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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 1931.PDF
Air-cushion Vehicles FLIGHT International supplement, 25 June 1964 The "Aerofoil Boat" operating asa planing craft DYNAMIC AIR-CUSHION VEHICLE Dr Lippisch Sends News of a Remarkable Craft FROM NO LESS A PERSONAGE than Dr A. M. Lippisch comes a communication of such uncommon interest that we print it much as received. As long ago as 1928 Alexander Lippisch was concerned with experi- ments in rocket-propelled flight, and it was he who designed the Mel 63 tailless fighter of World War Two. He is also famed for his work on delta wings. His letter runs:— "Since several publications in your journal have shown different attempts to utilize the ram-wing effect for the design of a 'dynamic air-cushion vehicle,' it might be of interest to your readers that considerable progress in the development of such a craft was made by the research and development work of the Marine Lab of the Collins Radio Co, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA. This institution has designed the 'Aero- foil Boat' X-112 shown in the pictures, which was very successfully tested in 1963. "The study of the ground effect theory and the different experimental results of several measurements showed conclusively that it would be possible to design a boat of the catamaran type combined with a low-aspect-ratio wing which could be used as a planing boat in the low speed range, as an air-cushion vehicle in higher speed ranges, and which also could be flown as an airplane. The main difficulty of such a design A provisional general-arrangement drawing made by an "Air-Cushion Vehicles" artist from the accom-panying photographs 2O 3O 4O SPEED (mp.h) Dr Lippisch's annotation to this graph reads: "Drag measurements in tow Sept 9 and Sept 14,1963. Coralville Res. Gross weight 5101b" seemed to be the longitudinal stability of the craft and it was the first aim of our research to find a solution for this problem. Tow tank tests of certain wing configurations were quite en- couraging and continued model tests showed that with proper arrangements of control surfaces it was possible to arrive at a system which would have in- herent stability in ground effect as well as at larger distances from the ground. "These model tests led to the design of a small craft which was mainly built to confirm the model test results and to gain some experience in the flight characteristics of such vehicle. "The Aerofoil Boat as shown in the pictures is propelled by a 25 h.p. drone engine and its principal dimensions are: 80
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