If ground effect are so much more efficient why aren’t we using them for flights, from Europe to the US for example?
In: Engineering
There are lots of reasons why.
1. It’s not particularly safe. Large waves, inclement weather and even shipping could cause a catastrophe with little warning.
2. Airplanes and water aren’t wonderful friends. Building a plane that needs to also float and endure water landings is actually fairly tricky and adds significant weight.
3. Needing smooth water conditions along the coastline for take-off and landing would likely lead to significant travel delays in many locales.
4. There’s not enough space to manoeuvre. If all the planes travelled at the same altitude, they simply couldn’t achieve the same level of air traffic density without risking collisions frequently.
5. Flying at high altitude is typically more fuel efficient than flying at sea level.
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