Ekranoplan KM 'Caspian Sea Monster' seaplane (Russian)

Описание: Sorry its in Russian! :(
Note: The 6-engined jet at 0:40 is the Antonov 225, which is presently the largest aircraft in the world, period. Its a cargo transporter and its cargo bay is so large it can hold most of the assembled components of a Boeing 747. The Russian space shuttle Buran can be attached to its back for transport as well. The aircraft at 1:23 is the Orlyonok ekranoplan, which as of October 2007 is in the process of being restored for an upcoming Russian aircraft exhibition in Moscow. (Or at least, that's what I've read on the net.) There are thought to be maybe one or two other surviving Orlyonoks besides this one. The aircraft at 7:35 is the Lun ekranoplan, which is based on the KM 'Caspian Sea Monster', but smaller.

From the wikipedia article: An ekranoplan (Russian: экранопла́н, literally "screen plane") is a vehicle resembling an aircraft but which operates solely on the principle of ground effect (in Russian эффект экрана effekt ekrana - from which the name derived). Ground effect vehicles (GEV) fly above any flat surface, with the height above ground dependent upon the size of the vehicle. Ekranoplan design was conceived by revolutionary Soviet engineer Rostislav Alexeev.

During the Cold War, ekranoplans were sighted for years on the Caspian Sea as huge, fast-moving objects. The name Caspian Sea Monster was given by US intelligence operatives who had spotted the huge vehicle, which looked like an airplane with the outer halves of the wings removed. After the end of the Cold War, the "monster" was revealed to be one of several Soviet military designs meant to fly only a few meters above water, saving energy and staying below enemy radar.

The ekranoplan has a lifting power of 1,000 tonnes, among the largest ever achieved. The KM, as the Caspian Sea Monster was known in the top secret Soviet military development program, was over 100 m long (330 ft), weighed 540 tonnes fully loaded, and could travel over 400 km/h (250 mph), mere meters above the surface of the water. Another model was the Lun-class, entering service with the Black Sea Fleet in 1987; the Lun-class vehicles had a top speed of 550 knots.

The important design principle is that wing lift is reduced as operating altitude of the ekranoplan is increased (see ground effect). Thus it is dynamically stable in the vertical dimension. Once moving at speed, the ekranoplan was no longer in contact with the water, and could move over ice, snow, or level land with equal ease, though flight over land would have involved extreme risks unless the surface were very dependably flat.

These craft were originally developed by the Soviet Union as very high-speed military transports, and were based mostly on the shores of the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The largest could transport over 100 tonnes of cargo. The development of ekranoplans was supported by Dmitri Ustinov, Minister of Defence of the USSR. About 120 ekranoplans (A-90 Orlyonok class) were initially planned to enter military service in the Soviet Navy. The figure was later reduced to fewer than thirty vehicles, planned to be deployed mainly for the Black and the Baltic Soviet navies. Marshal Ustinov died in 1985, and the new Minister of Defence Marshal Sokolov effectively stopped the funding for the program. The only three operational A-90 Orlyonok ekranoplans built (with renewed hull design) and one Lun-class ekranoplan remained at a naval base near Kaspiysk.

The two major problems which the Soviet Era Ekranoplanes faced were: 1) Longitudinal stability and 2) Highly reliable navigation & automatic control systems that were not very advanced at the time.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, ekranoplans have been produced by the Volga Shipyard in Nizhni Novgorod located at 56°21'58.08?N, 43°52'14.26?E.

Besides the development of appropriate design and structural configuration, special automatic control systems and navigation systems are also being developed. These include special altimeters with high accuracy for small altitude measurements and also lesser dependence on weather conditions. According to many extensive experiments and research activities, it has been shown that "Phase Radio-altimeters" are most conducive for such applications as compared to laser, isotopic or ultrasonic altimeters.

As of October 19th, 2009 one ekranoplans could be seen on Google Earth at Kaspiysk: The Lun, located at 42°52'54 N, 47°39'24 E. A structure on a nearby beach may be a third disassembled ekranoplan. An Orlyonok was formerly at 42°52'50 N, 47°39'57 E but it has since been moved to Moscow where it sits on display.

ЖУКОВ, большого реактивного самолета, море самолет