Now that's boat flying

[Liquid Charlie]

Had these pics for a long time but WIG has always intrigued me
-- love those Russians

[auto4]

must be really fuel efficient.....and a really noisy cockpit

[Rudder Bug]

Wow, did it ever get airborne???

[pilatus4life]

i think it was called ground effect research or something i remember watching a show on it a while back they built a few of them of different size and they flew a few feet off the water. pretty cool but i dont think id wanna be in it.

[5400AirportRdSouth]

haha, it IS airborne!

It's technically not an Aeroplane, but an Ekranoplane and flies only in ground effect. I'm pretty sure they were only used only over water.

BC Ferries should definitely be looking into this, they could call it the WTF class.

It always amazes me at the mystery of some of the things the Russians have/had that we never really got to hear about.

How does that joke go, if its weird its French, if its funny looking its English and if its weird and funny looking its Russian?

[Northern Skies]

The caspian sea monster. The intended use was a fast guided missile carrier for raiding carrier battlegroups.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgtaeRZjWNc

Not just a research project, they are in service. I have always wondered what their efficiency is like........ one one hand they have a fantastic L/D ratio, on the other hand they are burning lots of fuel down at sea level.

I wonder if they would be a feasible option for transoceanic travel. Certainly much slower than an A380, but you sure could cram a lot of people comfortably into one for cheap. A return of the "clippers" perhaps?

[Liquid Charlie]

The Russians were doing tests on these things back in the 60's and the nick name for the big one was the Caspian Sea Monster. The Americans actually saw one crash on a Satellite picture.

They were very efficient in ground effect and were missile platforms (see below) and troop carriers -- they could actually fly out of ground effect but them the fuel consumption went off the clock --

WIG -- wing in ground effect --

It's become more of a sport now but there are a few companies developing commercial wigs

[Northern Skies]

and by the way, not exactly a new concept. Sometimes the DO-X had to fly upwards of the first thousand miles of a trip in ground effect until the fuel load lightened.

[Liquid Charlie]

Great vid -- thanx

[bandaid]

Looks like it is going at quite a clip, anyone know what the top speed would have been?

[Northern Skies]

I looked it up, looks like a top speed of 550 knots for the big jet one. So a cruise of 250-350 maybe?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ekranoplan

Funny..... they even mention the DO-X

[Northern Skies]

I've been thinking that engine technology is what would hold one of these back. The thrust requirements for takeoff conflict with the low-altitude efficiency requirement to fulfill its cruise potential.

I was thinking about this once and came up with an idea of a sort of compound turbofan, with a low-bypass afterburning turbofan as its core. This drives a high-bypass outer fan with a variable pitch. For takeoff the fan goes to fine, the core spins right up, and the burner gives it a kick. For cruise the fan goes coarse and the core throttles back. Not overly complicated, and not as much weight as carrying around all of those extra engines.

I also like the idea of the hydrofoils and variable upper/lower surface blowing on the orlyonok class.

[Cat Driver]

BC Ferries should definitely be looking into this,

Yeh and when they hit their docks with that they can drive the docks about half a mile inland.

[bandaid]

Wow that's hopping along. Too fast for any good trolling.

[5x5]

Here's a previous thread on it that has a couple of good links.
http://www.avcanada.ca/forums2/viewtopi ... 54&t=36093

[snowshoe]

couple of the responses referred to the efficency of this beast. The exhaust of the jets in a couple of the vid shots probably sum it up very well. that black smoke is a good sign that those engines probably were not designed with fuel economy being a big consideration. of course it was the time of the cold war and like the west, the ruskies were also all wraped up in all that make it work and push it out the door crap.
i wonder how big an area was needed to do a 180 turn.

[Liquid Charlie]

to make a 180 -- they could fly out of ground effect -- pull up and fly like an airplane and back down into ground effect.

[sky's the limit]

The only problem is crew. I hear to make Captain, you're last name has to be Nemo.....

Damn that would be a hoot though, wouldn't it???


stl

[Liquid Charlie]

picture one of those suckers going through Active Pass and I know the Russians never built a quiet airplane -- now that would be a hand full of thrust levers --

[Spokes]

BC Ferries should definitely be looking into this,

I wonder how long it would take to drive into an island if you were screwing in the cockpit of this thing. All that speed, so low to the water, I'd be horny enough to try

[ScudRunner]

How Much is a PPC??
Does TC's Aviation branch or Marine branch regulate them?

[Liquid Charlie]

-- good one -- mmmmm -- sounds like a call to TC is in order.