SEAPLANES

COULD’VE BEEN WORSE !

Toni G. — Tue, 29 Aug 2017 11:35:03 +0000

Dear Friends, I often tell my student pilots that it is wise to hold on before taking off when another aircraft has just taken off. Even two minutes is not enough sometimes because the wake turbulence may move in an unpredictable way – rather sideways – depending on the wind but not only. You can watch a previous post in which a spectacular uncontrolled roll happened: http://airforces.fr/2016/03/06/must-see-weird-takeoff-explained/ I have repeated that over and over – waiting is as wise as safe:

We cannot see clearly what really made the seaplane – assumed to be a French Canadair CL-415 Superscooper water bomber – veer off but it was definitely too close to the previous aircraft. Maybe the pilot wanted to do the right thing by saving time to save more lives. Was it because of the bow wake of the flying boat? Because of the air wake turbulence? A human error? A control failure? Or a combination of several factors? Anyway when you see an aircraft of this size taking off, please wait for two minutes before entering the same path. Fortunately, a pole was clipped, the Canadair was damaged, but it could have been worse.

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IRAN unveils stealth FLYING BOATS!

Toni G. — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 20:30:52 +0000

Three squadrons of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have just unveiled their brand new stealth-technology seaplane – the Bavar 2 which means Confidence 2. This aircraft would be equipped with cameras, and a machine gun. Watch the video hereafter:

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Beriev Be-2500 almost twice as big as A380!

Toni G. — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 20:29:14 +0000

The Beriev Be-2500 Neptune is a super-heavy transport seaplane proposed by the Beriev Aircraft Company of Russia. Its maximum take-off weight should reach 2,500 tons! It would be the largest aircraft ever proposed. It might weigh four times more than the largest aircraft in the world, the Antonov An-225.

This gigantic project would range from $10 to $15 billion. The Be-2500 would be a « flying ship » able to compete with the maritime shipping and air transport industries. Its size is not clearly quoted due to a discrepancy in the figures available. However, it would nearly double the Airbus A380 size!

It is deemed to be an ekranoplane (also known as a « wing-in-ground-effect – WIG », « flarecraft », « wing-in-surface-effect ship – WISE », « sea skimmer », « ground effect vehicle – GEV » thanks to its cushion of high-pressure air provided by the aerodynamic interaction between the wings and the surface, which is known as ground effect.

Last but not least, it could fly far over the surface (airborne) like any heavy cargo. Watch what it could look below:

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