Ekranoplans
An Ekranoplan (”surface-plane” in Russian) is a plane-ship hybrid that can skim over the water using the upward force of the WiG (Wing in Ground) effect, which forms a cushion of air under the short but very wide wings. It’s all explained on Wikipedia.
The Soviet Union planned to develop 120 Ekranoplans of the A-90 Orlyonok class, but in the end only 3 were built. When the Americans saw them skimming along the Caspian Sea they could only describe them as “Caspian Sea Monsters”. One of the 3 A-90 Orlyonok class is permanently parked on the edge of the Caspian Sea at the town of Kaspiysk.
The even more bizarre looking craft we see here is the only vessel of her class, a Lun (”Harrier”) MD-160 Ekranoplan, and entered service with the Black Sea Fleet in 1987. It is 74m long with a wingspan of 44m.
Thanks: Ben
So it’s sort of like a hydrofoil, but using air for support instead of water?
I stayed at a hotel in Moscow back in ‘87 called the Orlyonok (sp?). I believe the English translation was “Young Eagle”
Jim: Yes it is (as far as what I remember from my russian classes back in primary school).
Anyways, excelent find!
Excellent! I didn’t know there were two visible…
BTW, the wikipedia page you linked to reckons that this might be the third (dismantled) Ekranolpan.
They seemed like a good idea, I wonder why they were scrapped?
more info on the plane itslef: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ekranoplan
Those look like hovercraft up and to the right near the beach.
Lee,
I guess they were scrapped for the same reason as almost everything in the Soviet Union was scrapped:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collapse_of_the_Soviet_Union
Aha, that would be why. Thank you =]
Actually, it wouldn’t. Sorry, my bad.
“Marshal Ustinov died in 1985, and the new Minister of Defence Marshal Sokolov effectively ceased the funding for the program.”
Oh, I should have read the full entry at Wikipedia.
Thank you.
But the planes would have been scrapped anyway after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Hey Guys,
I just lived 18 years of my life nearby this planes in city Makhachkala on the Caspian Shore and had no idea about them,Waw!
I’m really excited to see them now, maybe i’ll have a chance to visit them when i get back to home country!
As far as i know the visible planes are smaller versions, the KM Caspian Sea Monster was a single plane built by the soviet union that crashed in 1980. This plane, although obviously different to regular aircraft, was one of the largest planes ever built. It was about 100 feet *longer* than the new Airbus A380 and could lift about 1,000 tons. http://www.globalaircraft.org/50_largest.htm