Hoverwing

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The Hoverwing technology originated in the late nineties when fishing flight mechanics to increase the efficiency of ground effect vehicles during the initial phase. It was the prerequisite for building larger ferry vehicles that took advantage of the ground effect.

Starting position

With the two-seater sport boat vehicle Fischer Airfish AF-3 , Hanno Fischer provided evidence in the mid-1990s as an efficient and fast means of transport for ground-effect vehicles. On the one hand, these vehicles had the advantage of higher speeds compared to conventional ships, on the other hand, they were considerably more cost-effective than conventional aircraft with comparable speeds in travel operations due to the use of the ground effect. One problem with the ground effect vehicles was the high expenditure of energy that was required to bring the vehicle into the speed range in which the ground effect is effective. As the size and weight of the vehicles increased, this problem became significant. The realization of 80- and multi-seat ground effect vehicles on the basis of the Airfish technology based purely on the ground effect was not possible.

While Hanno Fischer and Klaus Matjasic the requirements for the eight-seat Flightship FS-8 of the Australian Flightshop Ground Effect Pty. could still meet with the simple Airfish technology, a solution to this problem was required to meet the specification of the forty- seat Flightship FS-40 .

Hoverwing technology

To solve the problem, Fischer and Matjasic looked at conventional hovercraft that were already in use as large ferries in the 1960s. In these vehicles, an air cushion on which the fuselage was carried was built up by means of a fan in a folded area below the fuselage. In principle, heavy boats could also be lifted with the air cushion and propelled forward. The disadvantage of the hovercraft, however, was the continuously high expenditure of energy to maintain the air cushion during cruising.

In their future designs, Fischer and Matjasic combined this air-cushion technology to first lift heavy vehicles out of the water and accelerate them to the speed range in which the ground effect became effective (hover mode) with the ground-effect technology, which enables air cushion operation Reaching the necessary speed (flare mode). This combination was called hoverwing technology by Fischer and Matjasic.

The basic principle of a hoverwing vehicle consists of a catamaran hull, between the two floating bodies at the front and rear, lowerable aprons were attached, similar to conventional hovercraft, with which the space between the two hulls could be closed to the outside. To build up the air cushion, part of the propeller air flow was directed into this closed space between the hulls. The rerouting of the air flow was dimensioned so that 80% of the vehicle's weight was already carried by the static air cushion when stationary.

Test vehicle HW2VT

To test the new technology, Fischer Flugmechanik developed a two-seat test vehicle under the name Fischer Hoverwing HW2VT , which was extensively tested between 1997 and 2001. The tests showed that only 7% of the propeller air flow was required to build up the necessary air cushion. Compared to a vehicle designed purely for ground effect use, such as the Airfish, a hoverwing vehicle requires up to 45% less energy.

Production and Marketing

Fischer Flugmechanik has been offering its ground vehicle designs under the name Hoverwing since 2001. Over the past 15 years, Fischer Flugmechanik has created numerous designs for 20, 50, 80 and 120-seat hoverwings, of which the following are currently being implemented:

Hoverwing technology is now also used in ground-effect vehicles from other manufacturers, e.g. B. by Universal Hovercraft .

See also

literature

  • Hanno Fischer, Klaus Matjasic: The Hoverwing Technology - Bridge Between WIG and ACV , 1998
  • Nita B Shah: Design of Hoverwing Aircraft , San Jose State University, 2011
  • Graham Taylor: WIG - What Are You Waiting for? , International Conference on Fast Sea Transport, St. Petersburg, 2005

Web links