A ekranoplan, or ground effect vehicle (GEV), is a craft that attains level flight near the surface of the Earth, made possible by a cushion of high-pressure air created by the aerodynamic interaction between the wings and the surface known as ground effect. Also known as a wing-in-ground-effect (WIG) vehicle, flarecraft, sea skimmer, SkimMachine, or wing-in-surface-effect ship, a GEV can be seen as a transition between a hovercraft and an aircraft. However, the International Maritime Organization has classified the GEV as a ship.
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