We are an undergraduate final year project group based at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, mechanical engineering. We were tasked with researching, designing and manufacturing South Africa's first Wing-In-Ground Effect (WIG) Hovercraft, designated the Typhoon.

 

A proof-of-concept, full scale prototype vehicle was designed and manufactured with a hovercraft base for amphibious surface operation and will utilise the ground effect phenomenon for low altitude flight. 

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The need for such a vehicle is evident in many sectors including recreational, commercial and transportation among others. Such a vehicle could be used to reach hard to access areas for the purpose of search and rescue, exploration and conservation. This is a niche market; however, it has the potential to be very useful for specific applications. 

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The proposed vehicle serves to bridge the gap between land vehicles, marine craft and aircraft and does so by combining the technologies of air-cushion vehicles (ACVs) and wing-in-ground-effect (WIG) craft. An ACV or a hovercraft utilises an air-cushion in the form of hover-skirt to enable amphibious travel over land and water. A WIG craft is a combination of marine craft and aircraft which takes advantage of the ground effect phenomenon experienced by aircraft when they fly in close proximity to the ground. 

The ground effect is the enhanced lift and reduced drag a wing experiences when it is travelling within one wing span of the ground. This results in an enhanced lift-to-drag ratio and a greater flight efficiency.

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The main issue with WIG craft is the large take-off hydrodynamic drag experienced by the craft hull when taking off from water. The sole purpose of many researchers in this field is the reduction of this hydrodynamic drag at take-off as it requires a high amount of power to do so leading to a larger and heavier engine. Coupling a WIG craft with a hovercraft base however significantly alleviates this drag force as a hovercraft travels over the water on an air-cushion. Therefore, using a WIG hovercraft combination will reduce the drag, power needed, weight and cost required to reach ground effect flight. 

There are a few commercially available WIG hovercrafts, such as the Universal Hovercraft’s Hoverwing, however they are mainly intended for recreational purposes and are very expensive. The main challenge of this project will be to design the craft, but at only a fraction of the cost of what is already available. This will involve the use of different materials, technologies and manufacturing methods compared to the commercially available craft. 

A form of cost effective flight coupled with a multipurpose off-road vehicle would show great potential for many applications in South Africa. This includes recreation, antipoaching activities, coastal patrols, search and rescue operations, high speed, cost effective transport of passengers and goods and many others.