ekranoplanes now!

[Not]

Not letting dirigibles hog all the glory. Let's revive these ugly ducklings as well, why not?

[johndallman]

Their usefulness is very dependent on geography. They're useful where you have inland seas that usually have calm-ish weather, surrounded by fairly flat terrain. Oddly enough, the area round the Caspian Sea is like this, but there aren't that many other places in the real world.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by johndallman

Their usefulness is very dependent on geography. They're useful where you have inland seas that usually have calm-ish weather, surrounded by fairly flat terrain. Oddly enough, the area round the Caspian Sea is like this, but there aren't that many other places in the real world.

Still, on the right alien planet they could fill a niche. A world of shallow seas and flat marshy continents. Think the pulp fiction Venus.

[RogerBW]

On a small scale, they make decent river ferries. (But most rivers aren't long and straight enough to make the extra speed possible, or worth having.) They'd be great for the canals of pulp Mars.

Hmm. Remarkable coincidence, Astromancer…

[Not]

Not ferries for crossing but fast barges for transport. They might be the only heavier-than-air option on a thin atmosphere world. I can't remember if Howard's Mars had canals of any sort. His Martians had slow and fast fliers, but I think the lift mechanism was hand-waved or superscience.

[Astromancer]

I think we're in agreement that the ekranoplanes are more suited to pulpy alien environments. Still that makes these planes charming. They make pulpy goodness more real and reality pulpier.

[Varyon]

I intend for my DF-ish setting to have magitech vessels called "skimmers" that are basically Ground Effect Vehicles, albeit with lower speeds than such would probably need to maintain lift. They're primarily utilized during combat between oceangoing vessels (or possibly such vessels and sea monsters), but the landscape of the setting is typically flat enough there are plenty of places where they'd be useful on land if it weren't for their very short ranges. Some fortresses may use them for defense as well.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Not

Not ferries for crossing but fast barges for transport. They might be the only heavier-than-air option on a thin atmosphere world. I can't remember if Howard's Mars had canals of any sort. His Martians had slow and fast fliers, but I think the lift mechanism was hand-waved or superscience.

Burroughs rather than Howard. Howard's only venture into Sword and Planet was not set on Mars. It was called Almuric and even I remember little about it.

ERB's Barsoomian flyers had buoyancy tanks filled with absolutely Theosophical antigravity rays. The only low altitude versions were for urban short-range transportation.

[Not]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

Burroughs rather than Howard. Howard's only venture into Sword and Planet was not set on Mars. It was called Almuric and even I remember little about it.

ERB's Barsoomian flyers had buoyancy tanks filled with absolutely Theosophical antigravity rays. The only low altitude versions were for urban short-range transportation.

Senior moment.