Doug_or From United States of America, joined Mar 2000, 3163 posts, RR: 4 Reply 2, posted (11 years 1 month 5 days 22 hours ago) and read 1686 times:
i believe the soviets and eastern block did a lot of experimetns with flying boats that would cruise in ground effect. they were almost all butt ugly, so this may be one such design.
JETPILOT From United States of America, joined May 1999, 3130 posts, RR: 32 Reply 4, posted (11 years 1 month 5 days 21 hours ago) and read 1666 times:
It's a wing ship...... a russian Ekronoplan. Designed to fly in ground effect about 20 -30m above the water. They were very fast, very efficient and capable of lifting immense loads.
JETPILOT From United States of America, joined May 1999, 3130 posts, RR: 32 Reply 5, posted (11 years 1 month 5 days 21 hours ago) and read 1657 times:
After consulting with my sources..... I need to post a retraction.
LZ-TLT From Germany, joined Apr 2001, 431 posts, RR: 0 Reply 6, posted (11 years 1 month 5 days 21 hours ago) and read 1641 times:
OK....here we go:
This are the remains of a seaplane, Jetpilot is right on this. It was constructed by the Bartini design bureau in the 30's and one of the first constructions done by the (by then young) and talented seaplane designer G. Beriev. Actually, he "grew up" in the Bartini design bureau. More info on the plane is to be found in Boris Shavrov's (EXCELLENT) book "History of the airplane constructions in the USSR before 1938"
By the way, Beriev's design bureau is still alive doing a good business with their seaplanes. Actually, I believe it is the only company in the world which designs and produces large seaplanes.
Bsergonomics From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2002, 462 posts, RR: 0 Reply 10, posted (11 years 1 month 5 days 5 hours ago) and read 1478 times:
This really is something special - I want one! Yes, it's a bit different, but I reckon it's one of the greatest looking planes ever built!
The only real issue is that it seems to have a fixed propellor slung underneath, i.e., one for moving water, not air. The Ekronoplans are an incredible invention which were also tested for limited land use, i.e., you didn't have to park them next to a quay or beach them - you could actually take them a short way over land (it did scrape on the ground, though). I want one of those, too!
The definition of a 'Pessimist': an Optimist with experience...
Fanofjets From United States of America, joined Apr 2000, 1895 posts, RR: 3 Reply 11, posted (11 years 1 month 5 days 5 hours ago) and read 1450 times:
After clicking on several links, I found http://www.se-technology.com/wig/
and was surprised to see how many such ground-effect hydroplanes exist(ed). Such ingenuity is the hallmark of Russian and Ukranian (former USSR) aviation design. I look forward to hearing about new CIS designs in the future.
The aeroplane has unveiled for us the true face of the earth. -Antoine de Saint-Exupery
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