My Ekranoplan

  • Thread starter Thread starter Zathros
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
I've just been following along on this one. Nice work by the way. This is one of the more unique craft I've run across in my aircraft/watercraft type interests. Probably due to the fact that when I was younger and living in Florida someone actually owned something that looked similar to the Volga-2 (1986). I think it was a homebuilt kit or something but was cool to watch him take it out on the water acroos the bay into the channel then out onto the Gulf of Mexico. I'm sure my parents have some pics of it still. I'll have to check with them and get them posted if they do. I never really knew until this post what it was actually called. I didn't really try hunting too much since didn't have any reference pics to use to find it. Anyway nice build I'll be following this one some more now to see what comes out of it. Thanks for the info as well. I finally know what it's called now.
 
@Bad Scorpion, I am happy you found this thread educational. There is a lot of misinformation about these craft. The Russians had 4 classes of Ekranoplans. The A-90 Orlyonok had a max service ceiling of 3000 meters (roughly 9000 ft.) . I read this at a Russian website, yet some people say they were subject to rogue waves. I have seen films of small ones using their kinetic energy to make incredible leaps and settle back down into ground effect. I have read many times that the instability has not been overcome, another misconception. There yet seems to be no one website I have read that has all the info right on these craft which ads to the allure IMHO.
 
Whaaaa?

I have come to the conclusion I don't know what I am doing. That being said, I have to rethink the fit of some of the panels. The piece behind the cockpit canopy will have to connect to the empennage. The nose has a very visible line due to the fact that the cockpit was a "skosh" too wide. That will be an easy fix. The deck lid is a little too small which led to the bad fit. A little filler and some paint, you'll never see it! I should be able to incorporate the fixes in the next render in Rhino. Gotta break for Christmas though. It is still good enough for a toy, as long as none of those Polish or German master builders are watching, I won't feel too bad. The bar is very high, so I'll limbo. Image 4640 is out of focus, just like when I squint my eyes and think, "It'll be O.K".

IMG_4642.JPG IMG_4640.JPG
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hello Zathros,
I'm discovering the same thing, building cardboard models is not the same as designing them, but we go for the (Ed Harris in Apollo 13}" Gentleman, failure is not an option":-D
Merry Christmas, Billy
 
Well got a little farther. I will have to watch a couple of things for final fit such as the sides of the fuselage or you end up with a gap. I hope one more build ( after this one ) will get me closer. I am going to work on the engine and mounting pylons. There aren't any real good pictures of the engine on ESKA-2 but it looks like an opposed twin, ala BMW style. The real aircraft/boat used only 38 or so horsepower.

IMG_4644.JPG
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Possibly an engine from a Soviet-era Ural motorcycle. The Ural was a 650cc engine copied/adapted from a pre-war German BMW engine. The power rating is about right for the Ural engine.

Regards,

Charlie
 
I love seeing the ekranoplans being modeled - what an interesting craft. If I only lived along the Black Sea

When I see people posting that they would like to build a real one I want to share my dream of a little different WIG vehicle. Look at www.universalhovercraft.com and take a peek at the UH-18SPW Hoverwing. It has stow-able fabric wings that would make it so much easier to store a real one... I hope I am not too far off topic with this.
 
http://www.se-technology.com/wig/index.php?open=linking

This link to the wig page (movie 360 and 366) show an wig X114 jumping at incredible heights. Some people think these things are useless in the event of an rogue wave or obstacle, this video proves otherwise. I would like this thread to cover all aspects of WIGS/Ekranoplans. Thanks for the input. The info is like Eranoplan porn, I just love the stuff.
 
Yeah, I read where a Russian pilot lost one of their big boys when he panicked and powered up (being a former pilot I could understand the reaction). I wouldn't worry about being nerdy...we build paper models after all. Did any of you guys try the Penny Ekranoplans, they work pretty good with some tweaking. My son and I did about 500 flights Christmas eve (talk about nerdy!). NewLun flies slower. Lun is fast.
 
zathros said:
Yeah, I read where a Russian pilot lost one of their big boys when he panicked and powered up (being a former pilot I could understand the reaction). I wouldn't worry about being nerdy...
Click to expand...

It sounds like one of those "get whacked around the head often enough by the instructor and you don't do it things..." A bit like not trying to turn back to the field if you lose engine power on climb out after takeoff.

I write software to pay bills so nerdy is my usual state.

Regards,

Charlie
 
Added motor, 1st attempt. The few pictures that I have of this show different engines, some with cowls, some without. I banged this out after a couple of glasses of wine new years eve and colored it with Sharpie pens, that's why it looks so good!!! or should I say, It's a prototype, heh heh heh.

IMG_4689.JPG
 
Last edited by a moderator:
@lizzienewell, coming from you that's a real compliment. I showed my wife the rescue craft you showed in you Puerto Rico visit thread and she was also impressed. That would be a nice model to build. The motor isn't attached as the drawings I have show some kind've mount on the fuselage that I haven't gotten a good view of yet. I am going to have to add lib a lot on this model.
 
Engine/Mounts

I got a little more serious about the engine mount and built a second motor. The motor isn't finished yet but here it is anyway. I added the dime for reference.

IMG_4726.JPG
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Post#22
There is a lot of misinformation about these craft. ...... The Russians had 4 classes of Ekranoplans. The A-90 Orlyonok had a max service ceiling of 3000 meters (roughly 9000 ft.) . I read this at a Russian website, yet some people say they were subject to rogue waves.
Click to expand...


Post # 30
Some people think these things are useless in the event of an rogue wave or obstacle, this video proves otherwise.
Click to expand...

John

I appreciate your enhusiasm for these craft and I share it but both your points are wrong.
None of the available pics or videos show the A-90 Orlyonok out of ground effect. It can't get out of ground effect let alone make it to 3000m, the combination of wing area and installed power simply isn't enough. A typo seems to have got into the specifications somehow and been repeated. Not everything on the web is correct, sometimes it's neccesary to spot what isn't.
In any case a WIG is a wing in ground effect craft, so if a craft operates continuously out of ground effect it is not a wig, just a re-invented aircraft with funny landing habits. :-)
Have a look at
http://www.se-technology.com/wig/html/main.php?open=class&code=0
for what the international community makes of these things through the classifications jointly sorted out by the IMO (International Maritime Organisation) and ICAO (International Civil Aviation Authority).
Russian ekranoplans would need to conform to these rules to operate outside the artificial protection of "Soviet" Russia.
The page merits careful reading in full.
In particular note the concerns about the jump maneouvres of type B craft.
The X-114 seen in the videos is not jumping but is translating to sustained flight out of ground effect. That makes it a Class C wig which means it has to be built to the same standards as and compete directly with aircraft. Since it can't do all that an aircraft can it's not economically viable.
It was claimed the hovercraft would replace sliced bread, it didn't. Wigs are similarly very, very interesting and fun ... but limited ... at least for the present. The information I have posted has been in the interests of giving people a balanced and realistic view of the capabilities and limitations of these craft.
Don't mistake the inventiveness that Lizzie has put into her delightful but fictional skips for the reality of wigs.

Cheers
Maurice
(AKA "some people" :-))
 
A-90 Orlyonok blueprints

Nice work, zathros!
I was always interested in the ekranoplan technology from the years when early information filtered to the West. It is long

time that I'm looking around for Orlyonok blueprints because I'd like to try to develope a model (wooden in my first intention and now paper). I found this site (http://www.flankerman.fsnet.co.uk/modl_ekrano.htm) about the build from scratch and we can see some blueprint in the background of some picture, but I never succeeded to contact the author.

Can someone to help me?;)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom