Flightship

O

oldgrowth

New member


A friend sent me this VIDEO link of the Fligtship FS8.

The FS-8 was developed in Germany. Initially the FS-8 was assigned the Airfisch 8. The number 8 denotes the maximum number of passengers (including 2 crew). The first flight of the FS-8 took place in February 2001 in the Netherlands. The wave height at take off must not exceed one and a half feet, but in cruise flight the FS-8 can negotiate 6 foot waves. The FS-8 will be of FRP construction and powered by a 452 hp 378 cubic inch Chevy V8 engine. It will cost approximately $800.000 in the standard layout.

The Flightship FS-8 will be registered and operated like a boat. At full power the maximum flare height is approximately 10 feet.

I found this old article on the internet by By Russ Niles, Newswriter, Editor on July 25, 2004

Travelers between Juneau, Skagway and Haines, Alaska, will soon have the option of "flying" without ever leaving the ground (effect). Pacific Seaflight is planning to launch its eight-passenger "wing in ground effect" vehicle in time to take passengers next summer. The Australian-designed Flightship FS8 Dragon Commuter (scroll down for English) is now being built in Florida and will whisk patrons at 85 knots skimming eight feet above the cold Pacific. It'll cover the distance between Juneau and Haines in 55 minutes for a one-way fare of about $60, said company president Linus Romey. Ground-effect vehicles are nothing new but this is believed to be their first commercial application in North America, Romey told the Chilkat Valley News. Although the Flightship most certainly flies, it's not considered an airplane by the government. Instead, it's regulated as a small passenger ship, which really cuts the overhead. The Flightship is powered by a Chevy engine and Romey said that once it lifts off the water the ride is "as smooth as you can imagine."

Anybody know if this ever happened and if so, was it successful?
Another article I found said it would be built in Florida.

As much as you guys are informed on most boating subjects, this may have come up for discussion on this site and I just missed it.

Dave dlt.gif
www.tolandmarine.com
 
Starting to work on the AIRinaut? ;)

Let me know when you're ready to put one into service, Dave - I have a Master license and a commercial pilots license. That thing looks like a real hoot!

Best wishes,
Jim
 
JamesTXSD":13vic87f said:
Starting to work on the AIRinaut? ;)

Let me know when you're ready to put one into service, Dave - I have a Master license and a commercial pilots license. That thing looks like a real hoot!

Best wishes,
Jim
Click to expand...

I know you don't need a pilots license, not sure about the Master license. I would think all you'd need is a pair of big brass ones and a lot of $$.

The SOVIETS had these a long time ago. A very neat video, thanks for sharing.

Charlie
 
Looks like an airplane to me. Certainly would be a challange on the ICW--can you imagine having one of these come around the bend in the middle of the channel? Docking space? Wonder how the beam stacks up against the wing span of a deHavilland Beaver? Only $800,000. Certainly an interesting concept. What about the no wake zones?
 
oldgrowth":1c7603gh said:
. . .

I found this old article on the internet by By Russ Niles, Newswriter, Editor on July 25, 2004

Travelers between Juneau, Skagway and Haines, Alaska, will soon have the option of "flying" without ever leaving the ground (effect). . . .

Anybody know if this ever happened and if so, was it successful?
Click to expand...

Not to my knowledge, and I'm sure I would have seen or heard about it. Like Dr Bob, I have serious doubts about its use in lots of places. Like foggy places, or places with 30 knot winds. Like S.E. Alaska. Maybe it's viable for commercial use in other climes.
 
I think the biggest issue for all of these types of craft is that they have to be within about 1/2 a wingspan of the surface in order to get the maximum ground effect. As a result, they're great for fairly flat surfaces but not so useful when the surface is significantly "lumpier" than about half the wing. While the video claims an ability to operate at a height of up to 3m above 4m waves, you don't see any 12' waves in the video but rather see fairly calm waters (waves of <1.5 m). You also don't see it doing any sharp turns either as one doesn't want to dig a wing tip in too far. I think for the Juneau, Skagway and Haines areas, the wave height during much of the year might be too high for this to be a useful form of transport. One key difference between this craft and a sea plane is that while both have the same limitations in wave height for take off, a sea plane doesn't care about wave height during the flight. Hence, it can take off and land in protected harbors and fly over nasty seas in between. A ground effect plane requires fairly decent seas across the entire route.
 
Can it run "wet", at displacement speeds, in a pinch?

In ground-effect hover-mode, it should save a few manatees...
 
I always wondered what it would be like to "fly" one of them. You have to make somewhat flat turns, and trimming the elevator is very important. I was watching the pilot or captain's control inputs and it looked like it required a lot of attention. I assume an autopilot would work, but altitude control would be critical. It would be logical to presume if you got too high it would settle back down due to lack of lift so stalling should not be a problem unless you made a radical control input. On the other hand a little nose down could ruin the day.
 
Back
Top