Water Effect?

Heres a question for you about ground effect, prompted by your article, Using Ground Effect, in the October 2015 issue, and specifically the statement: We all should know ground effect is only encountered...well, close to a flat surface, be it liquid or solid, but sometimes we forget.

Editorial Staff

Wednesday, November 04, 2015 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Helicopter pilots report a significant reduction or absence of ground effect over water compared to solid land, requiring more power to hover, while fixed-wing aircraft still experience ground effect over water.
A student pilot expresses frustration and safety concerns over flight instructors consistently interfering with controls during landings despite positive exchanges, hindering learning.
The magazine suggests instructors should allow students to learn from mistakes up to the edge of controllability and advises pre-lesson discussions to set clear expectations for instructor intervention.

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Here’s a question for you about ground effect, prompted by your article, “Using Ground Effect,” in the October 2015 issue, and specifically the statement: “We all should know ground effect is only encountered…well, close to a flat surface, be it liquid or solid, but sometimes we forget.”

After 40-some years of flying (private, CFI, charter, etc.) I took up helicopter flying in 2006. I went into it thinking I was quite familiar with the ground effect, and indeed, it plays heavily on the performance of light (piston) helicopters in a hover. My instructor surprised me one day by stating, “There is no ground effect over water.” He couldn’t explain why, but issued it as a strong warning for me not to expect the same hover performance over water as over solid land. He was insistent.