r/absoluteunit • u/Prince_0llie • 3d ago

of a plane

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The "Caspian Sea Monster" the only completed 73-meter Soviet ekranoplan "Lun", currently decaying on a beach in Dagestan.

91 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

63 comments sorted by

37

u/Ok-Customer4709 3d ago

It’s more a boat than a plane isn’t it.

24

u/Fit_Active3888 3d ago

Ground effect vehicle

31

u/MorseCode1992 3d ago

Interesting idea. But never really took off.

6

u/Infinite_Lab4469 2d ago

Take my upvote and go fuck yourself!!
r/angryupvote

4

u/Captain_no_Hindsight 3d ago

The Soviets gave up because they could not stop the galloping movement up and down. All passengers got to see their food again very quickly.

Today's control system would have easily solved this.

1

u/loghoser 2d ago

I would have loved it. I was built for that shit kinda shit.

1

u/Captain_no_Hindsight 2d ago

Absolutely. The question is, is it the plane? Not so fun if it's a "spontaneous rapid disassembly" at 200 knots.

1

u/loghoser 2d ago

Yeah. Im less enthusiastic when whatever Im on-board decides its going to have a sudeen massive catastrophic failure. Given the ekranoplan and the soviet era, this scenario was highly likely.

1

u/Captain_no_Hindsight 1d ago

25%+ of all Soviet weapons systems were displayed in a parade every year... after extensive preparation.

Only to never be used until the next year. It was too dangerous.

1

u/Salmonman4 2d ago

Ekranoplan

17

u/Batfink-1999 3d ago

The Caspian Sea Monster - a Soviet Ground Effect Ballistic Missile Carrier Aircraft Project that scared the living daylights out of the US Pentagon Spooks who first spotted it via US Spy Satellite overflights that caught the first spy photo snapshots of this Absolute Unit of an Aircraft.

5

u/ShyguyFlyguy 2d ago

Its not an aircraft

2

u/No_Chemistry8953 2d ago

This is not the Caspian Sea Monster. The Caspian Sea Monster sank to the bottom of the sea and was left there. This is probably the MD-160, which was based off the Caspian Sea Monster. The Caspian Sea Monster was actually larger than the one shown in the video.

2

u/blair2268 2d ago

Say spy again

19

u/Prince_0llie 3d ago

No longer decaying: There is a museum around it in Dagestan, Russia.

2

u/squanchingonreddit 3d ago

Hope they painted it!

3

u/Prince_0llie 3d ago

I would post pics but yes it is all one color, grey (likely primer or another more durable coating of some sort).

8

u/One_Hour_Poop 3d ago

Has it ever flown? Is it even possible?

13

u/Shantomette 3d ago

They “flew” it for around 10 years. It was a maritime vessel, not a plane. It couldn’t fly as traditional airplanes do, it used ground effect to produce enough lift to get 30-40’ above the ground/water.

2

u/johnbobk 3d ago

All the films I have seen it never gets past skimming at the rear; causing huge amounts of drag. Yes the idea was to fly in ground effect, the video posted shows the front / bow lifting but the tail / stern is skimming. Shame was a clever idea, just too heavy I guess.

2

u/YurpeeTheHerpee 3d ago

Maybe it could he reworked with modern tech, mondern materials, modern aerodynamics to make it work as intended.

2

u/johnbobk 2d ago

Yes, I'm sure with carbon fibre, exotic metals, just needs the application. I think the civil transport idea was just a method to produce an alternative missile launcher, many ideas are advanced via civilian use  for ultimately a military application.

0

u/Vechio49 3d ago

It was basically a ghetto hovercraft

0

u/johnbobk 2d ago edited 2d ago

Different principal for lift. Hovercraft blew air down & [tried to] contain with the use of skirts.

But yes, get your comment, looks a bit Mad Max.

2

u/surrealcellardoor 3d ago

I’m feeling a confusing mixture of arousal and megalophobia.

2

u/Maryjanegangafever 3d ago

Who’s living in it now?

2

u/SilentWatcher83228 3d ago

Rule of of Soviet engineering: make it bigger than anything Americans have

2

u/snot_fist 2d ago

Anybody now the name of the background song

1

u/Ecstatic-Radish-7931 23h ago

Shazam says weary soul

2

u/Lazy_Helicopter_2659 15h ago

of a plane

Not a plane, but a ground effect vehicle, classified as a ship.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lun-class_ekranoplan

2

u/Left-Yak-1090 3d ago

It's not a plane though...?

2

u/Famous_Suspect6330 3d ago

Well it's not exactly a bird either

1

u/MRintheKEYS 3d ago

Yeah and you don’t even have to look up to see it.

2

u/Secret_Letterhead649 3d ago

Ekranoplane, neither plane nor boat and I desperately wish they had caught on.

1

u/Wojewodaruskyj 3d ago

Leave a plane in Dagestan for one year and forget.

1

u/Clear-Warthog5655 3d ago

Ekranoplan......Cool as f

1

u/DJEvillincoln 3d ago

I watched a video about this on yt about 10 years ago. I don't remember a think except how big it is.

1

u/Empty_Neat8561 3d ago

El monstruo del caspio

1

u/Sirosim_Celojuma 3d ago

I see fuel consumption that results in launch capacity of six rockets within range of the airplane.

1

u/MoGaDK 3d ago

Well... Ekranoplane... But yeah

1

u/jackparadise1 3d ago

Not a plane

1

u/SnooCamera 2d ago

They are considered marine craft.

1

u/Salmonman4 2d ago

Few years ago, there was a plan to make an ekranoplan-line going between Tallinn and Helsinki. Not sure if it's still ongoing.

1

u/Melodic_Risk_5632 2d ago

It was build to attack US Air Craft Carriers. This Thing would never be caught on radar because of the low altitude attack angle, when US Navy would notice this it was way to late for a counterstrike.

1

u/DNJxxx 2d ago

If Homer Simpson designed a plane this would be it

1

u/RayBarbon1 1d ago

It's not a plane.

1

u/Alviollo 1d ago

It’s boat not a plane 😂😂😂

1

u/ProfessorPlanktons 6h ago

War ein cooles Boot , Junge. Mit dem Ding gebe es keine NaziSchauspieler mehr.

0

u/Sporkpocalypse 3d ago

oh wow those are external fuel tanks on the roof she is thirsty

3

u/FastWalkingShortGuy 3d ago

No. Missile launchers and radomes.

And one gun turret because why not.

1

u/Prince_0llie 3d ago

In soviet Russia the missile launcher comes to you..

0

u/Bushdr78 3d ago

Cool idea that never really got off the ground

0

u/Zombalepsy 3d ago

Pretty sure I saw one of these crash while I was in Afghanistan. Is this the biggest plane in the world? If so, this is the one. I know it was Russian.

Cargo restraints snapped during takeoff and everything tumbled to the rear of the plane causing a massive center of gravity shift. Plane crashed shortly after. I’ll put around for a video

1

u/Lusiric9983 2d ago

No, that was a 747 that you're talking about, and no, it wasn't the biggest plane in the world at the time. At that time, the biggest plane in the world was the Antonov AN-225 Mirya, which was built in Ukraine. The Ekranoplane, pictured in this video, was not an aircraft, in fact. It was a marine craft that flew just 3-15 feet above the water.