Building an R/C Caspian Sea Monster Ekranoplan

[@stratos7755]

8:28 The front engines on the Caspian Sea Monster were used only for takeoff. Once airborne, it could sustain itself on the 2 tail engines alone.

[@largerification]

Proportions of the wings do not really work on such a small scale. Bigger wing and lidar controlled pitching can be the key. Will see in pt. 2

[@SoulAir]

​@largerification the scale ironically made this plane more feasible I think. You can tell its hard to keep an rc plane within an inch of the water especially when the water waves are that high lol

[@brianrigsby7900]

She had tail engines…? They must’ve been really well hidden!

[@GoldenCroc]

@@brianrigsby7900 ? Are you referring to that they should be called something else but "tail engines"? Isnt that a bit too pedantic in this context?

[@brianrigsby7900]

@@GoldenCroc I mean I’ve only ever seen the front engines in videos and pictures

[@PeterSripol]

siiiiiiick this thing looks amazing!

[@Реальная_бебра]

zvvvvv zov zov zov goyda polevih zvetov venochek ia russki zv zov

[@cucumber_sandwich4562]

No way! Love your channel Peter, please keep up the great work!!

[@Aguyinachair]

You know its gonna be a banger video when you see Peter Sripol in the comments

[@_8gb_75]

lmfao you make one of these

[@rcbinchicken]

@@_8gb_75 He already did, couple years ago. Much more quick/dirty build, but it was light and had good performance.

[@michaelgallagher5314]

45 years ago, the Navy Lab at Bethesda MD built and tested an RC model that looked almost identical to what you have (but gas powered). I was a college Intern that got to work on it one summer when we tested it down at Quantico, VA. We saw the exact same flight dynamics issues you experienced. Looking forward to next video

[@Thunderbyrd.]

Well do you have any advice on how he can over come the tail dragging issue or any other negative dynamics?

[@sirzebra]

​@@Thunderbyrd. The obvious is to get the same thrust on the tail. The real one has most of it's thrust during skimming coming from the back engines that are entirely absent on his rc

[@ieatgrass_z]

Also the the cg of an ekranoplan shifts back in ground effect so it’s better the give the tail a slight positive pitch or a normal airfoil

[@linuxgeex]

@@Thunderbyrd. Fix: move the CoG towards the tail, and make the hstab into a lifting surface surface for pitch control. ie balance the vehicle for a rear canard. We don't do this with airplanes because it would cause a tail-first stall, but that isn't a concern with a ground-effect craft, where a loss of airspeed just means you come to rest on the water, and the tail dropping during s stall is a safety feature!

[@acar3615]

@@linuxgeex I was gonna ask about the CG, thank you for doing all the heavy work. And how much does it weigh? I think this thing could have been all foam and fiberglass. I mean Rutan did it for years.

[@andrewhofmann5453]

Love it when you cut off your THUMB!!! 1:53

[@phlatulance]

I stopped and went back to make sure I saw what I saw.

[@RafaGmod]

am i tripping???

[@Ethan7s]

No worries, it grows back.

[@mattiasbergman3292]

😂😮😢

[@corbinalt1773]

how on earth did i miss that the first time xd

[@ЕвгенийМожаев-м1я]

1. На носу нужны резкие откосы-отбоники волны, что бы при ударе об воду волны от корпуса не попадали в двигатели, а уходили вниз и в стороны. 2. Последняя треть фезюляжа должна быть более приподнята вверх. Сейчас у тебя фезюляж - сосиска. ))) Изучи что такое корпус лодки под названием "РЕДАН". Последняя ступенька редана должна быть чуть-чуть ближе к хвосту от середины где-то на 3/5 от всеё длинны корпуса. При полёте на "экране", объект должен иметь некоторый угол атаки. Сейчас он не может его получить - если увеличивает крен - косается хвостом воды, если подлетает чуть выше - уходит от экрана и не умея летать как самолёт, плюхается в воду. 3. Законцовки на крыльях должны иметь выступающие вниз заострённые части - при выходе на "экран"(воздушную подушку) - эти законцовки не дают экрану "уходить" в стороны из-под объекта. 4. Крыло должно быть более длинным. Не в ширину (в размахе), а всмысле чуть более длинным от носа к хвосту. 5. Перед полётом отбалансируй маленькими грузами объект по средней точке крыла. (С уважением. привет из России, 21 год инжиниринга по теме.)

[@nickyevdokymov5526]

О, привет, чюваки)

[@richardrichard508]

Yes this makes sense, thanks for sharing your experience.

[@Real_Claudy_Focan]

This comment needs to go UP ! Such valuable insights !

[@ЕвгенийМожаев-м1я]

@@Real_Claudy_Focan Автору надо помочь. Сама технология изготовления и подход к делу - очень впечатляют. Нехватает только верных инженерных решений и "насмотренности" на другие суда такого класса (на русском языке они называются Суда с Динамическими Принципами Поддержания - СДПП).

[@Alex_Moriz]

Вероятно, Волга-2 более подойдёт для моделирования. Или Иволга

[@DomGaccioli]

The rolling shot at the end was such cool footage!

[@homemade-it2495]

So better shot than our local TV report

[@dancarter482]

@@homemade-it2495 _Or ANY "UFO sighting" ~ ever!_

[@moskvichshowarchive]

Привет! Прекрасная модель получилась, надеюсь она скоро полетит как нужно! 17:37 so freakin steady shots....

[@cellofellowlynn]

"To make a latch for the hatch, I cut a groove for the carbon fiber tube" fabricator-poet with those rhymes

[@kcnl2522]

Bro how the hell you do these so fast??? Its like a new project every 10 days god dayumn, you are so good at it.

[@robertstark3326]

No lie, it's amazing how great the projects are and fast they are accomplished!

[@skyhigh24]

Yeah its amazing, but also a little bit of Movie Magic. Printing these Sections does take time and in this time i would believe, he does work on an other Project. At Work im CAD drawing future Projects, while the Machines do the Current Project. This makes it look like youll work super fast if youre compared to someone who does all the work in series instead of paralell. in reality you just use your time more efficient

[@womble321]

Some people are just fast. An award winning model maker used to scratch build 1/48 ww1 biplanes. He was amazed anyone would need more than a week of evenings. This included hand painted markings. Entirely built from sheet plastic including hand crafted propeller and spoke wheels!

[@Hello_People2]

LOTS of free time probably

[@FPVREVIEWS]

summer projects. winter editing?

[@conspiracytrivia]

You are solving every single problem the Washington state ferry system is facing right now. Game changer. Kudos 👍🏻

[@IlliniRob1]

🤣🤣🤣 And creating a fresh new batch of them!

[@riffzifnab9254]

I didn't realize the Washington State ferry system had a problem transporting ants.

[@conspiracytrivia]

@@riffzifnab9254 would not be hard to scale up with a few of those new Samsung, silver batteries, and some brushless motors.

[@u0000-u2x]

18:00 cool shots

[@kildogery]

Looks amazing. Those tracking shots were incredible. One of the best doing it. Thanks.

[@freddykoopmans6985]

also one very expensive tool to do it....

[@ashtontechhelp]

If you check the still at 6 seconds in you will see that the wings on the Russian ekranoplan do indeed have major flaps pointing down. The jets also seem to have very fine exit holes and three are two further jets on the tailpiece. I don't see evidence on that image, but I recall seeing other ekranoplans that have the jets or props set at an angle to deliberately wash air under the wings. Bur I think the major issue you have here is that you have not included all the usual sensors to monitor height and react automatically - and, on such a small, light vehicle, you don't have time to react to changes in pitch, roll, yaw. We squishy meat bags are great at many things but electronics are faster at this sort of task.

[@Helperbot-2000]

yep, in fact, the forward engines were only used during takeoff, only the rear two engines were needed to keep it flying, the ground effect gets really efficient at that large scale

[@TheGryxter]

As a squishy meat bag, I resent that comparison. I am indeed smarter and faster than electronics. Things like....hold on my computer is acting up up up up up pppppp

[@ulforcemegamon3094]

​@Helperbot-2000 in fact , i remember reading that ground effect is more efficient the bigger the plane is , a ground effect plane of 2 tons is a bit more efficient than a normal plane of the same size , but the Caspian Monster was 4 times more efficient than a normal plane of the same tonnage

[@ddddddddddd5354]

I used to built uncontrolled ekranoplans (to slid along the road) in various forms and sizes. From my experience I would say your wings are way to shallow to create any sufficient air cushion to ride on without going very fast. I would recommend to mount the wings higher or to give it steep flaps and bigger floats, that way you can also start with less drag on takeoff since the fuselage is outside of the water. The aerodynamics for this don't scale well with the 90m original.

[@sjoormen1]

That car view at the end, pure brilliance. Beautifull.

[@JohnJaggerJack]

Loved everything. The cad, the build, the flying and the editing.

[@1Thatstrangeguy]

For cutting hardened fiberglass id suggest buying an oscillating cutting tool. They make very precise cuts and won't burn the fiberglass or spread fiberglass dust everywhere.

[@BasementCreationsChannel]

Oh yeah, the ASA Aero is pretty nice stuff. I think it is more suited for Vase mode models tho, it really strings a lot on normal prints. But nevertheless your Caspian Sea Monster looks amazing, can't wait to see the next episode!

[@ninehundreddollarluxuryyac5958]

The Russian ekranoplan project was top secret. It was called project steamboat. At the time, there was a death penalty for mentioning ekranoplans outside the factory. Nice trick with the Mylar to make the fiberglass smooth. Ekranoplans tend to be unstable in pitch, with lift moving forward as it picks up speed. Mine were built without enough power for free flight but would pick up a lot of speed in ground effect before making a short excursion into free flight while losing all the momentum gained in ground effect. I could get two ground effect wings to run stable without control inputs by having the rear wing much larger and the forward wing angled a little more upward than the main rear wing. I used reverse dihedral, reverse camber wings similar to airfish 2. I am surprised your model needs so much speed to fly. Mine were bigger but flew slower. You made a beautiful model of Caspian Sea Monster.

[@ЕвгенийМожаев-м1я]

У него "короткое" крыло, из-за этого экран получается на повышенной скорости. И да - угол атаки крыла можно увеличить.

[@DuncanJimmy]

Somebody download this guy's brain already, the brilliance at work here is phenomenal. I can't believe there isn't a Russian mogul or museum funding this project.

[@jameswalker8900]

Also set an elevator to down when you have the thrust vectoring flaps down as well, which will help with the tail out of the water

[@thejacobmgregory]

Only 1 thumb is really necessary for a successful life, might as well melt the other one right off 1:52

[@arianchandler9285]

I didn't catch that. Lol!

[@ncalimendo]

Everything about this is excellent, and I'm glad you pointed out at the end how you got those moving shots, because that is one of the coolest things and a whole deep dive of its own I'm sure!

[@totalNERD-eo7wx]

Fun fact: You can see that there is a cluster of engines in the front of the fuselage of the Ekranoplan, and a pair mounted on the tail; those front engines are solely for getting the craft up to speed to take advantage of Ground Effect, while the two in the back are all that's needed to keep the thing flying. That is the power of Ground Effect!

[@confuseatronica]

tip: get some 3M Spray 77 or similar contact cement or similar spray glue and do a very light mist on the pink foam cores before laying the packing tape. You don't even have to let it cure for more than a minute, its just a tiny droplet mist. If it seems wet under the tape, that's too much. This also really helps when laying glass or CF cloth so stuff doesn't slide off while you're lining everything up.

[@reeceagland1980]

Perfectly demonstrates the real world problems of Ekranoplan, they look cool, but need a lot to go right, particularly the calmness (or otherwise) of the water. Still looks cool.

[@glebkrawez5046]

Also they really need automated flight regime controller to keep ekranoplan steady, these "nose dives" after takeoff were the reason of one crush with them.

[@kleanish]

shot at 17:35 is so good

[@timp024]

I was on the fence on the Creality K2 or the Bambu X1 and just didn’t know….you pushed me over the edge. Love your videos.

[@EMMANUEL.J.OMOKHAFE]

Love your projects rctestflight always learning and fun at the same time

[@birdseyeview1543]

It's as beautiful as an ekranoplan can be, and those car tracking shots, magnificent!

[@DeadsunPrime]

cutting the thumb off at a minute 54 was a great editing choice!!! great job

[@Lozzie74]

Star effort, Daniel! Prototyping is always tough, even in fullsize projects. You try, you learn, you change, you try again. I go through the same with my projects. I really enjoyed learning some of your methods here. Mylar film… yes, I must try that!

[@CozyRC]

Great project, and I got to see some nice build tricks as well, such as covering your laminate by a plastic film, to get a smooth surface! I'm already looking forward to the 2nd episode 😎

[@clivemcpike3065]

For the issue of the tail getting pushed into the water, you should tie the thrust vectoring to the throttle so when you put on more power the front stays at a constant angle. You could also tie the vectoring to a gyro so when the angle goes up the vectoring flaps lift!

[@marcuscoquer5958]

The Lun Class Ekranoplan is my all time favourite vehicle. Just utterly bonkers.

[@WindCatcherRC]

Thanks for the shout out at the beginning of the video. This is such a cool project to be a part of. Glad to see the wings and tail sections worked out well for you. Looking forward to the next video on this. Really hope you are able to get this into stable ground effect.... Or is it really water effect? 🤣

[@rickbrasche8781]

years ago we had models of these, they will self stabilize with a little trim if everything is correct. Wings were flat plate and we used two motors with props. Some also used the front motor mount on a swivel, for "power assisted ram" effect (blowing air under the wings for takeoff and running on land, then swivel forward a few degrees for cruise). the larger disc surface of props worked best for that too. Id planned to put a gyro on the motor mount to assist with stability but never got around to the build.

[@patrickradcliffe3837]

3:59 low temp shrink covering like Econokote is the best solution. That is what I use on my Spirit-O-76 sailplane. Along with angle of incidence change, thrust angle change might be helpful for Parr effect.

[@mightympm3516]

Every video is super inspiring and the explanations are second to none. makes me want to build something everytime i watch!

[@kcosminhz7988]

dude you're a genius. thank you for all your video's. this ones one of my favorites.

[@georgecarlinismytribe]

The wings seem to have a flat flow. Slightly more angle of attack on the wings might help.

[@scottmuench6855]

Best wing finish ever! Your build skills are awesome

[@seankelly5318]

I think you need the two rear thrusters as well. Another super cool project, good luck getting it dialed in.

[@oddzc]

Those shots at the end were epic

[@ieatgrass_z]

Because the cg of a ground effect aircraft shifts back in ground effect, make sure your tail has a slight positive pitch or a normal airfoil to pick up the tail

[@Abide]

This thing shows so much progress in design ability! It's awesome! Loved watching the build.

[@Sasha315]

Tip: before hot glueing in servos, wrap them in painters tape. Later it will be easy to get them clean.

[@michaelwhinnery164]

The shot's through the trees twards the end of the post are Amazing !!! Thanks for the explanation because I was gonna ask how you did it.

[@69andy55]

Congratulations for the excellent work and approach of the problems

[@nicksharp6950]

Someone who actually reads directions! I hear so many people say they don't like Gorilla Glue.. YOU HAVE TO DAMPEN THE SURFACE!! Thank you for knowing how to use glue lol

[@yessirge]

so insane how many videos this guy is pumping out. i think you gotta be really passionate about this engineering shit to hustle that much (while even leaving out quite a bit in the videos)

[@DorifutoRabbit]

This gave some serious "Thunderbirds" vibes in those wide shots, love it

[@johncorso9701]

Awesome. I'm glad to see you back at these kinds of builds.

[@dracovolans319]

Dude, it looks so good! 14:32

[@kristianstaalby8499]

I am so impressed with the build quality.

[@thefpvyawthority8106]

The car mounted camera flex at the end was nice

[@Cap10VDO]

That's awesome. If you cropped the top off the footage that starts around 17:20, the docks would look like Soviet-era concrete buildings at scale. Pretty wild.

[@ross123540]

The shot at the end is amazing! Please do a video on that rig.

[@FarmerFpv]

Damn, Danial! That thing is a beast! Fantastic work with the build! This project is so bada*s! I can't wait for the next part.

[@andrewsnedeker8965]

Your engine mounts need to be angled down to generate more par thrust. If you look at the ekranoplane, they are canted down. You may also need to create some more vertical lift/less down force with your horizontal tail to help lift the aft fuselage up and counter the nose up tendency of the engine thrust. Possibly some mixing in the channels with the thrust and the elevator.

[@chandleranthony7382]

Best looking project so far, those front motor mounts are cleeeean. Wish you would have done a 50/50 with the dark gray on the bottom and light on top.

[@mscir]

Really well done, my favorite project yet. Looking forward to the flaps... This will look good on your resume.

[@mozartantonio1919]

Your fabrication skills are awesome man!

[@GeneralThargor]

Best videos on the internet, especially if they have a shanty, Daniel, it's been a while, shanty when?

[@jakobh3718]

I heard that "The eight engines on the front angled their thrust down under the wings for additional lift. Once airborne, all eight of those engines were shut off and two engines in the rear provided all of the in-flight thrust."

[@BABALOOEY46]

Latch for the hatch, groove for the tube... lyrical master at work

[@JayZuma-wr1pr]

I bought a flite board Efoil a month ago and I referred to you as they had an amazing propeller in the shop and one of the chaps was also a fan of RCTestflight... he then said that he hoped you would add an efoil to an ekranoplan and I said that I had the exact same thought, I think a dynamic efoil would reduce the initial drag and reduce the need for power before T/O... I can't wait to see this develop.... WIG vehicles could really benefit from retractable efoils

[@MiNameIsJake]

The one time you actually use a PCB in a video, and it’s not sponsored by PCBWay!

[@tracybowling1156]

Thank you, Daniel! I love love love your build videos! Merry Christmas!

[@youzrnaim]

Those shots @17:20 are badass.

[@canadiantrainperson]

Nice! You should add 2 smaller engines on the tail and angle them slightly down. This is so that water doesn't get sucked in through the front engines, the nose gets lifted up, and you can use less battery.

[@keppscrossing]

Nice build! You'll get better results fiberglassing wings if you cut your glass on the bias. This gives it more torsional strength. That's particularly useful on control surfaces, but also on the main wing panels. There is no need to have the same strength cordwise as spanwise, which is what you get when you lay up 0/90. Strength is needed both spanwise and torsionally, which is what you get with the 45 degree bias.

[@emaglott]

Exceptional craftsmanship on this build!

[@RegisMichelLeclerc]

Peter Sripol made a "working" one a few years back. The way of making an Ekranoplan is to start from the plans or the pictures: at the time, the soviets have made a lot of tests with different sets of angles and proportions before building it, what they eventually built was a working set out of many not working that well. It took them years to achieve that... Just copy the results, you have neither the time nor the means to redo the research. The reactors at the front are used only in take off phases to create the cushion by blowing air under the "wings" and idled afterwards during flight, there is another set of reactors/propellers which provide the thrust during flight, Because of the ground effect, it's a very economical solution: an Ekranoplan normally slashesabout 1/3 of the power requirements for a "normal" plane at same weight, same speed. Using the front reactors all the time is going to do the exact opposite and make the flight unstable with a fairly limited ground effect and a bad front-aft balance. Why not making a Ground-Effect vehicle of the size of your surf board, so you can sit on it like on your foil board?

[@seacube3]

You are right about needing flaperons. But your wingtip pontoons need to contain the cushion laterally. Try adding vertical sidewalls to the bottom of the pontoons, like the CSM. Reference: minute 8:29. As long as the is a gap between the trailing edge, sideways and water, it contains the air cushion being rammed in by forward motion. Think of this type of of Ekronoplan as starting out in “ram scooped air cushion” mode, which transitions to “channel wing” mode as speed increases. If you watch video of the CSM; it drags its tail long after takeoff. And based on the soot from its engines, they are at high thrust.

[@FuhrChris]

Consider getting a vacuum bagging system (Rockler wood craft) If you bag it right the bagging will pull down the Mylar in one smooth action. (Done wrong it will bunch up and you have to sand down wrinkles.)

[@AakashKalaria]

Dude! those last few shots with long focal length. 😍

[@RangieNZ]

Could you rotate the EDM pod like 5-10° pitch up, relative to fuselage? You could get a whole pile of direct lift that way and create slightly more ground effect airflow for the wing.

[@linuxgeex]

Fix: move the CoG towards the tail, and make the hstab into a lifting surface surface for pitch control. ie balance the vehicle for a rear canard. We don't do this with airplanes because it would cause a tail-first stall, but that isn't a concern with a ground-effect craft, where a loss of airspeed just means you come to rest on the water, and the tail dropping during s stall is a safety feature!

[@davessparetime83]

You should buy a Hobby Wing Skipper. Land and Sea RC Plane. Great for your ground effects. Add two EDFs in the rear. They will help the rear get up off the water.

[@ckfpv]

I worked on a assembley line one time and when ths things got boxed and taped it went thru this taper that heated the clear packing tape up as it layed it dwn it activates the sticky on it were itll stick a whole lot better

[@flat-earther]

hi ckfpv, have you become a flat earther yet? If not I suggest watching _Level with Me (2023)_ by Hibbeler Productions

[@insanity54]

Really amazing craftsmanship, I love how this one looks on the water!

[@motoalchemy]

once you get a cushion of air under the wings, and get a genuine ground effect, you should be able to reduce power , the original machine used the tail thrusters to maintain ground effect.

[@TankR]

Take the cold dry air output from your A/C and pipe it into that heater deally then into the plane. You want to cool the air to push the humidity out of it, then heat the dry air to make it thirsty as hell. The resultant air will suck up all the moisture it can find.

[@jonathanmedhus8609]

Add the PAR thrust flaps to a throttle mix that starts above 85% power dial out 1.5 degree for each 1% increase in throttle application keep the current switch dedicated to the PAR flaps but use it to activate the mixing program.

[@haydenc2742]

Perhaps re-design the EFT duct housings with a slight 5~ degree down angle to have it shove air as they are running to push air down to the lifting wing w/o needing the thrust vectoring flaps, now we know why they had 8 engines rather than 4 I wonder if the CG needs to be a little bit further as well Such a very awesome design! Keep em coming!!!!

[@bewareofattackchef]

i got excited when i saw the mylar and though for sure you were going to heat shrink it on the wing for the covering. never really thought of it as a release film ... old dog, new trick

[@captarmour]

Beautiful WIG! What about some more wingspan? Start off with twice the wing and cut it down till it's just right. GE is about half wingspan so it will fly higher off the water with more wingspan. a couple of reverse chines(partial hydrofoils) will give the hull more lift too

[@snakezdewiggle6084]

You need the 5th and 6th fans to get Out of the water, then throttled back once you're up. Thats how the big boys did it. Another great project. Can't wait...

[@iforce2d]

Try peel-ply for the hinges, it's much easier to work with and cheaper. You also want to cut the cloth diagonally so that twice as many fibers cross the hinge line and the shallower angle (per fiber) will be easier to bend. Cutting long strips diagonally is quite wasteful though, which is another reason to use cheap peel-ply rather than expensive kevlar.

[@raindeergames6104]

Please use a vacuum close to Your cutting area for fibre glass and carbon fibre. We don't want Yorr lungs to get messed up. This is a awesome project 🎉🎉

[@ryanrixon332]

14:07 that thing looks so happy that it got to go in the oven

[@Thepuffingyank]

You could use silicone packets or rice to draw out more moisture

[@Chilternflyer]

I hope that there is a part two to this. I'd love to build a Caspian Sea Monster!

[@orangespy]

Looks amazing. I hope you can get it going, I love the ekranoplan!

[@sacrificialrubber779]

The original had flaps, been waiting for you to do this!! Had a hunch 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@charlesgraham9954]

patience u have my friend, nice work.

[@sq3rjick]

You can always do gyroid infill if you do go with infill again like you did in the mantra ray efoil board print. Then you should at least be able to drain any water out (maybe a plug on top?).

[@LoganMaqueda]

it might help conserve power if you put engines on the tail like the real thing, so whenever you take of you can use those alone to sustain thrust. i would look at the real one and see if you could find more ideas from the research of Rostislav Alexeyev (the lead engineer) and his team. overall this is incredible, and im really glad to see such wonderful machines being optimized in the world of rc.

[@TheMajsis1337]

Something I noticed on the original sea monster is that the 8 engines are about half as wide as the wings them selves and that might help with creating an air cushion under the whole wing? And also the hull seems to be more ''boat like'' if that makes sense and also have these protruding arches at the front that looks like they would help air go under the wing or stabalize it?