When the U.S. Navy Had Tiny Hot Rods That Flew Over the Sea

Popular Mechanics ^ | Dec 23, 2015 | Kyle Mizokami

[sukhoi-30mki]

[Billthedrill]

Awesome toys. I can't help but think the Coast Guard could have had a use for them.

That worked out to an unimpressive 12 knots an hour.

A quibble, but this is wrong. A "knot" is a nautical mile (2000 yards. 1 minute of latitude) per hour. A "knot per hour" would be a unit of acceleration.

[tanuki]

We could use a few score of these now: instead, we have gold-plated “frigates” like the LCS.

[fini]

There was one very significant problem with these boats- if the foils hit almost anything, when in use, the boat was crippled. A submerged log (and not a very big one) almost sunk one. They were just too fragile.

[Candor7]

Greart anti-pirate intercepters, and anti submarine convoy protectors. Just put some drum style depth charges on the tail fan. :-)

[SWAMPSNIPER]

Any foil malfunction at speed would be all she wrote. The stresses would be tremendous.

[MikeSteelBe]

Reminds me of this crazy Russkie vehicle with no foils, though.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_effect_vehicle

[SubMareener]

The Caspian Sea Monster! What a concept!

[Leroy S. Mort]

I spent a bunch of time trying to figure out the Caspian Sea Monster in the late 60's/early 70's. That turned out to be the biggest WIG (Wing in Ground Effect).

[snoringbear]

“We could use a few score of these now: instead, we have gold-plated “frigates” like the LCS.”

Would be fun to chase down drug runners in their cigarette boats ....

[RC one]

It would be awesome if you could build a carrier and its support group on this concept.

[snoringbear]

“We could use a few score of these now: instead, we have gold-plated “frigates” like the LCS.”

Would be fun to chase down drug runners in their cigarette boats ....

[tanuki]

With some radar planes overhead, I’m sure we could solve a lot of problems. :D

[rhoda_penmark]

>

[rhoda_penmark]

I failed at linking.
https://youtu.be/irJGKY_ZnHE?list=UUJgTOIQItE_z_uni4Gcon6A

[Arlis]

You beat me to it. Any writer in any kind of technical mag ought to know that.

Idiot.

[rhoda_penmark]

That link is to some unlimited hydroplanine race dash cam. Enjoy.

[JohnnyP]

Thanks for that.

I was a kid in the ‘50’s and remember when they were prob driven and used surplus WWII aircraft engines. When did they make the change to gas turbines?

Bill Muncie’s name just came to me. Will have to google him.

[pingman]

More accurately stated, a “knot” is a speed equivalent to 1 nautical mile per hour.

[equaviator]

Yeah, Bill Muncie. He won a few times, I think, in the Gold Cup Unlimited hydroplane races on the Detroit River.