Why dont supertankers and container ships...
Discussion
Because the size of engine they would need to get a 100,000+ tonne ship up to planing speed would be so huge they would have little space left for cargo ?
Alos, hydrofoils may be fast, but they are nowhere near as fuel efficient as a large ship travelling at around 15 knots
Alos, hydrofoils may be fast, but they are nowhere near as fuel efficient as a large ship travelling at around 15 knots
Edited by MartG on Monday 17th August 19:00
The big problem is getting all that weight up to speed. Then you have to keep it stable.
You also have a massive amount of drag in the water, plus the hull would have to be reinforced because of the weight, which adds more weight. I don't think it's really a feasible idea.
Would be pretty cool if it was possible!

You also have a massive amount of drag in the water, plus the hull would have to be reinforced because of the weight, which adds more weight. I don't think it's really a feasible idea.
Would be pretty cool if it was possible!

deevlash said:
Them crazy Rooshans Edited by Lost soul on Monday 17th August 19:26
400,000,000 at 20 m/s (approx 40 knots) is 80 gigajoules of kinetic energy!
If you wanted to accelerate that over an hour (and this is completely ignoring drag) you would need to be putting 22 megawatts of power out! I don't know how much the drag is on one of those at that speed but I reckon you'd need a good sized naval nuclear reactor to power it!
If you wanted to accelerate that over an hour (and this is completely ignoring drag) you would need to be putting 22 megawatts of power out! I don't know how much the drag is on one of those at that speed but I reckon you'd need a good sized naval nuclear reactor to power it!
deevlash said:
i want to build an RC WIG craft one day =)SystemParanoia said:
its a shame civilian craft cant just buy Nimitz class propulsion systems.
with a bit of tweaking who know what the output could be pushed too!
ETA : Nimitz class carrier weighs 100,000 tonnes and can do 30 knots!
basic laws of physics explain the 30 knots capability... it's all about length and girth old chap!... warships are long and thin which enables them to go nice and quick in full displacement mode.with a bit of tweaking who know what the output could be pushed too!
ETA : Nimitz class carrier weighs 100,000 tonnes and can do 30 knots!
Edited by SystemParanoia on Monday 17th August 19:05
with boats you have the choice of full displacement or planing vessels (semi-displacement vessels are usually displacement hulls with stupidly large engines)
as for hydrofoil ships... one of the known causes of ships being lost at sea is for their backs to break when travelling through extreme waves (effectively snapping in two and sinking within a matter of seconds)... if you popped a tanker or container vessel up on foils, you would suffer from the same issue with the vessel unable to support itself.
deevlash said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SYWO4w0ias&feature=relatedbrilliant!
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