60
design
Ekranoplanes
Boats or planes?
spoilers.Try to imagine what would happen when the pilots
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km/h and just a few metres above water. The slant adopted
when banking meant the inside wing tip would get dangerously
close to the surface of the sea. Imagining the consequences
if that happened is easy, or if the sea was choppy. That is why
testing was carried out over the Caspian Sea, a closed stretch
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In spite of the precautions taken several catastrophic accidents
occurred, so much so that the unfortunate vehicle was soon
labelled as something highly dangerous by those involved. Nev-
ertheless more studies and more experimental tests continued
on other models in Russia up until the 80’s when, with the crisis
and splitting up of the former USSR, all was abandoned.
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ple were interested: In addition to the Soviets , the USA, Ger-
many, Australia and Japan all invested in developing this means
of transport, but without resolving much in a convincing way.
Research continued after the ‘cold war’. At the beginning of the
new millenium, Boeing ( yes that Boeing) decided to set up
and develop a new ocean crossing vehicle capable of carrying
considerable loads comparable to those of a military ship and
equal the speed of a plane: the result was the Boeing Pelican
ULTRA (acronym for Ultra Large Transport Aircraft), it turned
out to be 120 metres long with a wing span of 152 metres and
a load capacity of 1,400 tons. It would have been the largest ev-
er built.... but nothing came of it because everything remainedconsidered as something strategically useful with which to car-
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had expanded and Russian engineers began to build giant vehi-
cles like the KM1, nicknamed the “Sea Monster of the Caspian
Sea”by US intelligence. In fact it was a 100 metre long 40 metre
wide monster propelled by as many as 10 turbines and propel-
lers which meant it could cover more than 500 kilometres in an
hour. It was the largest ekranoplane ever built. A further seven
were built. Each one featured different characteristics in an ef-
fort to overcome serious handling problems and safety issues,
despite the adoption of huge tail planes, with which to ma-
noeuvre and steer, which resembled huge rudder blades and
Above, the “Sea Monster of the Caspian Sea” today - sadly
abandoned.
On the right, another two shots of the “Aquaglide 2”.
Below, Flying near the surface of the sea therefore means
air is compressed below the wings and thus ground effect
is exploited. This means the flight is much more efficient(-
less fuel is needed) because lift increases while drag dimin-
ishes drastically when compared to free flight.