Patent ID: 8657053

Claim:
A wing-in-ground effect craft (WIG craft) comprising: a fuselage having a nose flap and a transom plate, said nose flap and said transom plate each being retractable; at least one propulsion unit; at least one forward low-aspect-ratio wing (LAW) extending out from said fuselage, said at least one forward LAW having at least one leading-edge flap, at least one flaperon, said at least one forward LAW being mounted with setting angles of attack; at least one rear LAW extending out from said fuselage, said at least one rear LAW having at least one flaperon, said at least one rear LAW being mounted with setting angles of attack and which overlaps in a horizontal plane a portion of said at least one forward LAW, a leading edge of said at least one rear LAW being positioned above a leading edge of said flaperon of said at least one forward LAW for creating an air duct through which a slipstream from a lower half of said propulsion unit; at least two aerodynamic plate-floats (APFs) each joined to a free end of said at least one forward LAW and a free end of said at least one rear LAW respectively; and a system for controlling said at least one forward LAW flaperon capable of parallel control of deflection both with a control stick and from an angle of attack sensor (AAS); wherein a static air cushion (SAC) cavity is defined under said forward and rear LAWs within boundaries of its projection onto a horizontal plane, a dynamic air cushion (DAC) cavity is defined under said at least one forward LAW, and a cavity for static and dynamic air cushions (SDAC) is defined under said at least one rear LAW.