It came from Mother Russia

[MicroBalrog]

So, APS:

What the hell IS this for?

[Mabs2]

Obviously not for runways.  Looks like water craft.  Appears it's spoda have wings, and they are detached.

[Gowen]

float plane or a really funky boat.

[MicroBalrog]

Obviously not for runways.  Looks like water craft.  Appears it's spoda have wings, and they are detached.

Yes, but why are there huge fans obscuring the pilot/driver's view?

[Mabs2]

Who knows...

[AJ Dual]

It's a small Ekronoplane it uses the ground-effect cushion to skim a few feet above the surface of the water. Usually a problem for a landing aircraft that experiences resistance the very last few feet before touchdown where the air between the wing and the ground gets 'springy'. The pilot has to force the plane down through the last few feet of resistance, an Ekronoplane uses that effect to it's benefit.

The Russkis have always been enamored with the concept. They've even made some ginormous ones that dwarf a 747, even the A380 in size, because they're so efficient with the surface of the water underneath them to "squeeze" back against the body of the craft.

They've never gone into full production, but they've flirted with rapid troop transports, even anti-naval missile Ekronaplanes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ekranoplan_of_1980s.jpg

The unlimited class racing boats are almost Ekronoplanes of a sort too, except they still put a screw into the water instead of using a jet or propeller.

[MicroBalrog]

The Russkis have always been enamored with the concept. They've even made some ginormous ones that dwarf a 747, even the A380 in size, because they're so efficient with the surface of the water underneath them to "squeeze" back against the body of the craft.

Be-2500s are rumored to have 1000 tons of cargo capacity, too.

So this is an ekranoplan? So... how the hell do you pilot it with these huge fans up front?

[AJ Dual]

I assume they're pretty easy to see through at any decent RPM, and since it operates on open water, and goes fast, vision straight ahead is more important than to the sides. By the time something's at an angle where the fans are obscuring it, you're passing it or have already hit it. 

[MikePGS]

so did this

[K Frame]

"So... how the hell do you pilot it with these huge fans up front?"

The same way you pilot an airplane with the engines up front.

Look at the tail assembly. There's a rudder back there.

Very probably you an adjust the speed of the engines up front to get some turning ability as well.

[MicroBalrog]

"So... how the hell do you pilot it with these huge fans up front?"

The same way you pilot an airplane with the engines up front.

Look at the tail assembly. There's a rudder back there.

Very probably you an adjust the speed of the engines up front to get some turning ability as well.

That's not what I was concerned about. I was curious bout the fans obscuring LOS. AJ Dual answered my question perfectly, though.

[MillCreek]

AJ is spot on.  The Russians have built several ground-effect aircraft over the years, primarily to study them as relatively high-speed and inexpensive military transport.  'Modern Marvels' on the History Channel did an episode on them a few years back.  Really interesting aircraft.  The concept never seemed to take off in the West, though.

[Mabs2]

I don't doubt the props would become near invisible at high RPM...but those big red things wont.

[Standing Wolf]

I say it's a very serious contender for the Ugliest Form of Transportation of the Year award.

[Gewehr98]

Yup. It's a baby Ekranoplan.

The Soviets were very much into Wing-In-Ground-Effect vehicles, and had some really huge ones, including this beast outfitted to launch 6 cruise missiles:



The USAF was intrigued with the Soviet development of these in-between hydroplane/airplane monsters, but with the fall of the Iron Curtain, they've pretty much been relegated to history. I should say "intrigued" as in what are they doing with those things, vs. us ever wanting to build our own. They can do heavy lift work in the Ground Effect phenomenon, but also have serious drawbacks. Private ventures still create one or two from time to time, as witnessed by the cute little version you found.

BTW, Ground Effect is not limited to water.  Water's just more uniform, and if you have a boat hull underneath the thing, dropping your airspeed allows you to transition to a very fast boat vs. a pile of twisted aluminum. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ekranoplan

[freedom lover]

This thing's a WIG-hovercraft hybrid. It flys very fast below radar and leaves no wake: http://www.popularmechanics.com/outdoors/boating/4246873.html?page=1