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In airplanes, air cushioning (also known as ground effect) is the increased lift and decreased drag that its wings create when they are close to the ground. When an airplane is flying at or lower than the distance of its wingspan, the ground interrupts its wingtip vortices. Wingtip vortices are spirals of air that trail off the tip of an airplane’s wings that lead to drag. With the interrupted wingtip vortices, the aircraft experiences more lift and less drag, causing air cushioning.