In article ,
nt (Krztalizer) writes:

See my question to Gord about ground effect. Is it really there, as a
cushion, or is that a myth?

absolutely, it is there. get down low enough over flat seas and you can feel
'something', akin to being on a down bed, held over a hard bed.

Yabbut - Helicopters are _different_. (And the Navy, of course has to
be different, too, so Navy Helicopters are _very_ different)
In the case of a Fixed-Wing Aircraft, proximity to the ground kills
off the wingtip vortices, In Helicopters (Hmm... If Airplanes are
Fixed Wing Aircraft, I guess that means Helicopters are Broken Wing
Aircraft), you're either piling up the rotor wash faster than it can
run away, or the Earth is vastry increasing its repulsion of the noisy
beast in a last-ditch effort to keep it from marring the ground.

--
Pete Stickney
A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many
bad measures. -- Daniel Webster