Russian Beriev Be-200 Amphibious Aircraft

[Number1]

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"The Beriev Be-200 Altair is a multipurpose amphibious aircraft designed by the Beriev Aircraft Company and manufactured by Irkut. Marketed as being designed for fire fighting, search and rescue, maritime patrol, cargo, and passenger transportation, it has a capacity of 12 tonnes (12,000 litres) of water, or up to 72 passengers."

Very impressive aircraft.

 

[Amused]

Even the dog thinks it's cool!!!

 

[ElFenix]

jet powered modern flying boat? awesome!

 

[destrekor]

Russia. Always making aircraft of the batshit-crazy variety.

(see: Ekranoplan - aka Sea Skimmer)

The thing that gets me, is how nasty one minor mistake during landing might end up being when trying to land on water at high speed. The belly/hull must have some strong alloys, wonder about the strength of the wings.

Potential criticism aside, that's a pretty awesome vehicle.

 

[AmdEmAll]

Pretty impressive

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

I love Russian aircraft design philosophy!

First we build a brick.
Next we attach two monster engines
Now let's see if it will fly.
If no fly, add another monster engine!

 

[preslove]

Russia. Always making aircraft of the batshit-crazy variety.

(see: Ekranoplan - aka Sea Skimmer)

The thing that gets me, is how nasty one minor mistake during landing might end up being when trying to land on water at high speed. The belly/hull must have some strong alloys, wonder about the strength of the wings.

Potential criticism aside, that's a pretty awesome vehicle.

Oh, you silly ohians and your quaint view of large bodies of water.

I doubt anyone would land this in the "high seas." I'm sure it will be be kept to bays, lagoons, lakes, and maybe smaller seas like the Black See and Mediterranean.

 

[MisterJackson]

In America we land our planes in the water without pontoons! We use big brass balls instead.

 

[destrekor]

Oh, you silly ohians and your quaint view of large bodies of water.

I doubt anyone would land this in the "high seas." I'm sure it will be be kept to bays, lagoons, lakes, and maybe smaller seas like the Black See and Mediterranean.

Oh lol, definitely wasn't thinking anyone would land this in the open ocean. 😛
That would just take balls of steel, and a little magic.

But even with smooth water, accidents can happen. I mean, landing accidents still happen with regular aircraft on runways; with the stability of a runway, many accidents everyone can walk away from. Water has a tendency to be nasty.. a slightly-errant landing angle or bout of cross-wind at the wrong moment could see a wing hitting the water surface - if it doesn't hold up, the water shattering the wing could also lead to other parts of the body diving and breaking up.

But that isn't guaranteed, of course, as regular aircraft have performed emergency water landings - but those emergency water landings that we see as amazing and miraculous are conducted perfectly. I'm fairly certain a few pilots have attempted emergency water landings and come up with a terribly destroyed aircraft and massive casualties. Not sure if all the bad ones were only in open seas or if there have been any bad landings in closed bodies of water.

And hey, Ohio hater! The Great Lakes can get rough! Many ships have found rest at the bottom of these lakes. 😉

 

[Zenmervolt]

Oh, you silly ohians and your quaint view of large bodies of water.

I doubt anyone would land this in the "high seas." I'm sure it will be be kept to bays, lagoons, lakes, and maybe smaller seas like the Black See and Mediterranean.

Even in small seas, landing a seaplane is one of the more difficult types of landings. Small chop still places some pretty incredible stresses on hulls.

And don't discount Ohioans and seafaring. The amount of shipping that goes through the Great Lakes is huge.

ZV