Wing-in-ground effect vehicle

A vehicle configured to operate in a waterborne mode and an airborne flight mode, the vehicle comprising:

• a hull;
• a main wing comprising one or more main wing control surfaces;
• a tail comprising one or more tail control surfaces;
• a blown-wing propulsion system that includes a plurality of electric motors propellor assemblies distributed across a leading edge of the main wing;
• a retractable hydrofoil system positioned behind the main wing and comprising a retractable hydrofoil coupled to a fixed-length strut, wherein the fixed-length strut is arranged in a substantially vertical orientation and has a first end connected to the retractable hydrofoil and a second end coupled to the hull, wherein the retractable hydrofoil system is configured to operate in:
• (i) an extended configuration in which the fixed-length strut coupled to the retractable hydrofoil extends below the hull of the vehicle at a first distance and (ii) a retracted configuration in which the retractable hydrofoil is retracted at least partially such that the fixed-length strut coupled to the retractable hydrofoil extends below the hull of the vehicle at a second distance, wherein the second distance is less than the first distance;
• and
• a control system configured to, via electronic control signaling, (i) change an orientation of the retractable hydrofoil when the retractable hydrofoil system is operating in the extended configuration and when the vehicle is operating in the waterborne mode, (ii) cause the retractable hydrofoil system to transition from the extended configuration to the retracted configuration based on the vehicle transitioning from the waterborne mode to the airborne flight mode, (iii) change an orientation of the one or more main wing control surfaces and the one or more tail control surfaces when the retractable hydrofoil system is operating in the retracted configuration and when the vehicle is operating in the airborne flight mode, and (iv) cause the retractable hydrofoil system to transition from the retracted configuration to the extended configuration based on the vehicle transitioning from the airborne flight mode to the waterborne mode.

A control system for controlling a vehicle that includes (i) a hull, (ii) a main wing comprising one or more main wing control surfaces, (iii) a tail comprising one or more tail control surfaces, (iv) a blown-wing propulsion system that includes a plurality of electric motors propellor assemblies distributed across a leading edge of the main wing, and (iii) (v) a retractable hydrofoil system positioned behind the main wing and comprising a retractable hydrofoil coupled to a fixed-length strut, wherein the fixed-length strut is arranged in a substantially vertical orientation and has a first end connected to the retractable hydrofoil and a second end coupled to the hull, the control system comprising:

• at least one processor;
• non-transitory computer-readable medium;
• and
• program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer-readable medium that are executable by the at least one processor such that the control system is configured to:
• cause the retractable hydrofoil system to operate in an extended configuration in which the fixed-length strut coupled to the retractable hydrofoil extends below the hull of the vehicle at a first distance;
• while the retractable hydrofoil system is in the extended configuration, change an orientation of the retractable hydrofoil;
• cause the retractable hydrofoil system to operate in a retracted configuration in which the retractable hydrofoil is retracted at least partially such that the fixed-length strut coupled to the retractable hydrofoil extends below the hull of the vehicle at a second distance, wherein the second distance is less than the first distance;
• and
• while the retractable hydrofoil system is in the retracted configuration, change an orientation of the main wing control surfaces and tail control surfaces.