Jalopnik: ekranoplan

James May Takes An Ekranoplan For A Spin

Mark Arnold — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:30:00 EDT

Moonlighting in this clip for his Big Ideas program, Top Gear UK presenter James May got behind the wheel of a Soviet-era ekranoplan. Piloting the small example of our favorite non-wheeled mode of transportation over a frozen body of water, Captain Slow stayed true-to-form, only bringing the ekranoplan up to not-quite-flying speed. Of course, the ekranoplan doesn't really fly in the traditional sense anyway...or does it? We'll let May explain. [BBC]

Ekranoplan Landings, Terrifying Concept For Reusable Space Flight

Ben Wojdyla — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:40:00 EDT

We have an occasional obsession with Soviet-era ekranoplans, the half-plane, half-hovercraft madness machines which take advantage of the ground effect, a phenomenon which provides for high lift at low altitudes. We've meandered across all manner of ekranoplan, from the massive Caspian Sea Monster to Luigi Colani's vision of an ekranoplanic future. But today we find out Ruskie planners once envisioned a future where space travel was enabled by ekranoplans. Propelling heft into space is much easier at the equator, where you can get up to twice the payload into the night sky at the same fuel charge.

Details on the concept are poorly translated, but it seems a space vehicle would be launched from an equatorial parallel in the traditional manner, but upon return, the landing would be facilitated by heavy ekranoplans. The returning shuttle would hook up with a speeding ekranoplan, which would slow it down the rest of the way and then transport it home. Roll that concept around in your mind a second and imagine how badly that could go wrong. It's no surprise to us the Soviets eventually went with the traditionally shaped but inevitably mothballed Buran shuttle. [USSR Airspace and DarkRoastedBlend]

What's The Jalopnik 24 Hours of LeMons Car?

Jonny Lieberman — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 12:00:00 EDT

Yeah, yeah — you knew this was coming. But I think Jalopnik would have a real shot at winning. First of all, with Murilee and Bumbeck working the pits, you know our car would running like a Swiss clock. Sure, they may sneak a nitrous system into a fake battery, but so what? As for actually driving, I'm sure between all of us we could come up with a pretty mean team. Actually, ~~Wes says~~ we hear Wes is quite capable. And how could you not love a race car driver named Spin? But what are we driving? Obviously an El Camino comes to mind. As does a Starion. However, those are simply too obvious. No, we need you to put on your hoon-hats and do some serious pondering. Think DAF (Turbo-Twin FTW!). Or Ekranoplan. Or better yet, the Tumbler. As many have pointed out, whatever the actual car is, it will need to be Camino'd. And since we can't figure out how one would Camino an Ekranoplan, what about an RS4 Avantamino? Lord, that would be sweet. I'm shutting up. Your turn.

You're Living In Your Own Private Ekranoplan

Davey G. Johnson — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 13:30:00 EDT

Okay, so it's not a missle-launching Lun or a gigantonormous Caspian Sea Monster, but it is an ekranoplan none the less. What's more it's remarkably fuel-efficient, advertised as getting around 26 mpg of diesel. And, according to the Economist it's registered as a boat! It's the Sea Falcon, the perfect vehicle for our weekend getaways to Catalina, Oakland, Baja and beyond. We still wish it launched missiles though. And that we were friends with Fred Schneider. We'd take him whale-watching at 120 miles per hour while dining on rock lobster and listening to Pylon. – Davey G. Johnson

Sea Falcon

Related:
A plane that thinks it's a boat [The Economist]; Because We Could All Use More Ekranoplan in Our Lives [Internal]

Because We Could All Use More Ekranoplan in Our Lives

Davey G. Johnson — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 22:15:00 EDT

Just a friendly reminder. Nothing rocks your butt off like an ekranoplan. Nothing. – Davey G. Johnson

What Would You Do With a Free Kuznetsov NK-12?

Davey G. Johnson — Fri, 25 May 2007 14:15:00 EDT

A high-performance turbine that powered the Tupolev Tu-95 Bear, the Tupolev Tu-114 airliner and the Antonov An-22 Anteus cargo lifter, the NK-12 was designed to run contra-rotating propellers and pumped out 14,800 seahorsepower. Now say, if Vladimir Putin were to bestow one of these fast-spinning behemoths upon you, what would you use it for? Would you retrofit your sailplane? Would you use build the world's most gonzoid go-kart? How about going for the land-speed airboat record in the Everglades? Oh, did we also mention that the NK-12 saw service in the Orlyonok ekranoplan? Yes, friends. We need one of these, and so do you. Now get to thinking. – Davey G. Johnson

Kuznetsov NK-12 [Wikipedia]

Give the People What They Want: Ekranoplans For All!

Davey G. Johnson — Thu, 24 May 2007 19:45:00 EDT

We have to say, when it comes to Soviet military hardware, we've got what most would consider more than a passing familiarity, given our childhood obsession with books on WWII-present planes, boats, tanks and other various and sundry killng machines, not to mention a pubescent summer spent devouring the Tom Clancy oeuvre through Clear and Present Danger. Still, the Caspian Sea Monster took us by surprise. And while we normally let our commenters have the glory on their own, It's entirely worth expending a post to point out that the link that Sebring MGB pointed out needs sharing in a highly-official, Jalop-endorsed manner. Seriously, if you don't spend at least half the clip giggling in sheer amazement at the fabulosity of these machines, we'd recommend an MRI, stat. Meanwhile, we shall not rest until the Port of Los Angeles is crawling with these things. And no, sorry Long Beach, you can't have any. Oakland, help yourself. Sue us. We're feeling selectively parsimonious this afternoon. – Davey G. Johnson

Related:
Gee Willikers, Anatoly! Ekronaplan! [Internal]

Gee Willikers, Anatoly! Ekranoplan!

Davey G. Johnson — Thu, 24 May 2007 18:15:00 EDT

The Russians are great at building fearsome, crazy things. Take, for example, the AH-64 Apache. It's not cute. It's certainly deadly. But is it nearly as scary as the Mil Hind? That thing was so nuttily freakish that under some circumstances it was in danger of falling out of the sky if it stopped moving! Or say, the Antonov An-225. Bigger than a C-5, and definitely more imposing. Plus, the guys who fly them these days are known to barbeque on the upper deck. But even crazier (and somehow an amalgam of the two in our mind) is the Lun-class ekranoplan, which is like a high-speed flying boat that never gets more than a few feet off the water. Click the video and tell us you don't wet your pants in a mixture of glee and terror when the thing looses one of its six Sunburn anti-ship missiles. Go ahead. Tell us. We long to see one hurtling across the Bonneville Salt Flats. Somebody make this happen. – Davey G. Johnson

Related:
Partition Number One! Retro Russian Lada Ad [Internal]