Comments on: Ekranoplans: Caspian Sea Monster video from Smotr

By: marcus

marcus — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 09:59:55 +0000

that aircraft you see is a soviet prototype vehicle that is half plane half boat it was developed to launch missiles and land troops. it is called the LUN.

By: bluemonkey

bluemonkey — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:06:01 +0000

If this monster is caught in the mist of an agitated sea, is gone for good.

By: Basil

Basil — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 17:35:47 +0000

Dear friends, I had an opportunity to have a talk with the old man who was lucky to take part in Kaspian Monster design. He told me that the mainest thing they could not overcome in ecranoplane’s normal work, was the sea waves running - no electronics could predict their behaviour… And that is why no ecranoplane is sailing anywhere…

By: your mom

your mom — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:14:13 +0000

yes i have a lot of footage and you cant have it ner ner ne ner ner

By: Wouter

Wouter — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 14:32:25 +0000

I’m looking for additional footage of the larger Ekranoplans (Lun & KM)… I only have the Russian documentary (which is quite cool). Does anyone have more footage available from some source? Maybe some high-res pictures? I think YouTube has not a lot more to offer at the moment.

By: Ryan Thompson

Ryan Thompson — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 10:13:28 +0000

“Just recently, americans paid 200,000 dollars just for possibility to watch and make photoes of ekranoplane “Orlyonok” - the smallest is the family.”

Umm yeah. The Orlyonok has been around for 35+ years now. We already had a TON of photos of this. So I’m not sure what you’re talking about.

By: Mike A

Mike A — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 18:02:42 +0000

I know a lot af comments are made about the military uses of Ekranoplans, or WIG craft, but what about freight movement? Say around the Med, which doesn’t have many days of high seas.

I watched ancient rusty hydrofoils in service around Greece and Albania, what a modernised Orlyonok could do there!

By: Alex

Alex — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 05:57:32 +0000

What is not mentioned is that Ekranoplans have been used on Russian rivers for transportation for about 40 years. They can reach a speed of 500 km/h. Cruise speed being around 300km/h. Military versions of Ekranoplans are armed with hundreds of missiles which can be swiftly deployed. But the atraction of Ekranoplans is their safety record,no need for an airport, and ability to make multiple stops along a route, without much delay.

By: James Elsener

James Elsener — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 15:55:30 +0000

Ekranoplanes never ceased to amaze me.

When I first heard about them in the early 1980s during my days with the Swiss military I could not believe their existence.

The concept is intriguing and proven. They might well form a perfect answer to high speed sea rescue.

It’s a pity that they are all docked up and rusting into oblivion. From what I have heard it’s due to lack of funds.

By: Joshua Parsons

Joshua Parsons — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 06:30:04 +0000

Here’s a link with a business plan looking at the viability of WIG transport verses an equivalent airplane. It appears that at this stage the real benefits are transport to City Bays where airports are located too distant to make short plane trips viable. I have reviewed the fast ferry proposals from Sydney to Newcastle and Gosford (New South Wales, Australia). Speed and the ability to get to Sydney Harbour and then navigate rivers is of the essence for this proposal as is all weather operation. Maybe in a case like this WIG transport is a valid option.

Link.. http://www.hypercraft-associates.com/wiseorotherwise1.pdf