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Iran showcases its military strength ("Super-Modern Flying Boat")
China Daily ^
| Updated: 09:27, April 05, 2006
Posted on 04/04/2006 10:04:02 PM PDT by demlosers
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To: Army Air Corps
These Ekranoplan things have their place, and that is for moving more high-value cargo or personnel than an airplane can carry, faster than a ship can sail. Ground-effect flight is quite efficient. If you need to carry a battalion of special forces across the Caspian sea in two hours, the Ekranoplan is just what you need.
Only a raving idiot would use these monstrosities as an offensive weapon to attack an American carrier battle group. They'd be blown to matchsticks in the harbor as soon as they got up to speed.
-ccm
41
posted on
04/04/2006 11:13:54 PM PDT
by
ccmay
(Too much Law; not enough Order)
To: demlosers
These look to have virtually the same silhouette.
42
posted on
04/04/2006 11:16:34 PM PDT
by
LibertarianInExile
(Freedom isn't free--no, there's a hefty f'in fee--and if you don't throw in your buck-o-5, who will?)
Hey Iran:
I don't care if all the weapons you BOUGHT from NON-MUSLIM Russia, North Korea, China etc. work as they say they will.....
They still won't save you when you force the civilized world to act.
To: LibertarianInExile
Good catch!
Iranian developed flying boat my #ss.
To: Army Air Corps
That ones close to destroyer sized too, they made monster WIG craft.
45
posted on
04/04/2006 11:44:01 PM PDT
by
Axenolith
(Got Au? Ag?)
To: demlosers
All it needs is some carpet.
46
posted on
04/05/2006 12:12:36 AM PDT
by
HisKingdomWillAbolishSinDeath
(My Homeland Security: Isaiah 54:17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper)
To: Fedora
That was more advanced in the '60s. It could split into four independently controllable sections, after all.
47
posted on
04/05/2006 12:14:45 AM PDT
by
Rastus
To: demlosers
Super secret lranian lawnchair-balloon anti-ship discombobulater
48
posted on
04/05/2006 12:56:55 AM PDT
by
sully777
(wWBBD: What would Brian Boitano do?)
To: demlosers
Call me dumb, but it sounds as if they want US to believe that they have formidable weapons and are itching to use them. Isn't that what Saddam convinced us about Iraq?
49
posted on
04/05/2006 1:51:05 AM PDT
by
Ruth A.
(we might as well fight in the first ditch as the last)
To: sully777
Fruit of the Loom appears to be diversifying...
50
posted on
04/05/2006 2:03:35 AM PDT
by
Gunny P
(Gunny P)
To: sully777
American response...
51
posted on
04/05/2006 2:37:56 AM PDT
by
RaceBannon
((Prov 28:1 KJV) The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.)
To: demlosers
I thought Jesse James already built this on Monster Garage.
To: demlosers
"...Maverick, you've got your bogey...."
53
posted on
04/05/2006 4:02:52 AM PDT
by
Victor
(If an expert says it can't be done, get another expert." -David Ben-Gurion, the first Prime Minister)
To: sully777
How did you get that photo of the super secret Iranian airborne forces?
54
posted on
04/05/2006 6:02:57 AM PDT
by
Army Air Corps
(The UN 1967 Outer Space Treaty is bad for America and bad for humanity - DUMP IT)
To: demlosers
"super-modern flying boat"???
Only to someone with a 6th century worldview.
BTW, did the Iranians hire Baghdad Bob as their new military spokesman?
55
posted on
04/05/2006 7:06:24 AM PDT
by
Klatuu
To: presidio9
56
posted on
04/05/2006 7:16:19 AM PDT
by
Oztrich Boy
(Conscience: the inner voice which warns us that someone may be watching. - H L Mencken)
To: LibertarianInExile
Unless the Iranians have some major aeronautical talent they're not telling anyone, this may not be a very stable flying configuration, based on accident history. From Forbes, 10/1/2001:
A Wing and a Prayer
Monte Burke, 10.01.01
Would you be willing to commute in a flying ferryboat?
William Russell thought his dream of a hybrid boat-plane was finally taking off as he saw his Flarecraft rise above Long Island Sound one recent morning. Within seconds the five-seat winged craft was zipping 5 feet over the water at 60mph. It was a proud moment for Russell, who watched along with an executive from Lockheed Martin, which had agreed to buy two of the unlikely vessels.
Less than a minute into the demo, the Flarecraft pitched up into the air, crashing on its side in a shower of water and plane parts. The pilot wasn't hurt, but it was another setback for Russell, 53, who has spent 14 years and $10 million trying to revolutionize water travel.
With a 225hp Continental aircraft engine, 21-foot wingspan and an airplane-shaped body, the Flarecraft can travel 350 miles in three and a half hours on 47 gallons of fuel. Before taking off it floats like a seaplane on pontoons attached to its wingtips. At 20mph it begins to lift the pontoons, and at 60mph it's airborne, skirting the water by 1 to 10 feet. It works by using "wing-in-ground effect." The shape of the Flarecraft's wings slow down air under the wing, lifting the craft while decreasing drag--similar to the way a bird uses the air when it swoops near water.
A former investment banker, Russell dreamed of a newfangled commuter craft while schlepping to Wall Street on the subway in 1987. A sailboat racer and radio-controlled-plane junkie, he fantasized about a small, Jetsonesque vessel that could travel by air but take off and land in water like a seaplane. Then a friend mentioned the late Alexander Lippisch, a German who discovered wing-in-ground effect. Russell licensed the patents from Lippisch's widow for an undisclosed royalty.
He had German firm Messerschmitt Bolkow Blohm develop ultralight planes, but scrapped them when he discovered the bodies were too heavy. Russell then worked with boatmaker Merrifield-Roberts. In 1994 the four-seat Trainer, with a Lycoming 160hp engine, was featured as a $250,000 pleasure craft in the Neiman Marcus Christmas catalog. Despite 400 inquiries from well-to-do thrill seekers, Russell backed out of selling the Trainer, fearing liability. Merrifield bowed out, too. "We didn't feel it was a viable vessel," says John Merrifield, cofounder of the boatmaker. "It wasn't properly engineered."
Russell refocused on slightly larger craft that companies could use as ferries--assuming the risks themselves. He coaxed $5 million from investors and manufacturers, including Ticom, a former Northrop Grumman unit, to develop the current model, which adds a seat and boosts the payload to 1,200 pounds.
But as Lockheed learned, the latest version is still far from perfect. Surface tension in the water can sling the craft out of control or cause it to bounce violently. There's also a tendency for the craft to pitch nose up. Such problems have led to five wrecks. In April a customer wiped out spectacularly in Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay after altering the design of the plane. The pilot was injured and the plane destroyed. The same month the Coast Guard banned civilians from the craft and restricted the times and areas in which it can fly.
Russell is trying to drum up another $10 million to develop a 12-seater. The idea is to compete with island ferryboats in places like Greece and the Bahamas. By his math, some 300 Flarecrafts could generate $1 billion in sales charging $1 a mile per seat. It might be easier to put a pig into self-propelled orbit.
57
posted on
04/05/2006 7:34:47 AM PDT
by
Yossarian
("If you're going through hell, KEEP GOING!" -- Winston Churchill)
To: demlosers
58
posted on
04/05/2006 8:09:36 AM PDT
by
laotzu
To: HisKingdomWillAbolishSinDeath
Super Duper Iranian Stealth Floor Covering and Personal Aviation Vehicle
59
posted on
04/05/2006 8:13:32 AM PDT
by
Kozak
(Anti Shahada: " There is no God named Allah, and Muhammed is his False Prophet")
To: Army Air Corps
Yes, the Ekranoplan. This one was designed to carry and fire anti-ship missiles. AKA, the "Caspian Sea Monster". It was one big bugger, as you can judge by the relative size of the cockpit windows.
60
posted on
04/05/2006 9:11:26 AM PDT
by
El Gato
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