35
Lun-class Ekranoplan
(en.wikipedia.org)
Footage below for the curious
Majestic. Imagine freaking out first time seeing one of those back in the seventies.
The Lun design had several drawbacks. One was that although the ground effect enabled it to fly at low altitude, in order to utilize the effect it had to fly as low as 1.5–3.0 m (5–10 ft) off the water due to its short wingspan, so it could not fly when seas were even mildly rough. Another was that the craft was only designed to use the ground effect principle, so it could not ascend to higher cruising altitudes.
I question how on earth this got past the whiteboard phase. If seafaring ability was the need, why not build this as a ship? If speed was necessary, why wasn’t this a true aircraft?
From linked article on ground-effect vehicles:
Given similar hull size and power, and depending on its specific design, the lower lift-induced drag of a GEV, as compared to an aircraft of similar capacity, will improve its fuel efficiency and, up to a point, its speed. GEVs are also much faster than surface vessels of similar power, because they avoid drag from the water.
All I can think of is this guy from Command and Conquer Red Alert 2
this post was submitted on 29 Apr 2026
35 points (100.0% liked)
Wikipedia
5338 readers
192 users here now
A place to share interesting articles from Wikipedia.
Rules:
- Only links to Wikipedia permitted (an exception is made for news about Wikipedia, where outside news sources are permitted)
- Please stick to the format "Article Title (other descriptive text/editorialization)"
- Tick the NSFW box for submissions with inappropriate thumbnails
- On Casual Tuesdays, we allow submissions from wikis other than Wikipedia.
Recommended:
- Use the search box to see if someone has previously submitted an article. Some apps will also notify you if you are resubmitting an article previously shared on Lemmy.
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS