  The water entry of a wedge has become a model test in marine and naval
engineering research. Wagner theory, originating in 1932, predicts impact
pressures, and accounts for contributions to the total pressure arising from
various flow domains in the vicinity of the wetting region on the wedge. Here
we study the slamming of a wedge and a cone at a constant, well-controlled
velocity throughout the impact event using high fidelity sensors. Pressures at
two locations on the impactor are measured during and after impact. Pressure
time series from the two impactors are discussed using inertial pressure and
time scales. The non-dimensionalised pressure time series are compared to
sensor-integrated averaged composite Wagner solutions (Zhao & Faltinsen 1993),
Logvinovich (1969, 4.7), modified Logvinovich (Korobkin & Malenica 2005) and
generalised Wagner models (Korobkin 2004). In addition, we provide an
independent experimental justification of approximations made in the literature
in extending the Wagner model to three-dimensions. The second part of the paper
deals with pre-impact air cushioning -- an important concern since it is
responsible for determining the thickness of air layer trapped upon impact.
Using a custom-made technique we measure the air-water interface dynamics as it
responds to the build up of pressure in the air layer intervening in between
the impactor and the free surface. We show both experimentally and using
two-fluid boundary integral (BI) simulations, that the pre-impact deflection of
the interface due to air-cushioning is fully described by potential flow.
