Russian Spruce Goose?

Even 'skimming' along at 20-50' above the water, what about the swells in the open ocean?

Most of the time at sea, I'd say "normal" swells were in the 10-15' range. I've seen 70' waves, but I would not like to see that again (Gulf of Alaska). I've seen it like glass, too. Literally like glass. That's pretty rare also. I would say that in general, if you were flying at 50' above the water, you were way above the waves, even in most storms, which I'm sure that thing would avoid.

Today, I bet a satellite would track that thing from the time it took off, making it pretty useless.

Check out his page on a Typhoon class sub. http://igor113.livejournal.com/27205.html

Dr. Hess wrote: Most of the time at sea, I'd say "normal" swells were in the 10-15' range. I've seen 70' waves, but I would not like to see that again (Gulf of Alaska). I've seen it like glass, too. Literally like glass. That's pretty rare also. I would say that in general, if you were flying at 50' above the water, you were way above the waves, even in most storms, which I'm sure that thing would avoid. Today, I bet a satellite would track that thing from the time it took off, making it pretty useless.

I was thinking of an updated version of this as a replacement for the QE2 or similar as a high speed way to cross the atlantic in style. Not plan fast, but fast compared to traditional ocean liners.

BTW, is there anything you haven't done? 70' waves would see me crapping my pants, but I've never been more than a few miles off shore in a sail boat.

I've been under 70' waves. Does that count?

Appleseed wrote: And the Martin P6M was so good, that the Air force complained so loudly so it was relegated to a mine layer.

Or, you know, the boomer subs were better at providing a nuke option for the Navy...

B-52 lays mines now too.

That first one is incredible. It looks like a fanciful school boy's sketch, with a bunch of missiles on top for good measure.

Much smaller versions are actually still in use, too. James May goes for a ride in one on an episode of his 'Big Idea's'.

Luke wrote: Much smaller versions are actually still in use, too. James May goes for a ride in one on an episode of his 'Big Idea's'.

OOoohhhh, must find that

Yeah there are little "sport models" you can buy these days that hold 2-6 people.

rebelgtp wrote: Anyone else wondering what a modern version of this beast would be like? That thing actually kind of spooks me when you think about how effective it could be at hunting down ships. Imagine if there were more of those things.

Just more expensive toys for global hawks to guide missiles into and rain death upon.

Fighting the U.S. military you would probable be better off with a couple of rpgs hidden away in the bottom of your row boat.

oldopelguy wrote: I've been under 70' waves. Does that count?

You mean in a sub right?

Not on a surf board?

GlennS wrote: Fighting the U.S. military you would probable be better off with a couple of rpgs hidden away in the bottom of your row boat.

Who told you about our navy?

Canada

That was sometimes called the "Caspian Sea Monster". It didn't actually fly high, it got enough air under its wings and went across the water about 15 or so feet.

I consider any ship smaller than about 600' to be too small for me to get on, and nothing more than a rich man's toy. I liked sailing on the VLCC's, Very Large Crude Carriers, AKA "Supertankers." Like 1.8 Million Barrel or better cargo capacity. If you're going to be in 70' seas, that's what you want to be on. Even then, it was a rough ride. We were in ballast, so sticking up out of the water quite a bit and only drawing like 35-40 ft. The deck was probably 80' above the water line at that point and was under water. The bow would wave at you, flexing up and down. Conditions were Beaufort Force 10, or, per the chart on the bridge, "Phen-Berkeleying-Nomenal."

Don't the VLCCs tend to break their backs in that kind of condition?

Naw. The only way to do that is to load it wrong. If you load the fore and aft tanks and leave the midships tanks MT, that will do it. I heard of a brand new tanker on its maiden voyage. It went to Amsterdam to load. Well, you can figger out what happens when a ship of sailors pull into Amsterdam. They got a night mate (guy who comes out to stand watches/help with cargo in port so the regular mates can get some rest/shore time) to come out and the whole crew went into town. The night mate was clueless and loaded the fore and aft tanks. Crack.

Adrian_Thompson wrote:

Luke wrote: Much smaller versions are actually still in use, too. James May goes for a ride in one on an episode of his 'Big Idea's'.

OOoohhhh, must find that

There was one at the seaplane base at Oshkosh last year. I remember funny looks as I exclaimed "Ekranoplan!"

Here's a nice Ekranoplan primer web site:

http://www.travelcentre.com.au/travel/airshows/Russian/russia_ekranoplan.htm

Luke wrote: That first one is incredible. It looks like a fanciful school boy's sketch, with a bunch of missiles on top for good measure.

My schoolboy sketches had the missiles already included!

I would love to see something like these doing transatlantic crossings to compete with traditional airlines. Because it's a "boat", and not an aircraft, you could do away with all the airport security rubbish and probably make the tickets a lot cheaper too. The only problem would be for inland folk getting to the Ekranopan port.

Everyone's already discovered it's the Ekranoplan, so here's the real Russian (Soviet) Spruce Goose, developed at enormous cost to make one test flight:

Buran, the Soviet Shuttle.

http://www.buran-energia.com/bourane-buran/bourane-desc.php

Sadly, the only one to ever fly was practically destroyed in a hangar collapse in 2002 or so.

Google satellite:

http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=ekranoplan+russia&sll=49.891235,-97.15369&sspn=27.195944,56.513672&ie=UTF8&hq=%E3%82%A8%E3%82%AF%E3%83%A9%E3%83%8E%E3%83%97%E3%83%A9%E3%83%B3&hnear=Ekranopl%C3%A1n,+Russian+Federation&ll=42.881672,47.656159&spn=0.001785,0.003449&t=h&z=18

Shawn

I seem to recall popular science or popular mechanics talking about these planes back in the 80s.. their idea was a super short, but high lift wing that would also function as the cargo area.. like the ekranoplan, it would use ground effects to "fly" or skim the surface of the water