The Flying Boat

18 June 2015     Editor    12 Comments.

Flying wing catamaran
Flying wing catamaran
Flying wing catamaran
Flying wing catamaran

GALLERY | Click images to enlarge

Advanced Aerodynamic Vessels of Nantes, France, aims to improve the speeds of passenger vessels by harnessing the flow of apparent wind. The catamaran employs planing stepped hulls similar to a seaplane, but the resemblance to a flying machine doesn’t stop there. The central bridgedeck is carefully shaped into a wing that creates aerodynamic lift and reduces both displacement and drag:

The operational speed of today’s small workboats is strongly limited by the exponential growth of their fuel consumption with speed. Oversized engines allow small speed improvements at the cost of much higher fuel consumptions and reduced payload, leading to an economically and environmentally unsustainable cost per passenger.

During the last two years, the A2V team of naval architects and CFD specialists developed a revolutionary shape able to safely transfer ships weight from water to air.

The flying saucer-like shape of the vessel is certainly arresting.

 Catamarans  Power Boats  Research

12 Comments

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  • Good concept. This is called ground effect . Promising concept but maybe they will need more surface area to make it work. Maybe small wing on the side that can deploy to lift the boat a little more. At that point maybe hydrofoil is a better concept.

    2015-06-19 17:28 | by Valery Gaulin

  • Yes indeed, the principle is “wing in ground effect”. I gather that they do not intend to fly the entire boat above the water surface, but to unweight a certain percentage of the load. Even a 50% reduction in displacement would provide good improvements in efficiency.
    The advantage of this concept over hydrofoils is there are no vulnerable underwater parts - ideal for shallow or reef strewn waters.
    Thanks for the historical links, Aerohydro.

    2015-06-20 10:26 | by Editor

  • A small video identified as Remy Aeroglisseur is available at http://www.ina.fr/video/AFE00001018. As we are in 1927, it could be a previous trial of the 1928 Remy prototype. 1928 prototype survived to bad experiences. 1936 newspaper announced preparation Trouville-Le Havre connections in 15 mn for 75 passengers . At this stage i don’t know if commercial connection succeeded.

    2015-06-23 07:23 | by Valery Lebigot

  • Hello Valery,

    Regarding the 1936 design, in a web search conducted last year, I actually found a magazine article that featured a photo of the craft in question. A very streamlined, art deco design featuring two passenger deck.  Although the craft was credited to a Monsieur Dial, Adrien Rémy’s design signature was written all over it. Article may’ve come from a French publication, circa 1936/37, not sure. Unfortunately, I failed to bookmark the article and now, a year later, I cannot find it. I know, I’m kicking myself!!

    2015-06-24 00:25 | by aerohydro

  • Hello Aerohydro
    After different trouble, which are described (in french) on my blog, it appears that Ingénieur REMY prototype was sold to Capitaine DIAL following auction by order of the court. 4 years latter Capitaine DIAL equipped the catamaran with a “first class cabin”  and claimed it will be able to connect Trouville to Le Havre IE nine Miles / 14 km . Goal is very far from the original one . Motor is 100 HP. No idea about propeller . I have a reproduction of Hydroglisseur GENIAL.

    2015-06-24 03:16 | by Valery Lebigot

  • This was tried on a few aircraft fuselages but somewhy the idea didn’t really take hold there.

    2015-06-25 07:57 | by Wade Tarzia

  • Hello Valery,

    Thank you for detailing what became of the Oceanoglisseur. That explains why the two designs looked so similar: they’re actually the same craft!  I’d like to learn more about the “Le Génial” hydroglisseur. Are there any links that you could share? 😉

    2015-06-27 21:18 | by aerohydro

  • Hi Aerohydro
    A representation of Dial aeroglisseur “le Genial”  is on page 41 of a book called “le bateau du havre à Trouville”  by Jean Moisy & Karl Laurent . edition Cahier du Temps.
    I will try to contact the picture owner for a web publication . No problem for a private copy if i have an adress where to send it .
    A picture of model in 1/10 size of Remy machine with air propellers is on Ouest-Eclair newspaper Nantes edition 1927-07-20 available from Gallica.fr . i can send it to you too

    2015-06-28 05:20 | by Valery Lebigot

  • Hello Valery,

    Am very much looking forward to seeing the photos.  My email address is .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), but without any numbers in the address.  Cheers, Paul

    2015-06-28 22:20 | by aerohydro