A helicopter's rotor blades are indeed wings,
creating lift from the pressure differential between the top and bottom of the blades as they move through the air. They do indeed experience the ground effect, where the pressure below the blade is increased due to proximity to the ground.
Hovercraft and the vehicle in the OP work on a different principle, using fans to create a cushion of high pressure air below the vehicle. The ground effect plays little to no part in that situation.
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Happosai _,,,,_(O ; o)_,,,, Wed 22 Aug 2012, 13:26,
Reply)
I don't see what you're arguing
Your first point agrees with what I said, and your second flat contradicts your first.
The fans are nothing more than ducted rotors - the duct improving the efficiency of the rotors. Ground effect is nothing more than a high-pressure zone of air caused by proximity to the ground - as you yourself said. It is clearly important for hovercraft and as evidence for this, ask yourself why hovercraft can't fly like helicopters.
As to my original point, right at the top of this thread - this vehicle is clearly operating in ground effect. Until they can make it operate out of ground effect they've achieved nothing novel other than a hovercraft with excessive power requirements.
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evil_andy Stick stick stick stick sticky sticky stick stick, Wed 22 Aug 2012, 14:06,
Reply)