A ground effect flight vehicle comprising, a fuselage (1), a wing assembly (4, 5), an engine assembly comprising one or more engines or engine sets (6, 7, 8), and a hull (2) for enabling floatation of the vehicle; wherein the wing assembly (4, 5) comprises stabilizer wings (4) and/or the one or more engines (6, 7, 8) are equipped to provide an airflow departing from the engines (6, 7, 8) which is positionable in one of multiple positions, a first position of the multiple positions which is arranged to generate lift for vertical take-off purpose, and a second position of the multiple positions which is for horizontal cruise flight.

An example blown-wing craft includes at least one rudder, a first wing, a second wing, at least one first control surface, at least one second control surface, at least two first propeller assemblies, at least two second propeller assemblies, a plurality of sensors, and a control system. The control system is configured to (i) operate the blown-wing craft in a given mode; (ii) while operating the blown-wing craft, receive, via the plurality of sensors, a plurality of sensor inputs; and (iii) control an attitude of the blown-wing craft by selectively operating (a) the at least two first propeller assemblies, (b) the at least two second propeller assemblies, (c) the at least one rudder, (d) the at least one first control surface, and (e) the at least one second control surface based at least in part on the received plurality of sensor inputs and the given mode.

A craft includes a hull, a wing, a hydrofoil, and a control system. The wing is configured to generate upwards aero lift as air flows past the wing to facilitate wing-borne flight of the craft. The hydrofoil is configured to generate upwards hydrofoil lift during a first mode of operation as water flows past the hydrofoil to facilitate hydrofoil-borne movement of the craft through the water. While the craft is hydrofoil-borne, the control system is configured to determine the upwards aero lift generated by the wing. The control system is further configured to control the hydrofoil to generate downwards hydrofoil lift to counteract the upwards aero lift generated by the wing that maintains the hydrofoil at least partially submerged in the water while the determined upwards aero lift is below a threshold lift.

A craft comprises at least one hull; at least one wing configured to generate upwards aero lift as air flows past the at least one wing to facilitate wing-borne flight of the craft; a front hydrofoil connected to the at least one hull via a front hydrofoil strut and configured to generate upward hydrofoil lift as water flows past the front hydrofoil to facilitate hydrofoil-borne movement of the craft through the water; a rear hydrofoil connected to the at least one hull via a rear hydrofoil strut and configured to generate upward hydrofoil lift as water flows past the rear hydrofoil to facilitate hydrofoil-borne movement of the craft through the water; and a control system. While the craft is hydrofoil-borne, the control system is configured to facilitate transition of the craft from hydrofoil-borne operation to wing-borne operation via a process comprising: while the upwards aero lift generated by the at least one wing is below a threshold lift, controlling one or both of the front hydrofoil and the rear hydrofoil to generate a downward hydrofoil lift that causes the front hydrofoil and the rear hydrofoil to remain at least partially submerged in the water; and after the upwards aero lift generated by the at least one wing has increased above the threshold lift, transitioning the craft from hydrofoil-borne operation to wing-borne operation at least in part by controlling one or both of the front hydrofoil and the rear hydrofoil to switch from (a) generating the downward hydrofoil lift to (b) generating an upward hydrofoil lift that pushes the craft up and out of the water.

Wing-in-ground effect (WIG) vehicles are disclosed herein. Hovercraft takeoff and landing modes are disclosed herein. Uses of WIG vehicles, including for maritime monitoring, are disclosed herein.

A craft is provided with a lever that can control the power/speed of the craft and semi-automatically transition the craft in various modes of operation. This makes control of the craft somewhat similar to control of a boat, thereby bringing a maritime flight control experience to a wing-in-ground effect vehicles, hydrofoiling vessels, seagliders, and seaplanes. Further, various audio, visual, and/or haptic devices in the cockpit can provide alerts/feedback to the operator on the use of the lever and mode transitions.

A craft comprises at least one hull, at least one wing configured to generate upwards acro lift as air flows past the at least one wing to facilitate wing-borne flight of the craft, at least one retractable hydrofoil configured to generate upwards hydrofoil lift during a first mode of operation as water flows past the at least one hydrofoil to facilitate hydrofoil-borne movement of the craft through the water, and a control system that comprises data storage having instruction code stored thereon that causes the control system to during a takeoff operation when the craft is accelerating through the water and is supported by the at least one hydrofoil, control the at least one hydrofoil to generate downwards hydrofoil lift that maintains the at least one hydrofoil submerged at a predetermined hydrofoil depth threshold below the water surface; and when the craft reaches a takeoff condition, cause the least one retractable hydrofoil to release the craft from the water to facilitate wing-borne flight of the craft.

An aerial and preferably marine vehicle intended to operate in its principal mode near the surface of water or land employing the Wing-in-Ground Effect (WIG) and capable to take-off and land vertically (VTOL) by means of thrust vectoring, which vehicle has a wing arranged at the lowermost part of the fuselage, propulsion units comprising four rotatable pylons extending transversely in pairs on both sides of the upper part of the fuselage, four elongated nacelles mounted on the outer tips of said pylons, which nacelles contain electric motors (E) and provided with propellers at their extremities, so that the rotation of the pylons results in turning the nacelles and thrust of propellers from substantially vertical, ensuring take-off and landing, to substantially horizontal providing a flight mode, retractable hydroskis for emergency landing on water, while said propulsion units and said wing are spaced apart vertically and horizontally and do not overlap.