Wing in surface effect ship with canard configuration

Wing in surface effect ship (WISES) is a high-speed ship which supports its weight with an aerodynamic wing in very low altitude flight. The ship utilises the enhanced performance of wing in proximity to the water, according to the same mechanism as ground effect. The authors propose a canard-type WISES as a suitable concept for commercialisation. This concept has many advantages for conventional airplane-like configurations, especially for taking off and alighting on water. This paper describes the canard concept, its self-propulsion model tests and the preliminary designs for actual ships.