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Why did they stop releasing hydrofoils? Russian hydrofoils: for the first time in the 21st century

The production of the Volga boat was launched back in 1958. Initially, it was planned to use it exclusively for the purpose of carrying out service in various regions of the country. Inspectors and patrol officers quickly and appreciated the vessel. Serial production for the population was not launched, the boat remained only in the possession of the state. After the collapse of the country and hitting the masses, the boat gained popularity in the field of walks on rivers and seas. The boat "Volga" is made on hydrofoils to ensure smooth flight and movement even in light waves.

General description of the boat "Volga"

Previously, the Volga boat could not be purchased for their own needs, since, like the Chaika car, it could only be in the possession government organizations... Due to the shortage of such ships, the Volga motorboat is in demand today as an excellent transport from the retro class. The newest boats are those that came out in 1986.

The boat on the wings "Volga" was developed by the shipyard "Krasnoe Sormovo" during the period of active production was produced by three factories. The project can be recognized by the identifier - 343. A little later, a similar model was developed that could be used for walking on the sea. In the standard design, it was only possible to go to the rivers. Marine versions have additional designations ME, MEM, MK.

The production of the Volga boat was launched back in 1958.

The characteristics of the Volga hydrofoil made it possible to use the vessel for high-speed trips, for transporting large loads or for walking.

The wings in the structure are quite deep, they impose certain restrictions on the places of use, since on the “Volga” boat you cannot approach unequipped piers and take walks in shallow water. The height of the draft is 0.85 m. On many photos of the Volga boat, it can be determined that there are only 2 wings: one row is located under the driver's seat, and the second is at the stern.

Previously, the ship was called "Strela", this name was valid until 1965. After the renaming, it received the name "Volga", and unofficially - "Krylatka", a similar expression still remains among the people.

The engine of the Volga boat may differ in the standard version, since the release was carried out in 3 versions:

"M53F" - 75 liters. With.;
"M-652-U" - 80 liters. With.;
"M8ChSPU-100" - 90 liters. With.

All of these types of engines run on gasoline in a 4-stroke system. Most models came with a second engine option, which is sufficient to reach speeds of 65 km / h.

The structure is based on an aluminum alloy. The method of joining the structure is riveting. Welding was used for individual elements of the hull. The length of the vessel is fixed in all modifications and is 8.5 m. The boat has a relatively small cockpit, it can accommodate 6 passengers due to the presence of 3 rows of seats, each with a capacity of 2 people.

Hydrofoil boat "Volga"

The bow of the "Volga" is highly elongated and takes up to 40% of the entire space. A large engine compartment is provided in the stern, it can carry large loads, while maintaining the ease of transition to planing.

In the conditions of rivers you can find different options ship, as many buyers are involved in design changes. Today, the Volga boat without wings is relatively common, however, it was not possible to make a decent video, but there is an option on removable wings in the video.

Fully restored ships are increasingly feeling the need to replace the engine with a more powerful and smaller one. The "Volga" boat under the outboard engine allows you to speed up the transition to the planing state. To install the outboard motor, you will have to redesign the transom and remove the stationary model of the engine. In the upgraded models, the comfort is significantly improved.

Due to the presence of a long closed bow, part of the cockpit is severely cut, but the craftsmen found a way out in creating a cabin-type vessel. The high speed of the boat has made it popular in the entertainment industry. For tourist purposes, the boat is installed long deck, which occupies about 60% of the total area.

By row technical parameters the boat remains competitive today. The case is highly resistant, as the construction uses a protective layer of protection, consisting of 4-fold magnesium coating. Additional protection helps prevent corrosion on both fenders and underbody.

All models of the Volga boat use protectors, but their number depends on the water in which the vessel is supposed to be operated. For salty, seawater, more protectors are included, and for rivers, less.

The boat "Volga" under the outboard engine allows you to speed up the transition to the planing state

There are several factors why the wings on the Volga boat are needed:

to increase the speed of movement and the speed of the transition to planing;
to reduce water resistance and increase speed;
to improve seaworthiness, as the wings compensate for rolling and excitement.

Hydrofoils also lead to a number of disadvantages:

high construction cost compared to standard displacement vessels;
with too large waves, there is a strong blow on the bottom, and also the wings come out of the water and the ship falls, hitting the bow;
high requirements for engines, they must be relatively light, compact and powerful.

Technical characteristics of the boat "Volga"

For its time, the ship was one of the fastest, since the speed could reach 70 km / h. Even today, the Volga boat remains a good acquisition due to High Quality workmanship, excellent speed and durability.

Technical characteristics of the hydrofoil boat "Volga":

maximum length - 8.5 m;
overall width - 1.95 m;
the height of the side in the midship area - 0.98 m;
height in dimensions to the top of the windshield - 1.47 m;

Technical characteristics of the boat "Volga"

displacement under load - 1.8 t;
weight without equipment and passengers - 1.25 tons;
payload capacity - 650 kg;
bottom deadrise in the transom area - 17.8 °;
equipment weight - about 190 kg;
maximum draft for a displacement type of navigation - 0.85 m;
draft level when gliding on the wings - 0.55 m;
number of passengers - 5 people;
availability of separate control places - 1 pc .;
maximum autonomous navigation distance - 92 miles;
main engine - "M-652-U";
engine power - 80 hp With.;
propulsion type - propeller (propeller);
screw size - 0.335 m;
step - 0.538 m;
disc ratio - 0.75;
number of blades - 3 pcs .;
comfortable boat speed for operation - 50 km / h;

The boat "Volga" has 5 passenger seats

maximum speed - 65 km / h;
seaworthiness level when sailing on wings - 0.4 m;
seaworthiness with a displacement type of movement - 1 m;
material type - Amg5V;
joining method - welding and riveting.

If we consider the seaworthy version of the Volga ME boat, then there are several differences, although most of the characteristics have remained unchanged.

Features of the boat for the sea:

hull width increased to 2.1 m (by 0.15 m);
slightly more weight of the structure - 1316 kg (by 71 kg);
maximum sailing distance without refueling - 97 miles;
comes with several types of engines: 75, 80 and 90 hp. With.

What price

You can buy the Volga boat in a standard configuration without tuning and replacing the engine at a relatively low price, which ranges from 230-300 thousand rubles. When installing an outboard engine, the price can increase by 50-100 thousand rubles.

Rising above the surface of the water, these ships sweep past at the speed of a courier train; at the same time, they provide their passengers with the same comfort as on a jet air liner.
In the Soviet Union alone, the leading country in terms of ships of this class, hydrofoils of various types transported more than 20 million passengers annually on regular routes.
In 1957, the first "Rocket" of project 340 left the Feodosiya shipyard in Ukraine. The motor ship was capable of developing an unheard-of speed of 60 km / h and taking on board 64 people.

Following the "Rockets" in the 1960s, larger and more comfortable twin-screw "Meteora" produced by Zelenodolsk shipyard appeared. The passenger capacity of these ships was 123 people. The motor ship had three saloons and a bar - a buffet.

In 1962, the "Comets" of the 342m project appeared, in fact the same "Meteors", only modernized for operation at sea. They could walk with a higher wave, had radar equipment (radar)

In 1961, simultaneously with the launch of Meteors and Komet into series, the Krasnoe Sormovo shipyard in Nizhny Novgorod launched the project 329 Sputnik vessel, the largest SPK. It carries 300 passengers at a speed of 65 km / h. Also, as with Meteor, a naval version of the Sputnik was built, called the Whirlwind. But over the course of four years of operation, a lot of shortcomings came to light, including the high gluttony of the four engines and the discomfort of passengers due to strong vibration.

For comparison, "Sputnik" and "Rocket"

Sputnik now ...
In Togliatti, it was turned into a museum, or a tavern. In 2005, there was a fire. Now it looks like this.

The Burevestnik is one of the most beautiful ships of the entire series! This is a gas turbine ship developed by the Central Design Bureau of the SPK R. Alekseev, Gorky. "Burevestnik" was the flagship among the river SECs. Had power plant based on two gas turbine engines borrowed from civil aviation (with IL-18). It was operated from 1964 to the end of the 70s on the Volga on the Kuibyshev - Ulyanovsk - Kazan - Gorky route. "Burevestnik" accommodated 150 passengers and had an operating speed of 97 km / h. However, it did not go into mass production - two aircraft engines made a lot of noise and required a lot of fuel.

Has not been used since 1977. In 1993 it was cut into scrap.

In 1966, the Gomel shipyard produces a ship for shallow rivers, a little over 1 meter deep "Belarus" with a passenger capacity of 40 people and a speed of 65 kilometers per hour. And since 1983, it will start producing a modernized version of the Polesie, which is already taking on board 53 people at the same speed.

Rockets and Meteors were getting old. In the Central Design Bureau of R. Alekseev, new projects were created. In 1973, the Feodosia shipyard launched the second generation SPK "Voskhod".
Voskhod is a direct receiver of the Rocket. This vessel is more economical and more spacious (71 people).

In 1980, at the Shipyard named after Ordzhonikidze (Georgia, Poti) opens the production of SPK Kolkhida. The speed of the vessel is 65 km / h, passenger capacity is 120 people. In total, about forty ships were built. At present, only two are in operation in Russia: one vessel on the St. Petersburg - Valaam line, called "Triada", the other in Novorossiysk - "Vladimir Komarov".

In 1986, in Feodosia, a new flagship of the sea passenger SPK, the two-deck "Cyclone", was launched, which had a speed of 70 km / h and took on board 250 passengers. Operated in Crimea, then sold to Greece. In 2004 he returned to Feodosia for repairs, but it is still there in a half-disassembled state.

After completing her first ever voyage across the English Channel to Boulogne aboard the SR.N4, the famous French journalist expressed her admiration and surprise in the newspaper for the journey on this giant ship. Her article was published on the front page under the heading "The captain claims that the SVP has nothing under the skirt!"

Unlike the SVP with its invisible bubble of compressed air, the devices supporting the hydrofoil above the water surface are a solid system of wings and struts made of extra strong alloys or of stainless steel... Hydrofoils are relatively small planes of much the same type as aircraft. They are designed to create lift. The types of hydrofoils currently in use are mainly subdivided into crossing the surface of the water, deeply submerged and slightly submerged. There are several vessels with a combined wing system, for example the Supramar PT150, which has a wing crossing the water surface in the bow and a deeply submerged wing at the stern, controlled by an automatic stabilization system. De Havilland Canada's FHE-400 has a crossing hydrofoil at the bow and a crossover and submerged combination at the stern.

Crossing hydrofoils

Hydrofoils crossing the surface are mainly V-shaped, some of them are made in the form of a trapezoid or the letter W. The lateral sections of the hydrofoils cross the water surface and move, partially protruding above it.

A distinctive feature of the V-shaped wing, first demonstrated by General Crocco, and then improved by Hans von Schertel as a result of many years of research, is its ability to maintain a well-defined position. This hydrofoil in relation to the water provides both longitudinal and lateral stability under various conditions of the sea surface. Forces restoring a given wing position arise on that part of it that moves under water. When the vessel rolls to one side during roll, an increase in the size of the diving zone of the side section of the wing automatically leads to the appearance of additional lifting force, which counteracts the roll and returns the vessel to the straight position.

The pitching alignment is done in much the same way. The downward movement of the bow leads to an increase in the immersion area of the bow hydrofoil. As a result, an additional hydrodynamic lift is created, which raises the bow of the vessel to its original position. As the ship's speed increases, an ever-increasing lift is generated. As a result, the hull of the vessel rises higher above the water surface, which in turn causes a decrease in the areas of the wings under water, and, accordingly, the hydrodynamic lifting force. Since the lifting force must be equal to the mass of the vessel and depends on the speed of movement and the area of the sections of the wings submerged in the water, the hull of the vessel moves at a certain height above the surface of the water, remaining in a state of equilibrium.

PDA crossing the water surface

Boats equipped with crossing hydrofoils have shown satisfactory performance in inland waters, offshore coastal waters and areas with natural storm protection. Such wings have an inherent stability and simplicity of design, they are easy to care for. They also differ in significant strength. However, when the sea is rough, it is preferable to use deeply submerged wings, since on a steep wave they provide the best technical and operational performance. One of the downsides to conventional traversing hydrofoils is that their inherent tendency to alignment causes them to follow all the ups and downs of wave motion.

This leads to vertical overloads and shaking, which are equally unpleasant for both passengers and crew. Ideally, instead of following the contour of these waves, hydrofoils should move through them, as if on a flat and smooth platform, keeping on a given course. Unfortunately, crossing hydrofoils "do not distinguish" between waves that lower the bow of the vessel and those that raise it. At the same time, additional lift occurs in both cases. In addition, there is a risk of encountering an irregular wave, in which most of the hydrofoil rises above the water surface, which leads to a loss of lift and, accordingly, to the impact of the ship's hull on the water surface.

The technical indicators of hydrofoils crossing the surface are deteriorated when operating in conditions of a passing wave. Due to the fact that hydrofoils move faster than waves, they overcome them from the rear slope. During the ascent of hydrofoils along the rear surface of these waves, the orbital or circular motion of water particles inside the wave is directed downward. This reduces the speed of the stream flowing around the wings, which reduces the lifting force, and this, in turn, leads to a sharp subsidence of the ship's hull. With an oncoming wave, the situation naturally reverses.

Moreover, the maximum height of passing waves for most vessels with a V-shaped hydrofoil is three quarters of the height of the oncoming waves. When analyzing the results obtained in the course of studying various types of hydrofoils, the superiority of deeply submerged wings, in conditions of developed excitement and movement behind a passing wave, became obvious. The use of a general stabilization system, in addition to the existing systems for automatic control of the depth of immersion of these wings, would reduce the pitching and rolling moments acting on the vessel, as well as vertical overloads.

Deeply sunk wings

Deeply immersed wings are located below the interface between the two media at depths where the effect of immersion on hydrodynamic lift is greatly reduced.

The comparative "indifference" of such wings to a change in their position relative to the water level leads to the need to apply special measures to ensure the stabilization of the vessel's movement. Since the hull of the vessel on the move moves above the surface of the water, leaning on relatively small wings, its center of gravity is quite high. Therefore, if the elevation of the vessel was not constantly monitored and brought to a given position, the hull would inevitably hit the water.

Deep Wing Boat

In order to avoid such a phenomenon, while maintaining the given submersion depth of the hydrofoils and the normal position of the vessel, it is necessary to install an automatic stabilization system on it. It is designed to ensure the stabilization of the vessel, during its acceleration from the state of sailing, when moving with a separation of the hull from the water and smooth water landing both in calm water and in sea rough conditions, as well as the ability to overcome most waves, without hitting them by the hull and without sharp significant fluctuations about all three axes. In addition, the implementation of coordinated turns must be ensured by reducing the effect of lateral overloads and reducing the lateral forces taken up by the wing struts. The system should contribute to the creation of such conditions for the movement of the vessel, in which the vertical and horizontal overloads would remain within the accepted norms.

This will eliminate the occurrence of excessive loads on the hull structures, create favorable sailing conditions for passengers and the ship's crew. In automatic systems for stabilizing the movement of vessels on deeply submerged hydrofoils, altimeters are used based on radar, ultrasonic, mechanical and other principles. In addition, information from the roll, trim and overload sensors at the ends of the vessel is constantly received and processed. Commands to control the position of the rudders, wings or their flaps are developed according to the principles used in aviation. Typical example automatic system control device can serve as a device that is used at the passenger SPK "Jetfoil" by "Boeing". This vessel weighing 106 tons is equipped with water-jet propellers providing a speed of 45 knots.

The stabilization system receives signals about the position of the ship's hull and the direction of its movement from gyroscopes, acceleration sensors and two ultrasonic altimeters. In the electronic computing unit, the signals from all devices are summed up with the commands of the manual control panel.

The commands generated by this block make it possible to compensate for external variable forces acting on the vessel with the help of electro-hydraulic servos. Lift parameters are controlled by flaps located along the entire length of the trailing edges of the wings. The flaps of the right and left parts of the stern wing have independent drives that change the position of the vessel relative to the longitudinal axis at the time of a change in course. This system provides roll stabilization and keeping on a given course, allowing turns without exposing the wing consoles, eliminating the risk of air breakthrough into the vacuum zones and, as a consequence, loss of lift. A slew rate of up to 6 degrees per second is reached approximately 5 seconds after the steering wheel has been rotated.

The ship is controlled by only three bodies:

The main turbine throttle knob is installed to measure the speed of movement;
To change the position of the body in height - the control knob for the immersion of the wings;
To keep the vessel on a constant course - the steering wheel (an additional block provides this automatically).

During lift-off from the surface, the desired depth of immersion of the wings is set and the regulators (throttles) of two Allison gas turbines of 3300 liters each are fed forward. The hull of the vessel is lifted from the water in 60 s. Acceleration remains in effect until the boat's movement is automatically stabilized within the limits determined by the required depth of the wings and the speed set by the operator. To splash down the vessel, the gas is reduced and, losing speed, it smoothly lowers into the water. Usually in 30 seconds the speed can drop from 45 to 15 knots. In case of emergency, by moving the wing dive control knob, a splashdown can be carried out in just 2 s. This control system is identical to systems used on such boats of the US Navy as RSN-1, PGH-1 "Tukumkari" PGH-2, AGEH and PHM.

It also uses the principle of modular designs. The various system components are already well-proven instruments and instruments in aerospace research, previously selected for use in aircraft autopilots. In the control systems of the boat RNM, exclusively aviation equipment is used. The operation of the flaps and the bow strut, which serves as the rudder, is controlled by a system completed of units identical or exactly the same as those installed on the Boeing-747-Jumbo airliner.

Hydrofoil passenger ship - Jetfoil

The designers of the Jetfoil used the research results of the experimental boats of the US Navy, PCH-Mod-1; RSN-1 and PGH-1 Tukumkari. This made it possible to create a sea passenger high-speed vessel, almost unsurpassed in its technical and operational characteristics and level of comfort. During the implementation of the Tukumkari project, they came to the conclusion that it was necessary to replace one overload sensor installed in the center plane with two. Moreover, these sensors were placed directly above each of the main wings so that their flaps could be independently controlled. This made it possible to avoid such an unpleasant phenomenon as "longitudinal swing". The creators of the boat first encountered it during the tests of the PDA in sea conditions, with a steep three-dimensional wave, when each stern wing appeared in different parts of the wave and fell into the zones of action of different orbital velocities.

V Lately The US Navy began to strive to standardize the autopilots used on the PDA, and for this purpose, the command of the American naval forces approved in 1972 a research program called HUDAP (an abbreviation made up of the initial letters of the English words, translated as “universal digital autopilot program for the PDA "). The goal of the program is to develop a highly reliable system with sufficient versatility that would allow it to be used on all types of modern and promising PDAs. This system should also have qualities that make it possible to combine automatic control with other ship functions. The system, developed on the basis of digital computers, has provided a degree of PDA stabilization that exceeds the regulatory requirements.

This made it possible to additionally solve the following tasks:

Control in automatic mode or with a given course, as well as automatically programmed maneuvers with a change in course;
Disagreement with obstacles;
Control over fuel consumption, change in mass and centering position of the PDA.

The most original solution to the control problem lifting force, proposed in the project of the Swiss company "Supramar". The system is based on the use of a well-known physical phenomenon, which consists in the fact that the lifting force can be acted upon by opening the access of atmospheric air to the upper surface of the wing, i.e. to the zone low pressure, abandoning the use of movable wing elements. Lift changes depending on the amount of air entering through special channels located along the upper part of the wing surface. In this case, the movement of the flow deviates away from the surface of the wings, which leads to a similar effect of the flaps. Water-free cavities are formed behind the wing air vents, which effectively lengthens the hydrofoil.

The access of atmospheric air to the openings on the upper surface of each of the wings is regulated by a special valve. This valve is controlled by a gyroscope and a transverse inertial pendulum, which, individually and also together with the help of an adder, can change the position of the vacuum booster rod connected to the air valve thrust by an intermediate lever. The pendulum ensures the straightening of the vessel after heeling, as well as the turn with favorable heel. The work of the gyroscope allows you to moderate the roll and pitching.

Motor ship on hydrofoils - "Comet"

This system was first installed on the Supramar boat "Flipper". On this boat, the water-crossing aft wing has been replaced by a deeply submerged wing equipped with an automatic air control system. The conditions of stay on the "Flipper", when moving on a wave of up to 1 m in height, turned out to be much more comfortable than on serial boats of this class, with a wave height of 0.3 m. Subsequently, this system was successfully applied on the PTS150 and PTS75Mk1II boats. In 1065, the US Navy gave Supramar an order for the construction of a 5-ton research boat, the creation of which required the use of the PTS hull and structural elements of the ST3A PDA. The ST3A was the first to use deeply submerged wings with an air stabilization system.

During tests in the Mediterranean Sea, this boat, at a speed of 54 knots, showed high performance, thereby proving that with the help of an air stabilization system, it is possible to provide reliable control and stable movement of a PDA with deeply submerged wings, both in calm water and in conditions waves of the sea. At the height of the will of the order of 1 m, which is one-tenth of the length of this boat, only slight vertical accelerations were noted. This sets it apart from other boats with deeply sunk wings. The system was used by Supramar in the technical development of a 250-ton patrol PDA, which had to meet the tactical requirements established for similar boats in the Navy of Germany and other NATO countries.

Firm "Supramar" continues to improve the stabilization systems of the PDA, based on automatic control air access to the wings. At the same time, the development of auxiliary systems of a similar type is underway, designed to ensure a smooth transition from pre-cavitation to supercavitation flow around the wings. Such systems, due to the access of air to the wings, will avoid a sharp drop in lift that occurs when cavitation occurs. Special tests have shown that opening access to the cavitating wing leads to a significant reduction or complete disappearance of the cavitation cavity.

Tests of such a system are carried out by order of the US Navy in the Netherlands in one of the pools. At the same time, modes are simulated with speeds up to 60 knots for a full-scale PDA, in conditions of sea roughness. The creation of more and more large naval PDA leads to the need to significantly increase the dimensions of the wing devices and the size of the controlled flaps.

Mechanical adjustment of the angle of attack of hydrofoils

The most successful system of mechanical control of the angle of attack was the design of the wings of the boat "Heidrofin", designed by Christopher Hooke. Hooke's leading role in the creation of the first successful model of the SPK with deeply sunk wings was already noted in the first chapter.

On SPK "Haydrofin" the angle of attack of the bow wings can be changed using two lever wave sensors turning on the same axis as the wing struts and stretched in an inclined position in front of the bow of the vessel. These levers are supported on the surface of the waves by means of gliding planes in the water. The rotation of the levers is rigidly damped, the damping characteristics can be adjusted to ensure the boat is steered according to the intensity of the sea. The auxiliary function of the levers is to create a continuous support force for the nasal tip when the lift force falls on both or one of the nasal wings.

Roll amplitudes are measured using two additional sensors mounted on the hydrofoil struts. At the disposal of the helmsman there is a foot control with a steering column, which acts similarly to that installed on airplanes.

The pitching and rolling of the hydrofoil

There is a purely mechanical system, this is the Savitsky Flap, invented by Dr. Savitsky of the Davidson Laboratory at Stevens Institute of Technology, New Jersey. Dr. Savitsky's system has been applied on the Sea World and Flying Cloud vessels of Atlantic Hydrofoil.

Hinged vertical flaps are used in this system to alter the lift of the hydrofoils. They are tapered and mechanically connected to the trailing edge of the hydrofoil struts. At normal height of movement, only the lower part of the Savitsky flap is submerged. When, due to the increase in the height of the waves under the water, a large part of the depth-sensitive flap is immersed, the pressure on it increases, forcing to turn and shift the flaps of the hydrofoils, which leads to an increase in lift and, accordingly, to the restoration of the normal position and normal height of the vessel ... The Dynafoilink company in Newport Beach, California, on the Dynafoil Mark 1, a two-seater sports complex, has demonstrated a new approach to the problem of hydrofoil stabilization.

The vessel with a glass-plastic hull was conceived as a water analogue of a motorcycle and snowmobile. It has a main deeply submerged aft hydrofoil and a small delta-shaped (biplane-shaped) front wing, with a variable angle of attack. The angle of attack is mechanically adjusted by means of a curved delta-shaped control wing, set at an angle to the incoming stream. When changing the flow around the control wing through the mechanical system changes the angle of attack of the double horizontal wing, installed in the lower part of the nose wing. This leads to a change in lift and the return of the hydrofoils to the specified diving depth.

Little submerged hydrofoils

The first little-submerged hydrofoils were used in passenger and sports SPKs designed and built in the Soviet Union. They are simple, reliable and suitable for use on long sheltered rivers, lakes, canals and inland seas, and especially on many thousand-kilometer shallow water routes, where V-shaped or trapezoidal hydrofoils were unacceptable due to the relatively deep draft in submerged. This type of wing, also known as the shallow-water series, was developed by Doctor of Technical Sciences R.E. Alekseev.

It consists of two main horizontal hydrofoils, one at the front and one at the rear, each carrying approximately half the mass of the entire vessel. A submerged hydrofoil begins to lose lift as it approaches the surface at approximately one chord (the distance between the leading and trailing edges of the wing). On the front struts on the left and right sides, planing attachments in the form of floats are fixed. With their help, the vessel comes out of the water, into the wing mode, they also prevent the wing from deepening. These attachments are positioned so that when they touch the water surface, the main hydrofoils are submerged to a depth of approximately one chord.

Little submerged hydrofoils on ships

With the advent of the Raketa SPK, the first sample of which was launched in 1957, the type of Alekseev's wings underwent many changes during operation. Most of the larger SPKs, such as Meteor, Kometa, Sputnik and Vortex, now have two slightly submerged wings and one additional bow, installed along the entire span and designed to increase longitudinal stability, accelerate the exit to the wing regime and improvement of germination on the wave.

The latest model of the "Comet" of the "M" series has a peculiar distinctive feature. On this HFV, a trapezoidal wing crossing the water surface is installed in front, and above it is a W-shaped, slightly submerged hydrofoil that changes the roll. The trapezoidal wing is identical to the V-hydrofoil in all but the short horizontal section at the base of the structure.

This wing is stable by virtue of its very shape.

All wing schemes of the SPK designed by R.E. Alekseev include, in addition to the slightly submerged wings that carry the main load, also nasal elements that monitor the water surface, such as:

Planing "skis" (SPK "Raketa");
W-shaped nasal wings crossing the water surface (SPK "Kometa M");
Short horizontal wings on the side struts of the nose wing (SPK "Meteor").

In fact, the stabilization of Alekseev's HFVs moving in the wing mode is provided at small deviations from the design position, due to the effect of immersion on the bearing capacity of the main slightly submerged wings ("Alekseev effect"), and with significant deviations of the HFV in trim, roll and height, when the degree the effect of immersion on the lift of the main wings decreases, the Grünberg principle begins to manifest itself automatically - a change in lift created by the main hydrofoils, rigidly connected to the hull, due to the rotation of the main wings together with the hull around the bow elements of the wing device that follow the water surface (change in the angles attack of the main wings).

Ladder hydrofoils

The stair hydrofoil is the oldest structure of water-crossing wings. It really resembles a staircase, as it consists of several planes, reinforced at right angles to the posts. The first wing ladder systems, such as those used by Forlanini, consisted of two sets of ladder planes, which were located under the hull of the SPK in the bow and stern. It soon became clear that this arrangement has a significant drawback - the lack of lateral stability of movement. In later models, this drawback was eliminated by installing two sections of bow hydrofoils, which were located on either side of the hull on shortened planes, struts or pylons.

Most of the ladder hydrofoils were straight, but sometimes V-shaped. This prevents a sudden drop in lift when the planes hit the surface of the water. Currently, one of the few vessels with ladder hydrofoils is the Williuo, a 1.6 tonne hydrofoil yacht with a speed of 30 knots. In September 1970, she completed a 16-day voyage from Sausalito, California, to Kahului Bay in Maui, Hawaii. This is the first sailing SPK to sail in the ocean. The yacht is equipped with side four-stage wings - ladders, and the stern wing - the rudder has a three-stage shape. Like the V-hydrofoil, ladder fenders can also provide the necessary stability to the vessel while maintaining lift on the wing for a given diving depth.

Wing arrangement

Another important issue that requires research is the location along the length of the ship of the zones in which lift occurs. There are three different wing layouts - aircraft, duck and tandem. With an airplane or conventional, wing layout, the bulk of the load falls on the composite or split hydrofoil, located in the middle of the hull, closer to the bow end, and the aft wing accounts for a smaller part of the SPK mass.

The location of the hydrofoils on the ship - "Jetfoil"

The “duck” scheme is based on the reverse principle. In it, the bulk of the ship's mass falls on a composite or split main hydrofoil located behind the hull midship, and a small part of the load falls on the smaller bow wing. The peculiarity of the "tandem" scheme is that the load is distributed equally, between the fore and aft hydrofoils. Most often, the main hydrofoils are cut to provide lifting or pulling up to the hull from the water, as is done on Boeing's Tukumkari and Grumman's Plainewo boats.

However, the need to split the main wing can be avoided. Thus, in a duck configuration, the main hydrofoil moves entirely to a point behind the transom. Examples are boats RNM-1 and Jetfoil. In other cases, the wing struts can be pulled vertically upward into the hull, as on the Boeing RSN-1 High Point.

Cavitation

Cavitation is essentially a major obstacle to the creation of hydrofoils that travel at high speeds for extended periods. Cavitation usually occurs at a speed of 40 to 45 knots, at which the absolute pressure on some part of the upper surface of the wing drops below the pressure of saturated water vapor.

There are two types of cavitation:

Resistant;
Unstable.

Unstable cavitation occurs when vapor bubbles form directly behind the leading edge of the hydrofoil and propagate down the hydrofoil profile, inflating and bursting at high frequency. At the moment of rupture, the pressure peaks reach 13-10 6 kgf / m 2 (127 MPa). This phenomenon leads to cavitation erosion of the metal and creates an unstable flow around the wings, which in turn causes abrupt changes in lift and, accordingly, phenomena felt by the passengers of the HFV.

Most modern passenger and combat PDAs are equipped with NACA pre-cavitation hydrofoils, which provide an even distribution of pressure along the entire chord length, which gives the greatest lift within their pre-cavitation speed. In order to prevent the occurrence of cavitation, it is necessary to maintain a relatively low wing load, on the order of 5300-6200 kgf / m2 (52-60 kPa). But, at a speed of 40-50 knots, the danger of cavitation still remains. In the 45-60 kt speed range, the existence of cavitation must be considered, at least for a short period of time.

But, at a speed of more than 60 knots, only special supercavitating or ventilated wing profiles have to be used. One of the ways to deal with the consequences of cavitation is associated with the supply of air to the zone of its occurrence, by natural inflow or artificial air supply. With another solution, which also has not gone beyond the scope of research works, it is supposed to take measures to significantly change the characteristics of the flow, in the event of cavitation. Profiles designed for this mode are called transient. All the studies mentioned above are carried out with the aim of efficient operation of the HFV at high speeds, in conditions of cavitation.

Wing device and parts of a hydrofoil vessel

The supercavitating wing has a sharp leading edge in order to organize a cavitation cavity along the entire suction side of the airfoil. The cavity is closed behind the trailing edge of the wing and thus the problems of vibration and erosion are solved. In addition, air can be injected into the area behind its square trailing edge to reduce resistance to wing motion. This type of hydrofoil is also known as a ventilated hydrofoil. It was tested on a high-speed experimental vessel "Fresh-1", at a speed of up to 80 knots in calm water conditions. On a swept supercavitating wing, a cavitation cavity appears, which spreads first over the entire surface of the wing, then downward and disintegrates significantly below its trailing edge.

The lift and drag of such hydrofoils is determined by the shape of the frontal edge and bottom plane.Research on various types of high-speed hydrofoils continues to this day. Particular attention is paid to the problems of increasing the lift, at the moment of separation of the HFV from the water surface, control of the lift, the transition from pre-cavitation to supercavitation speeds, the problem of developing sharp leading edges of the wing, which nevertheless have sufficient structural strength.A serious problem when creating supercavitating wings is the breakthrough of atmospheric air into the cavity on the wing, which can occur either along the strut orwhen the cavity is closed to a free surface due to wave disturbances.

Air blow-through, or as it is called, ventilation occurs most often when the wing struts have a large angle of attack, such as when cornering at high speed. Air can also enter through the channels inside the racks. One of the methods of dealing with air breakthrough is to use a "fence", that is, small-sized washers that go around the wing and are placed at short intervals along the entire surface of its upper and lower planes. Washers are located both on the hydrofoils and on the struts and are directed along the flow lines, which prevents air breakthrough to the cavity and changes in the flow conditions around the wing.

Engines

The overwhelming majority of modern passenger SPKs are equipped with high-speed diesel engines, which still remain the most economical and reliable. power plants, for small sea vessels... As noted earlier, the advantages of a diesel powered vessel are its lower cost, as well as lower fuel and maintenance costs. In addition, to conduct overhaul or fixing such an SPK, it is not difficult to find an experienced diesel engineer. Taking into account the fact that a light diesel engine can operate before overhaul, from 8 to 12 thousand hours, the cost of its operation is more than half the cost of operating a corresponding offshore gas turbine. Another important advantage is the following, although the mass of the turbine can be only 75-80% of the mass of a diesel engine, the same power, but taking into account the fuel reserves, the total mass of a vessel equipped with a gas turbine will be only 7-10% less.

Hydrofoil device

However, the power range of currently available light diesel units is limited to 4000 hp (3000 kW). Therefore, on larger ships, the use of gas turbines becomes inevitable. It should be noted that the use of more powerful gas turbine units at large SPK provides significant advantages. Their production is simpler, they have a low specific weight, they provide a very high torque at low speeds, warm up faster and gain acceleration, and finally, they can be installed in various combinations, from one to four turbines, with the required power level from 1000 to 80,000 hp (740-60000 kW).

These gas turbines, as well as those that are used on the SVP, are somewhat different from the engines of modern aircraft (turbines for the RNM vessel are developed on the basis of the TF-39 engines of the General Electric company, which are installed on the C-5A transport aircraft and the DC-10 Trijet airliner ). These engines work in conjunction with turbines that convert gas energy into rotational mechanical energy. The turbine rotor rotates freely and independently of the gas generator and therefore can provide power and speed control. Because conventional gas turbines were not designed for offshore operation, the turbine blades had to be coated to protect them from salt water. For the same purpose, magnesium alloy parts have been replaced with parts from other metals.

Transmission

The simplest forms of power transmission to the propeller can be considered an inclined shaft or V-shaped transmission. Both of these transmission types can be used for small HFVs with wings crossing the water surface and for HFVs with slightly submerged hydrofoils, in which the keel is located at a low height above the main water level. However, the inclination of the shaft should not exceed 12-14 ° in relation to the horizontal, otherwise cavitation of the propeller blades will occur. This means that a typical hydrofoil craft can have very limited hull-to-surface clearance. Therefore the only famous species mechanical transmission, which provides sufficient clearance of the SPK in rough sea conditions, is a double angular gear or Z-shaped gear. Due to the relative simplicity of the design, the water-jet propeller is gaining more and more popularity, but at speeds of 35-50 knots, it is inferior in efficiency to the propeller.

Its merits lie primarily in simplicity of control, greater reliability and less mechanically complex power transmission scheme. In the Boeing company used on the Jetfoil boatinstallation, power is provided by two gas turbines"Allison", each of which is connected through a gearbox with an axial jet propulsion unit. When the HVC is in wing mode, water enters the system through a tubular water intake located at the lower end of the center pillar of the aft hydrofoil.In the upper part of the pipeline, the water flow is divided into two streams and enters the axial pumps of the propellers.

The scheme of water movement in the propulsion system

High pressure water is then ejected through nozzles placed at the base of the transom.The scheme of movement of the water jet in the propulsion system of the SPK "Jetfoil" during movement not in the wing, but in the displacement mode is the same. In this case, the water inflow occurs through the pressure inlet in the keel. Reverse travel and maneuvering in displacement mode are provided with the help of visors, which are located directly behind the nozzle of the working main propeller. They then unfold or deflect the flow. Probably, in the future, a lot of SPKs with water-jet propellers will be operated, with a speed of 45-60 knots. Nevertheless, as propellers at speeds up to 80-120 knots, water cannons are significantly inferior in efficiency to supercavitating propellers. But before such propulsion systems are created, it is necessary to decide whole line problems of the hydrodynamic order.

One thing is certain - further research in the field of vessels with dynamic principles of support will help to find a solution to these problems.

Suggested reading.

"Meteor-193" was built at the Zelenodolsk plant. A.M. Gorky in 1984. Export variant built for sale to Brazil. It was equipped with Czechoslovak aviation seats. He worked in Kazan until 1997, belonged to the Volga United River Shipping Company, and later to the Tatflot company, and in 2004 was erected as a monument in front of the Kazan River Technical School named after Mikhail Devyatayev in honor of the centenary of this educational institution.

Address and coordinates of the object: Kazan, st. Nesmelova, 7, Kazan River College (now - Kazan branch of Volzhsky State University water transport"). Monument on Wikimapia.

Photos of the monument are dated August 2011.

View from the nose:

View of the bow salon:

Stern:

Nasal wing device:

Stern wing device:

Wheelhouse:

History of creation

The hydrofoil Meteor is the second winged passenger motor ship developed by the designer Rostislav Alekseev in 1959. The history of the creation of these ships dates back to the early 1940s, when, while still a student, Alekseev became interested in the topic and defended his thesis project on the topic “Glisser on hydrofoils”. In those years, the design did not attract the attention of senior management. navy, but interested the chief designer of the Krasnoye Sormovo plant, where during the war Alekseev worked as a tank test master. Alekseev was given a small room, designated as a "hydro laboratory", and was allowed to devote three hours a day to his favorite topic. The development and testing of models of hydrofoils began, and the search for an optimal design began. In 1945, on an A-5 boat of his own design, Alekseev made his way to Moscow, which finally attracted the attention of the military and received the task of equipping with hydrofoils torpedo boat 123K, which he successfully completed (having worked out the next modernization of his know-how on the A-7 boat and, along the way, familiarized himself with the design of the captured German SPK TS-6) and received the Stalin Prize for it in 1951.

Rostislav Alekseev:

Parallel to this, the designer has developed a project for the first river passenger hydrofoil vessel "Raketa". But with the implementation of the project, everything turned out to be not so simple: the engineer had to beat the thresholds of ministries for years, fight with bureaucratic inertia, conservatism, skepticism, knock out funding ... Real work on the "Rocket" began only in the winter of 1956, and the ship was launched was in 1957. It was demonstrated with great success at the World Festival of Youth and Students, then during the year there was a trial operation of the "Rocket" on the Gorky-Kazan line, and since 1959 the ship went into series. A revolution took place in the transportation of passengers along the river: the winged motor ship was almost five times faster than the usual displacement one.

The first "Rocket" on the Volga, 1958 (photo from the collection of the University of Denver):

Following the successful "Rocket" appeared "Meteor" - a ship larger, twice as spacious and faster than the firstborn, and even able to cope with a higher wave height. It took on board up to 120 passengers and could reach speeds of up to 100 km / h (the actual operating speed was still lower - 60-70 km / h). The first "Meteor" in the fall of 1959 went on a test flight from Gorky to Feodosia, and in 1960 it was presented in Moscow to the country's leadership and the public as an exhibit of a river fleet exhibition.

Sketches by R. Alekseev (from the book "From Concept to Implementation"):

The lead ship of the series (photo from E.K.Sidorov's archive):

Two fragments of Soviet newsreels of those times, in which we are talking about a new outlandish ship:

Since 1961, "Meteor" went into series. "Meteor-2" was launched in September 1961, and on May 7, 1962, on the eve of Victory Day, led by the legendary pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union Mikhail Petrovich Devyatayev, left the water area of the Zelenodolsk shipyard. A.M. Gorky, where these ships were built. It was assigned to the Kazan river port. The next "Meteor" went to Moscow, the next - to Leningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don ... For several years, the ships of the series spread along the rivers and reservoirs of the entire Soviet Union.

"Meteor-47" on the channel them. Moscow (photo from Moscow Channel Avenue):

"Meteor-59" on the Volga (photo from the archive of V. I. Polyakov).

The dry cargo ship Partizanskaya Slava delivers Meteor-103 to Komsomolk-on-Amur from the Black Sea (photo from the Marine Fleet magazine:

In total, from 1961 to 1991, almost 400 ships were built, and they spread not only throughout the USSR, but also around the world: Meteors operated in Yugoslavia, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, the Netherlands, and Germany.

With the coming of the Union economy into decline and the onset of the market era, high-speed passenger transportation along the rivers began to massively decrease and close: unprofitable. Government subsidies have disappeared, fuel, oil, spare parts have become expensive, and passenger traffic has become scarce: many passengers have acquired personal transport, villages that are connected by winged ships with cities have become empty, and competition from bus routes has arisen. As a result, over the course of several years, many hydrofoils were cut into scrap metal. Some Soviet Meteors were more fortunate, they did not come under the knife, but were sold abroad, and now work in China, Vietnam, Greece, Romania.

Greek "Falcon I" Greece - former Ukrainian "Meteor-19":

Vietnamese "Greenlines 9", former Ukrainian "Meteor-27":

Chang Xiang 1, China:

Meteor-43 left for Romania and was renamed Amiral-1:

In Russia, only a few dozen "Meteors" are now operating: the main part is on tourist routes in St. Petersburg and Karelia, a few still carry passengers along the Volga (in Kazan, Yaroslavl and Rybinsk), a dozen and a half in total will be typed on the northern rivers ...

"Meteor-282" on the Ob (photo by Anatoly K):

Yaroslavl "Meteor-159" arrives in Tutaev (photo by Dmitry Makarov):

Kazan "Meteor-249" (photo Meteor216):

"Meteor-188" on the Lena (photo by Vladimir Kunitsyn):

"Meteor-242" in the Kizhi skerries (photo by Dmitry Makarov):

Meteor-189 on Malaya Neva (photo by Seven_balls):

Serial production of "Meteors" stopped in 1991, but several more motor ships left the stocks of the Zelenodolsk shipyard. In particular, in 2001 and 2006, two Meteors were built for OJSC Severrechflot. In addition, the Rostislav Alekseev Nizhny Novgorod Hydrofoil Design Bureau developed a Meteor-2000 modification with German Deutz engines and air conditioners, and several of these vessels were sold to China. By 2007, the Meteor production line was finally dismantled, and they were replaced by planing vessels of project A145.

Chinese "Chang Jiang 1" project "Meteor-2000":

But the fate of the Krasnoyarsk Meteor-235 was unusual: from 1994 to 2005 it served in the Yenisei River Shipping Company, after which it was sold, and a few years later, having changed owners again, it was modernized at the Krasnoyarsk shipyard according to project 342E / 310 , turned into a luxury yacht and was re-baptized into "Faithful"; according to rumors, it was the personal "Meteor" of the governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. It is easy to recognize by its futuristic appearance and dubious aesthetic value of the interior decoration with an abundance of leopard-like skins.

Construction and specifications

Meteor-193 is a project 342E vessel developed by the Central Design Bureau for SPK (chief designer - Rostislav Alekseev) in 1959 and manufactured by the Zelenodolsk Shipyard named after A.M. Gorky. Type - twin-screw passenger hydrofoil motor ship. The length of the hull is 34.6 meters, the width (in the span of the hydrofoil structure) is 9.5 meters. Draft afloat - 2.35 meters, with wings - about 1.2 meters. Displacement with full load - 53.4 tons. Operating speed - 65 km / h (record - 108 km / h). Cruising range (without refueling) - 600 km.

Meteor has three passenger cabins: in the bow, middle and stern parts of the vessel. The total passenger capacity is 124 people.

Nasal salon (photo by Dmitry Shchukin):

Middle salon (photo by Vladimir Burakshaev):

There is a small semi-covered (promenade) deck between the middle and aft saloon.

Promenade deck (photo by Vladimir Burakshaev):

The control posts of the ship are located in the wheelhouse recessed into the semi-superstructure in the bow of the ship.

The wheelhouse (photo by Alexey Petrov):

The main engines are two V-shaped 12-cylinder turbodiesels of the M-400 type (a version of the M-40 aviation diesel engine, converted into a marine one) with a capacity of 1000 hp each. each. They rotate two 5-blade propellers with a diameter of 710 mm, which set the ship in motion.

Engine room (photo by Alexey Petrov):

Under the Meteor's hull there is a wing device - the bow and stern load-bearing wings and two hydroplaning wheel arch liners fixed on the nose wing struts. The wheel arch liners help the vessel when "going out on the wing", and on the move do not allow it to return to the displacement mode, sliding along the surface of the water.

The principle of their action of the wings of the "Meteor" is the same as that of the wing of an aircraft: the lift arises due to the occurrence of excess pressure under the wing profile and the rarefaction zone above it. With an increase in speed, the pressure difference "pushes" the vessel up, the hull moves from the displacement position to the surface position, which significantly reduces the area of contact with water and its resistance, which makes it possible to develop high speed.

The Meteora wing device uses the low-submerged hydrofoil effect, also known as the Alekseev effect. As a result of his research, Alekseev obtained such hydrodynamic characteristics of a hydrofoil, in which it, rising to the surface of the water, gradually loses its lifting force due to the deceleration of liquid particles in a zone close to the boundary of the media. Due to the fact that at a certain depth lifting force the wing approaches zero, it does not jump out of the water.

P.S. If dear participants find any inaccuracies, please report it.

"Petrel", "Sputnik", "Comet" and "Meteor" - the names of these Soviet ships gave rise to romantic thoughts about flight. Although it was only a river trip. However, it is difficult to say, a trip on a hydrofoil is also sailing, but it has something of a flight. These ships, which in general view, were called rockets and could reach speeds of 150 km / h (carrying up to 300 passengers), were the same symbol of the USSR of the 60s - 80s, like real space rockets that sailed The Bolshoi Theatre outer space.

A severe economic crisis (if not an industrial disaster) of the 90s led to a sharp decline in the number of ships of this class. Now let's remember brief history these unusual ships.

The principle of movement of these ships was twofold. At low speed, such a ship goes like an ordinary ship, that is, due to the buoyancy force of the water (hello to Archimedes). But when it develops high speed, then due to the hydrofoils available to these vessels, a lifting force arises, which raises the vessel above the water. That is, a hydrofoil is both a ship and, as it were, an airplane at the same time. Only he flies "nizenko".

Perhaps the most elegant high-speed hydrofoil vessel was the so-called. gas turbine "Burevestnik". It was developed by the Central Design Bureau of the SPK R. Alekseev in the city of Gorky and, with a length of 42 meters, could reach an estimated speed of 150 km / h (although there is no data that the ship has ever reached such a speed).

The first (and only) experimental ship "Burevestnik" was built in 1964.

It was operated by the Volga Shipping Company on the Volga along the Kuibyshev - Ulyanovsk - Kazan - Gorky route.

Two aircraft gas turbine engines on the sides made this vessel especially effective (such engines were used on the IL-18 aircraft).

In such a ship, travel really had to resemble flight.

The captain's cabin was distinguished by a special grace, the design of which resembled the design of the futuristic American limousines of the 50s (in the photo below, however, the cabin is not "Petrel", but about the same).

Unfortunately, having worked until the end of the 70s, the unique 42-meter "Burevestnik" was decommissioned due to wear and tear, and remained in a single copy. The immediate cause of the write-off was the accident in 1974, when the Burevestnik collided with a tug, severely damaging one of the sides and the gas turbine engine. After that, it was restored, as they say, "somehow" and after a while its further operation was considered unprofitable.

Another type of hydrofoil was the Meteor.

"Meteora" were smaller than "Burevestnik" (34 meters in length) and not as high-speed (no more than 100 km / h). Meteors were produced from 1961 to 1991 and, in addition to the USSR, were also supplied to the countries of the socialist camp.

In total, four hundred ships of this series were built.

Unlike the Burevestnik aircraft engines, the Meteora flew with diesel engines driving propellers typical of ships.

Vessel control panel:

But the most famous hydrofoil is probably the Rocket.

For the first time "Raketa" was presented in Moscow in 1957 at the International Festival of Youth Students.

The leader of the USSR himself, Nikita Khrushchev, then expressed himself in the spirit that, they say, it's enough to swim on the rivers in rusty bathtubs, it's time to travel in style.

However, then only the first experimental "Raketa" sailed on the Moskva River and after the festival it was sent for trial operation on the Volgna on the Gorky-Kazan line. The vessel covered the distance of 420 km in 7 hours. An ordinary ship went on the same route for 30 hours. As a result, the experiment was recognized as successful and the "Raketa" went into series.

Another famous Soviet vessel is the Kometa.

The Comet was a naval version of the Meteor. In this 1984 photograph, there are two "Comets" in the seaport of Odessa:

The Comet was developed in 1961. Serially produced from 1964 to 1981 at the Feodosia shipyard "More". A total of 86 "Comets" were built (including 34 for export).

One of the surviving "Comet" in a bright design:

By the beginning of the 70s, the "Rockets" and "Meteora" were already considered obsolete ships and the "Voskhod" was developed to replace them.

The first ship of the series was built in 1973. A total of 150 "Voskhod" were built, some of which were exported (China, Canada, Austria, Hungary, the Netherlands, etc.). In the 90s, the production of "Voskhod" was stopped.

Sunrise in the Netherlands:

Of the other types of hydrofoils, the Sputnik is worth remembering.

It was truly a monster. When the first ship, Sputnik, was built (October 1961), it was the world's largest passenger hydrofoil vessel. Its length was 47 meters, and the passenger capacity was 300 people!

"Sputnik" was first operated on the Gorky - Togliatti line, but then, due to its low landing, was transferred to the lower Volga on the Kuibyshev - Kazan line. But on this line he passed only three months. On one of the voyages, the ship collided with a driftwood, after which it stood for several years in a shipyard. At first they wanted to cut it into scrap metal, but then they decided to install it on the Tolyatti embankment. "Sputnik" was erected next to the river station, where a cafe with the same name was located in it, which with its appearance continues to delight (or frighten) the residents of Avtograd (proof).

The sea version of "Sputnik" was called "Whirlwind" and was intended for sailing in waves up to 8 points.

It is also worth remembering the ship "Chaika", which was created in a single copy and took on board 70 passengers, but developed a speed of up to 100 km / h

Another rare one cannot fail to note "Typhoon" ...

... and "Swallow"

A story about Soviet hydrofoils would be incomplete without a story about a man who devoted his life to creating these vessels.

Rostislav Evgenievich Alekseev (1916-1980) - Soviet shipbuilder, creator of hydrofoils, ekranoplanes and ground-effect vehicles. Yacht designer, winner of all-Union competitions, master of sports of the USSR.

He came to the idea of hydrofoil ships during work during the war (1942) to create combat boats. His boats did not have time to take part in the war, but in 1951 Alekseev was awarded the Stalin Prize of the second degree for the development and creation of hydrofoils. It was his team that created Raketa in the 50s, and then, starting in 1961, almost every year new project: "Meteor", "Comet", "Sputnik", "Petrel", "Voskhod". In the 60s, Rostislav Evgenievich Alekseev began work on the creation of the so-called. "Ekranoplanov" - ships for the Airborne Forces, which were supposed to float above the water at a height of several meters. In January 1980, during the tests of a passenger screen aircraft, which was supposed to enter service for the Olympics-80, Alekseev was seriously injured. He died from these injuries on February 9, 1980. After his death, the idea of ekranoplanes was no longer returned.

And now I offer some more photos of these insanely beautiful hydrofoils:

Built in 1979, "Comet-44" is currently operated in Turkey:

Olympia project

Project "Katran"

Two-story monster "Cyclone"

Cemetery of ships near Perm.

Bar "Meteor" in the city of Kanev (Ukraine)

Red Meteor in China

But even today, these ships of the 60s projects look quite futuristic.