Improvement of a Takeoff of Wing-in-Ground Effect Vehicles by Tiltable Rotor Mechanisms

Abstract

Wing-in-ground (WIG) effect vehicles are airplanes that use the ground effect to fly at altitudes of tens of centimeters to several meters above the ground or water surface. By using such an effect, it is possible to fly with less energy than a normal aircraft, so that by using this, it is possible to load much more luggage than an aircraft and cruise at a higher speed than a ship. Thus, this transport equipment has the characteristics of both aircraft and ships, and can make up for the shortcomings of them. But, takeoff is thought to be an issue for ground effect vehicles. The wing cannot generate sufficient lift when not increasing the airspeed, so that it needs to accelerate during a long distance before takeoff. In this research, such a problem is improved by introducing four variable tiltable rotor mechanisms. In this paper, a model that considers the thrusts due to such tiltable rotors is derived, together with including the ground effect of the vehicle, and its effectiveness is verified by a simulation.