Ekranoplan

[cornellbox]

Someone went and took a TON of pictures of the only old, ex-Soviet LUN ekranoplane sitting and slowly rusting on the edge of the Caspian Sea (at least I think it's the Caspian where they built and tested these things, hence the old intelligence term "Caspian Sea Monster"); I didn't try to transliterate the Cyrillic to see if there's a reference to

Comments

evocative. the last of its kind.

[schlomoseamus]

Russian aerospace created some of the most beautiful aircraft ever made. there's a great, essay from the "ask the pilot" writer from Salon who talks about these planes, discussing their radically different design provenance from Western jets, and their visual impact.
http://dir.salon.com/story/tech/col/smith/2004/09/03/askthepilot101/index.html

The other things that come to mind when I see these pictures, especially shots like the fluted, spiral weldings of the support towers, is steampunk.

Also this:
http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100120