Ground-effect vehicle

<p>A ground-effect vehicle (GEV), also called a wing-in-ground-effect (WIGE or WIG), ground-effect craft/machine (GEM), wingship, flarecraft, surface effect vehicle or ekranoplan (<a href="/facts/Russian_language/ETXrTgHV">Russian</a>: экранопла́н – "screenglider"), is a <a href="/facts/Vehicle/jSIEqANL">vehicle</a> that is able to move over the surface by gaining support from the reactions of the air against the surface of the earth or water. Typically, it is designed to glide over a level surface (usually over the sea) by making use of <a href="/facts/Ground_effect_(aerodynamics)/NBIBTAlw">ground effect</a>, the aerodynamic interaction between the moving wing and the surface below. Some models can operate over any flat area such as frozen lakes or flat plains similar to a <a href="/facts/Hovercraft/4GdyFF7Y">hovercraft</a>. The term Ground-Effect Vehicle originally referred to any craft utilizing ground effect, including what is known later as <a href="/facts/Hovercraft/4GdyFF7Y">hovercraft</a>, in descriptions of patents during the 1950s. However, this term is nowadays regarded as distinct from air-cushion vehicles or hovercraft. The definition of GEVs does not include racecars utilizing <a href="/facts/Ground_effect_(cars)/JbzFAYvA">ground-effect</a> for increasing downforce.
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Ground-effect vehicle open-in-new

Ground-effect vehicle