3 ms·
I wonder how the Airfish is progressing. I haven't seen an update in ages. https://www.wigetworks.com/ https://www.wigetworks.com/
by markdown 6y ago
I wonder how the Airfish is progressing. I haven't seen an update in ages. https://www.wigetworks.com/ https://www.wigetworks.com/
- HenryBemis 6y agoI wonder if such solutions are cost effective. Unless they are marketing these services for a very limited (ultra-rich) clientele, in which, it doesn't make any sense. Why buy an airplane that you can only use over sea, and in good conditions? You can use a boat at a fraction of the cost for large numbers of people (purchase, maintenance), or a helicopter for a smaller number of people. And on planet earth we do get bad weather (even at sea level). It's not as bad as in Interstellar ("these are not mountains"), but it can certainly render this useless. Unless they target VERY SPECIFIC region (specific parts of Arab peninsula), then we are limiting the use so much that it can only survive as a niche company and not expand much.
- throwaway0a5e 6y agoHelicopters don't tend to like the kinds of conditions that result in the kinds of seas that these ground effect aircraft don't like. Ground effect seaplanes could potentially fill the same niche as helicopters for the offshore oil industry (or anyone else who operates helicopters in coastal waters).
- mapt 6y agoYou need something the size of the KM or larger for the sort of waves you get on the calmest day in the Gulf of Mexico. Small ekranoplanes don't work so well in actual oceans.
- markdown 6y agoI reckon they'd be great flying in small-island states that depend heavily on tourism (inter-island travel). AFAIK they are very cheap to run, using gasoline rather than avgas/jetfuel. Think Hawaii, Fiji, the Caribbean nations, Seychelles, Maldives, etc.