeed upwind.


this is a boat.





this is too

even though not going upwind in this video

 

spend a few minutes pumping up a big version of this to get airborne and up to speed.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08GZJJKY...uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

 

In addition to Gossamer Condor, there was MIT's Project Daedalus. There are a ton of books on human flight.

McCready and Langford in 1998 lecture -