"Paul Tomblin" wrote in message
...
In a previous article, "Kevin Chandler"
said:
go away or have little effect. It makes for beautiful landings after an
uncomfortable approach. Why is this?

What you're calling "ground effect" is actually the zone where the wind is
in the "boundary layer". Right at the bottom, turbulent air will hit the
gound and "stick", then each successive "layer" of air above it will slow
down a bit relative to the one below it, but also stop moving across the
layers. So near the ground, you get lower wind speeds but also more
laminar flow.

That's kind of a layman's summary of the science behind it. Pedants will
now point out every little simplification I made as an error.


--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
There is no substitute for good manners, except, perhaps, fast reflexes.

Thanks Paul,
All these years I just assumed it was simply surface friction. Your summary
makes better sense. If there were no other forces present,(another
assumption) surface friction would only make matters worse?

MG