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Ekranoplan layout (low wing + high tailplane out of ground effect)

How is a Soviet ekranoplan laid out? · Standard part · basis: Design rules and figures from the cited sources; example geometry by Xem Studio

Also called: ekranoplan, caspian sea monster, ekranoplan design, km ekranoplan, lun ekranoplan, orlyonok, ekranoplan rc model, ekranoplan tail, soviet ground effect vehicle, wig airplane type

Exact dimensions. True size, with no printing tolerance added.

sizes
6 in table

Notes

  • The airplane-type ekranoplan pairs a low-AR main wing in ground effect with a high tailplane kept outside ground influence; the KM's tail area reached up to 50% of the wing's, reduced to 27% on the MPE-400 using S-shaped central sections (Rozhdestvensky).
  • The KM (Caspian Sea Monster) had 550 t take-off weight, length over 90 m, AR 2 and cruise above 500 km/h, using eight 10 t forward engines for PAR take-off and two for cruise (Rozhdestvensky).
  • Orlyonok (120 t, AR 3) and Loon (400 t, 74 m, AR above 3) followed the same layout (Rozhdestvensky).
  • Used on: KM (Caspian Sea Monster), Orlyonok, Loon, MPE-400.
  • The file is a reference example built by Xem Studio from the numbers above. Sizes the sources do not fix are illustrative; scale the example to your own vehicle.

Ekranoplan layout size chart

parametervalue or rangesource
KM tail area / wing areaup to 50%Rozhdestvensky 2006
MPE-400 tail / wing27%Rozhdestvensky 2006
KM: TOW / length / AR / cruise550 t / >90 m / 2 / >500 km/hRozhdestvensky 2006
Orlyonok: TOW / length / AR120 t / 60 m / 3Rozhdestvensky 2006
Loon: TOW / length / cruise400 t / 74 m / 450 km/hRozhdestvensky 2006
Reference buildspan 600, root 300 (AR 2), endplates 40computed (KM AR)

Where the files are

Other publishers' files are linked, not hosted. "verify" = check the license at the link before commercial use.

Progress in Aerospace Sciences (K.V. Rozhdestvensky, 2006)Wing-in-ground effect vehicles (review)webPublisher's page; dimensions are facts

Free files

★ Free files 1 parts. Xem Studio design: free to use, print and sell things from; not to be republished as files. Xem Studio Design License. index.json

ekranoplan-wing-tail-layout-wingekranoplan tandem: span 600, chord 300 mm, anhedral 0°, endplates 40 mm (scale to your craft)STEP · STL
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Plain text: sheet.txt · JSON: /api/geometry?object=ekranoplan-wing-tail-layout

Ekranoplan layout (low wing + high tailplane out of ground effect), isometric render of a generated part
Render of ekranoplan-wing-tail-layout-wing from the free STEP; not to scale.

Fits with

Ground effect: height/span ratio and induced-drag reduction, isometric render of a generated part
Ground effect: height/span ratio and induced-drag reduction6 sizes★ 1 file
Ground effect: height/chord ratio (ram / chord-dominated regime), isometric render of a generated part
Ground effect: height/chord ratio (ram / chord-dominated regime)7 sizes★ 1 file
Lippisch reverse-delta ground-effect craft, isometric render of a generated part
Lippisch reverse-delta ground-effect craft7 sizes★ 1 file
Tandem-wing ground-effect craft (Jorg type), isometric render of a generated part
Tandem-wing ground-effect craft (Jorg type)3 sizes★ 1 file
Power-augmented ram (PAR), isometric render of a generated part
Power-augmented ram (PAR)8 sizes★ 1 file
Endplates on ground-effect wings, isometric render of a generated part
Endplates on ground-effect wings3 sizes★ 1 file

Questions

Why is the ekranoplan tail so big and high?

It must stay outside ground effect to give stable pitch reference; the KM's was up to 50% of wing area (Rozhdestvensky).