History 18/03/20 “Caspian sea monster”: why the Soviet Union created a flying ship
In 1967, in the Green room of the headquarters of the CIA gathered a group of analysts of US intelligence to decipher sensational pictures taken over the Caspian sea spy satellite. The photographs were visible to a huge machine similar to a plane.
What is the wig?
“Caspian sea monster”, as dubbed it the Western press, was the brainchild of Rostislav Alexeyev. The car was a wig.
Widely known hovercraft that can soar above the water surface, which were produced in the USSR and abroad. They also used the screen effect that occurs due to the discharge of air under
the bottom. They can reach speeds of up to 120
kilometers per hour and easily overcome various obstacles in the form of small shoals or reeds. One of such inventions is the Soviet “Lynx” with three engines.
as for the wig, in which a display effect occurs due to changes in load-bearing properties of the wing
at low altitudes. This opportunity was open to airmen in 20 years.
In the early 60’s was adopted the state program for the development of projects fighting wig for the Navy and other armed forces. These cars differ from other vehicles that is capable of speeds up to 250 knots (460 miles per hour), can navigate the seas, rivers, swamps, snow, ice and even on customary land. In comparison with the aircraft airfoil and more efficient lifting, making them useful in the landing and rescue operations, to deliver cargo and military purposes. In addition, for landing they do not require coastal infrastructure – is enough to find the size of the water area or land area.
What happened to the “Caspian sea monster”?
the First model – KM (ship-model, as it is called in Central design Bureau), built in 1966, was equipped with 10 turboprop engines: eight of them were located on the wings and two at the tail of the aircraft. Machine weight was 544 tons, length – 92 meters, height – 22 meters, wingspan – 37 meters.
At that time it was the largest aircraft in the world. However, the cm documents were not aircraft, and ship and have been in the Navy, as ground effect acted only on the height of several meters. He looks like a submarine amphibian. Ran it, however, not sea captains and test pilots.
All information about KM was kept secret. June 22, 1966 just before dawn the unit was launched with the Volga quay. Then for nearly a month under the camouflage net and propriophenone state hauled along the Volga from Gorky in Kaspiysk, where they built a special testing station. Towing for reasons of privacy happened only at night.
the Tests showed that to take off from the water it is necessary to accelerate the airplane to a speed of 350 kilometers per hour. The first flight took place over the Caspian sea at the height of four meters. It lasted 50 minutes. It was recorded by the spy satellite.
MILES felt about 15 years. 9 Feb 1980 died his designer Rostislav Alekseev, and in the same year happened a catastrophe with the “Caspian sea monster”. The pilot on takeoff too abruptly lifted the nose of the car, whereupon she began to rise up with great speed and almost in a vertical position. The pilot decided to lose traction and violated instructions, utilizing the Elevator. The ship-the plane fell on the left wing and hit the water. The pilot survived, but the machine was out of order. Since the operation of the lifting apparatus is made was not, a week later it sank.
amphibious Aircraft is returned?
In 1972 was built the second model wig – transport-landing “Eaglet”, but with more modest dimensions: its length mAYala 58 meters and a weight of 120 tons.
the Third model appeared in 1987. It was a combat missile “LUN”, designed to fight warships, and carried on Board six cruise missiles.
it’s understandable why the launch of the wig so alarmed the CIA. The fact that flying targets are almost invisible on the radar screens, so it is unlikely that the standard air defense radars will find it.
All models of ekranoplans were built about 30. In the 90-ies the development of such projects, for obvious reasons, the time stopped. Only in 2012 did the Russian government has instructed the CDB name Alexeyev to resume production of wig. Now the new models of this kind have been actively developed in Russia and abroad, but they have not yet become widespread.
Russian Seven
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© Russian Seven
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