This’ll be it not taking off from a runway then…… 😮
It never actually took off from water – because the 12 VTOL lift engines were never fitted.
All its early (very successful!) flights were from dry land – it could not go fast enough on the inflatable floats to take off like a floatplane (it was never designed to do this – it was a VTOL).
After it was ‘converted’ from a VTOL ASW VVA-14 aircraft into the 14M1P ekranoplan and the inflatable floats were exchanged for rigid ones, it also never ‘took off’ because it could never achieve the forward lift.
The Bartini/Beriev VVA-14 (ASW VTOL) and 14M1P ekranoplan is a very much misunderstood aircraft.
Ken
BTW – the wreckage at Monino is of the later, ekranoplan conversion – the 14M1P…..
Yeah I knew it was an ekranoplan, hence my coment. I never knew it had flown as an aircraft, glad to be corrected though. I just wish I could get to Russia to see it in the flesh.
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