AERODYNAMICS, FLIGHT STABILITY AND DESIGN OF WING-IN-GROUND (WIG) CRAFT

Abstract

A Wing-In-Ground (WIG) craft is a type of flight vehicle specially designed to fly close above a ground or water surface, with the purpose of exploiting the enhancement in the aerodynamic loading and efficiency. Its unique features, such as high speed, enhanced aerodynamic loading, improved aerodynamic efficiency, reduced possibility of radar detection and reduced vulnerability to torpedo attack, have attracted widespread attention for both civilian and military applications. The objective of this thesis is to develop the capabilities for designing aerodynamically-efficient and inherently-stable WIG-crafts from scratch. Three aspects of the technical issues relating to WIG-crafts, namely aerodynamics, flight stability and design are investigated systematically to achieve this objective.