Larry I am gonna knock just alittle more dust off. Ground effect actually begins the height above the ground that equals the width of the wingspan, and is most pronounced at half the width of the wingspan (where we feel its effects the most). Ground effect for fixed wing aircraft is defined as the effect that the proximity to the ground has on the airflow patterns about an aircraft's wings. It effects ALL fixed wing aircraft regardless of engine or not, or wingspan length. It has the gradually increasing effect of "straightening" the airflow out over the wings reducing drag giving a performance increase with out the associated drag component that exists at altitude. BY canceling the wingtip vortices, which restores tip lift, and smoothing airflow over the rest of the wing, reducing drag the airplane gets this performance increase. For more on this see The Airplane Flying Handbook printed by ASA and available at nearly any pilot shop, Sportys, AS&S, King Schools, and more. And while you are at it, check out the Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge also printed by ASA. It will remind all pilots of the basics and bring you up to speed if it has been awhile since you looked at the Regs etc...
Colin Rainey Sanford, FL Almost all the Corvair parts in, ready to assemble.... Trailer gone with Jim Ferris to pickup his KR2S....
