Wing In Ground-Effect (WIG) Monster | FerrariChat

Wing In Ground-Effect (WIG) Monster

Discussion in 'Aviation Chat' started by tazandjan, Nov 3, 2015.

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  1. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
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  2. TheMayor

    TheMayor Nine Time F1 World Champ
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    What a fantastic idea! A 300 mph stealth boat!

    I imagine it did not fly well on rough seas and it must be difficult to keep salt water out of the engines.

    Can you imagine being on board when they launched a missile!
     
  3. Rifledriver

    Rifledriver Three Time F1 World Champ

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    Seems like a big, expensive and noisy way to go 300 mph.

    Great on a lake. Wonder what happens when it hits a wave in open water at 200 mph? Or for that matter with its fuel consumption if going in open water was even in the cards?

    Makes me wonder how many are keeping their subs company on the bottom?


    Ivan had some crazy ideas.
     
  4. mike01606

    mike01606 Formula Junior

    Feb 21, 2012
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    It doesn't quite work with 4 turbojets.....
    I know...bolt another 4 on :)


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  5. Spasso

    Spasso F1 World Champ

    Feb 16, 2003
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    Ekranoplan in action,
    [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8Nu94khHoo[/ame]

    With missile launch,
    [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_symWK4T7n0[/ame]
     
  6. ralfabco

    ralfabco Two Time F1 World Champ
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    This probably would have been procured, if the Cold War continued. Hard to track. They could deploy these almost anywhere with supply boats. ...If those missiles had special payloads...
     
  7. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
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    Not really suitable for blue sea operations.
     
  8. solofast

    solofast Formula 3

    Oct 8, 2007
    1,773
    Indianapolis
    While the ground effect altitude is only 4-14 m.. Or a max of 45 feet, at high speeds it can fly higher although the most efficient operation is in ground effect.

    If you wanted to go out where sea states were higher they would fly it higher, but landing in higher sea states would most likely not be possible.

    Wiki listed the service ceiling as 24k feet, but the max sea state for operations was pretty low, 1.2 meters or 3 feet..

    As with just about any aircraft, wing size is determined by takeoff speed and runway requirements. You get the lift you need to get it off the ground and then reconfigure it to fly efficiently at altitude. In order to be efficient most aircraft fly high and can because they have a good bit of wing that was necessary for takeoff.

    This aircraft is using ground effect to take off but in order to get that much weight into the air it's probably moving at a pretty high speed at "takeoff" probably more like 150 knots for flight and then it can accelerate to min drag speed (270 kts). Since it can make more than 350 kts it can probably fly out of ground effect, or at higher than optimum ground effect altitudes, but at obviously lower efficiency.

    Note the wide chord on these wings, and couple that with the fact that in ground effect the pressure is higher all the way under the wing as opposed to just near the leading edge in a conventional wing, means they can literally lift tons pretty efficiently.

    Optimum altitude is like 8 feet at cruise, and in higher sea states they would obviously fly higher. Also, at really high speeds you will maintain that 8 feet above the highest wave tops and lose a bit of efficiency when you are over the trough.

    They would be subject to storms, but the reality is that most likely they'd just outrun bad weather which is relatively easy to do when you can go that fast.

    Pretty amazing vehicle and it does have some limitations as to sea state for takeoff and landing, but it also has some interesting capabilities. If you're just going to use it to launch missiles (as one of the versions of this were doing), you could carry a lot of fuel and go a heck of a long way with all of the payload that this thing had. Add that to the fact that this would be really hard to spot on radar and you have a pretty interesting platform.
     
  9. Tcar

    Tcar F1 Rookie

    Assume it could fly over relatively flat (and maybe treeless) land as well, but it cannot land or TO except on water.
     
  10. f1_nix

    f1_nix Formula 3
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    Aug 12, 2005
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    It shows up on Bing Maps birds-eye view pretty well. Just search for Kaspiysk and look for the little enclosed harbor.
     
  11. Bob Parks

    Bob Parks F1 Veteran
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    I can't visualize anything but huge fuel burn to keep that thing sustained much less airborne for much time. I'll bet that you can hear it a week before it gets there.
     
  12. Spasso

    Spasso F1 World Champ

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    Placement of the engines blowing over the top of the wings adding to it......
     
  13. Bob Parks

    Bob Parks F1 Veteran
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    I understand the function of the upper surface flow but to produce it requires a lot of power and that requires a bunch of fuel that eight Russian engines are very good at gobbling up. A fascinating vehicle that I would love to see in operation.
     
  14. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
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    Actually very easy to spot on radar because the thing is a flying corner reflector and the Hawkeyes have no problem picking up something that size at sea level. Probably has a radar signature about like a destroyer or frigate, except a bit faster.
     
  15. Spasso

    Spasso F1 World Champ

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    #15 Spasso, Nov 7, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
  16. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
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    #16 tazandjan, Nov 7, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    USAF commissioned two experimental transports, the YC-14 shown previously and the YC-15 shown below. Both demonstrated different technologies, one blown surfaces and the other really extensive fowler flaps that were also in the flow-field of the engines. Both demonstrated extreme approach angles of up to 30 degrees, short field landings, and short field take-offs. The technologies were incorporated into later transport aircraft even though neither was chosen for production. Interestingly enough, the Soviets copied and fielded a transport with a very similar layout to the YC-14, the An-72. Those extensions below the wings of these aircraft supported the huge flap structures.
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  17. Bob Parks

    Bob Parks F1 Veteran
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    Before this vehicle was built, the 367-80 tested the blown wing surface in 1962 and the airplane still has the steel flaps and tracks on it but retracted. The wing on the -80 is nothing like the original wing and has so much heavy steel and titanium in it that there is 2200 pounds of lead in the nose to maintain balance. I saw the -80 testing this system over the Olympics when I was on a 720-B test flight. We over-flew it from 12,000 and it looked like it was standing still. We were told later that it was flying at 80 knots. Then in the late 70's I saw the Y14 flying over Lake Washington , roaring like a Hurricane but hardly moving while it was testing the blown wing lift system. Looked good to me.
     
  18. jcurry

    jcurry Two Time F1 World Champ
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    The C-17 is a not to distant relative of the C-15 demonstrator.
     
  19. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
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    Jim- Yup, they used YC-15 technology in her.
     
  20. alexm

    alexm F1 Veteran

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