China develops water-skimming plane

"Wing In Ground" aircraft can fly as low as 1 foot 7 inches off the surface, hitting speeds up to 180 miles per hour.

The story "China develops water-skimming plane" published July 11, 2007 at 8:25 AM is no longer available on CNET News.

Content from Reuters expires after 30 days.

[Marcus Westrup]

China develops?

Seriously, CNET writers need to do a little more research before posting these stories. This one implies that China invented the idea! A quick look through Google turns up examples, such as this one: http://www.futurepundit.com/archives/000283.html

Ground Effect craft have been around for years. Smaller versions have been tested as a fast form of transport - up to 180 mph at 50 feet above the water. (Above the waves, below the limit where you need a pilots licence).

[hackingbear]

this is "creative"

These "researchers" in China are most creative at taking other's/old ideas, legally or illegally, hyping as new high-tech innovations (or invented in China) and, together with their connections to government officials, ripping off public research grands.

This is just another example.

[-fjtorres-]

Russia has been building them for years...

Since the 60's, in fact.
http://aeroweb.lucia.it/rap/RAFAQ/WIG.html

Considering how much chinese aerospace tech derives from the russians to start with, they're probably just following up on the old stuff...
They should come in handy, though, when they invade Taiwan.

[oxtail01]

More counterfeits to Walmart at lower cost

GREAT NEWS for US consumers. We can get more unsafe, unreliable, countefeit goods to be sold at Walmart at still lower prices. That smiling yellow ball is going to show some teeth soon! Additionally, more illegal aliens can come in undetected so Walamrt can have even lower labor costs.

[wangbang]

Name something

More idiotic hyperbole. You're so full of it--what have you bought from Walmart that was unsafe and unreliable?

[perfectblue97]

An advert for Fox news?

1)Most illegals to the US are from Latin America etc
2)All of that stuff that you're complaining about is cheerfully being brought by American consumers who are all very capable of reading the "made in China" tag on the bottom. China is only responding to demand from US consumers and they would stop in a heartbeat, and switch to other productm if Americans stopped buying.

[pwoon]

Walmart

Go to any store , not just Walmart. Target, Macy's, Bloomingdale. Tell me where the stuff is made? How about Reebok, Nike, Clark's shoes, Vans. Tell me where the appliances in Sears are made.

[Jimyu]

Yes, it is developping, not invention

Yes, it is developping. The author did not say it was invention. Do you guys know the difference between developping and invention?

[perfectblue97]

ekronoplane

Russia developed a huge version of this during the cold war, only they called it the Ekronoplane (please excuse the spelling) and planed to use it as a troop transport.

A firm in Miami has also been working on this concept for years, trying to make a leisure craft or water taxi out of it.

China is merely producing its own version, it's not doing anything new or exciting, or which hasn't already been conceptualized before.

[rslc]

Waiting for commerial ground-effect ship-plane

Ground Effect Ship-Planes are not new.
I had been waiting for the commercial world to adopt this for years...

This is the most efficient sea-air trans-atlantic vehicle design in the world.

[spothannah]

Blimps

Hey, I'm not a scientist or economist but I don't understand why someone hasn't just scaled up a blimp and let the wind cary it and its cargo eastward, you know like from east coast to europe, unload the cargo, load up more cargo goin eastward, etc. until it gets all the way around the world and back to the east coast. Kinda like a free ride on the jet stream of something. Just wondering.