Ekranoplanes Controlled Flight Close to the Sea. (On the Armada Bookshelf).

If the title doesn't spark interest maybe the book's cover photo will. The name ekranoplanes was first coined by Rostislav E. Alekseev--Russian; and scientist--clear vehicle flying in the ground effect, which is called "ekran" in the Russian language.

These air vehicles had been, for the most part, secreted from the public eye, and those who had heard of them have only a vague idea of what they are. One, however, the KM, was better known as the Caspian Sea Monster and was, during its maiden flight in October 1966, the largest and heaviest flying machine in the world. This behemoth took about 100 metres of pier-side space and weighed over 540 tonnes.

The first ekranoplane flight took place in July 1961 with the prototype SM-1 (SM for Samohodnaya Model--translated to mean self-moving craft). In 1970 the Alekseev Design Bureau received an official order for the combat Ekranoplane Lun, an anti-ship cruiser armed with six rockets (photos).

The book, translated from the original Russian, is dedicated to the problems inherent in controlling very low altitude flight over the sea. Specifically addressing the irregular operational characteristics of flying a few metres off the water's surface, what advantages such flying can hold and the increase in precision and reliability required of the control systems. For example, "The probability characteristics of sea waves in space and time" (title of chapter three) covers the construction of mathematical models for the errors of the locating sensors of a low-flight craft, with a sea roughness model thrown in for good measure. Not everyday layman's reading, but for researchers and designers of control systems for wing-in-ground-effect craft, or of hovercraft, hydrofoils, helicopters, special purpose aircraft, search-and-rescue craft and any other vessel designed to operate close to the water surface, this is a must-have reference piece for the top shelf.