Bubble injection behind the step on seaplanes
I have been reading up on seaplanes (Seaplane Operations, by Cesare Baj
and Dale DeRemer) and one frequently repeated fact is that it is very
hard to get a seaplane up on the step on glassy water, because the lack
of bubbles under the float/hull causes the heel of the float/hull to
adhere to the water surface.
This seems like an easily solved problem -- inject bubbles behind the
step. Clearly if it were that easy it would be common practice. What
am I missing?
Here is my hull profile at the step:
To Heel -- Step -- To Bow
_____________________
O| /
x|______________________/
When moving at speed through the water, it seems that at point O there
should be a circulating eddy or turbulence, and at point x there should
be significant suction, yes? So if we attach at point x a hose, whose
one endpoint is at x and the other is above waterline, without any
further mechanics the low pressure at x should be sucking air through
the hose and introducing a trail of bubbles, slipping past the
turbulence at O and running along the undersurface of the heel. If we
put in a bunch of such hoses, or one long hose running along the back of
the step with a bunch of holes spaced along it, we should get a lot of
bubbles. Yes?
What am I missing?
~Adam
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