(Images above come from here and here)
Somewhat out of character for this blog, I wanted to post an item more technical than nature than anything else. This is because somewhere, evidently way deep inside this more managerially oriented head, is something still resembling an engineer.
So what I've been thinking about a in the back of my mind a lot is hydrofoil-borne and Wing-In-Ground (often called ekranoplane) sea-cum-aircraft. I think this is the result of having flown back and forth to Asia so many times, and, frequently missing the place, ponder about how to get there more easily, comfortably, and less expensively.
I believe somewhat bullishly that there is a market opportunity for an alternative to passenger airliners that fly fairly close to the water, at markedly lower speeds for an aircraft, but markedly higher speeds for a watercraft. So, instead of the ~13 hours it currently takes to get to Shanghai from San Francisco, maybe this would become 24 hours or even 36 hours, but in a much more spacious, and therefore more comfortable setting. Also, these craft wouldn't require airports, but could take off from a (perhaps purpose-built) pier, so the costs (esp. real estate) of operating an airport largely go away. Finally, I believe security costs are also reduced, because even if there is a terrorist attack,
1) There are few targets of value that the craft can fly into
2) the craft is so close to the water anyways that should an attack disable it, it simply lands in the water in the same way that it does whenever preparing for routine disembarkation.
Therefore I believe that security-interested national governments / transportation regulatory bodies should have an interest in fostering (or at least facilitating / allowing) such an ecosystem.
With the reduced security and operating requirements, it is my hope that someday itineraries for this craft could be booked in a much more on-demand way than typical commercial air travel - i.e. that schedules could be published by the operator, and people arrive as they need to or book just shortly before without paying excessively for the privilege as happens in traditional air travel.
Capital costs to get to a demonstrable version, and subsequently a commercial grade version, would be substantial (to understate). But I believe it is possible to fund demonstrators today thanks to crowdfunding and that it is possible to finance the commercial grade version with VC / PE funds thanks to the already demonstrated market in the form of commercial airline passenger revenue.
So who are some people who could step up to the plate to bring advocacy to such a venture? Among them I would certainly vote Charles Bombardier, who's already written vividly of unique sea craft, and who is the legacy of a family for whom the development of unique vehicles is their raison-d'etre.
The obstacles (besides funding of course) I see are primarily psychological in nature. You see, ekranoplanes saw the most development under Russian engineering development (see here). Because of politics, a technology that owed much to Russian advances (that too especially during the Cold War) will be given short shrift without more open-minded thinking.
As I'm researching just a little for this post, here seems to be this kind of venture in action. I wish them (and any competitors that spring forward) well.
