(original post by Anonymous on 05-AUG-2005)

I understand the air cushion principle for hovercraft operation, whether on land or on water. While the craft is operating over a water body, the skirt contains the air cushion in close proximity of the water surface and there seems to be no visible displacement of water. My physics studies say that one must have a resisting pressure to support this air cushion. Is it not true that this 'opposite force' that supports the air cussion from beneath comes from the flat displacement of sufficient water directly under the craft up to the edge of the skirt? Thus, though the hovercraft is not a boat, the 'ground effect' that supports the craft over water, is derived in the same manner as for boats even if the displacement is uniformly flat rather than 'hull shaped'?

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