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00:00It looks fairly stable now with slow rotation.
00:301970. In the midst of the Cold War, the US kept a discreet eye on the build-up of Soviet armaments from space.
00:43Orbiting high above the Earth, high-level Soviet military secrets were captured on specially designed film.
00:53The film was in ejected and caught mid-air by C119 aircraft to prevent Soviet interception.
00:59But while looking for more familiar military silhouettes, occasionally the intelligence officers came up with something quite unexpected.
01:09Our job in the Pentagon was to seek intelligence that was peculiar to the military mission of the Soviet Union.
01:17So we studied everything with that in mind.
01:22It was customary to go after particular targets that you already knew from one source or another that were important for either military order of battle purpose or the development of new weapons or whatever.
01:37But it was also customary to search the countryside and see if there was anything new coming up.
01:43And from time to time, something new would pop up.
01:46The footage from that mission is now lodged in the vaults of the US National Archives.
01:54Still bearing the top-secret DIA codeword rough, the pictures were taken over a little-known naval base on the western shores of the Caspian Sea.
02:03And though the image is very small, it reveals an unmistakable silhouette.
02:08The configuration suggested an incomplete aircraft.
02:13And perhaps wingtips or wing extensions would be added and it would eventually become a conventional seaplane.
02:20But time passed and the wings were not appearing.
02:24So that led to looking for alternative ways in which this thing was going to fly.
02:29The report Hooker submitted on his findings alerted the Pentagon to something remarkable.
02:36Working back from what he could see and from what he knew as an engineer, he realized that they had stumbled across a very unusual craft.
02:45Clearly this was a new concept altogether because that kind of configuration does not fly well up at altitude.
02:52So it was clear that they had decided to build a craft purposely designed to fly over the ocean.
03:01American military scientists characterized the craft as a high-speed trooper artillery carrier on a huge scale.
03:08What they had seen on that day became known as the Caspian Sea Monster.
03:15At over 300 feet in length, with a takeoff weight of 540 tons, it was nearly twice the size of America's biggest bomber, the B-52.
03:32But the Caspian Sea Monster wasn't a bomber. It wasn't a plane at all.
03:38To the Soviets, it was known simply as Kai-M, which stands for Karabul Makiet or prototype ship.
03:45This was a boat that had learned to fly. This wasn't a Kranoplan.
03:52Nizhny Novgorod, formerly the high-security Soviet city of Gorky.
04:10Until 1991, it was closed to outsiders and was even a place of internal exile for political outcasts.
04:25Sitting at the confluence of two mighty rivers, the Oka and the Volga, the heavily polluted water breathes strange craft.
04:31But then, this is the home of the Central Design Bureau, otherwise known as Alexievs, creators of the Caspian Sea Monster.
04:45We suspected that since there was a surveillance system, we were most probably under surveillance.
04:54But on the basis of these photographs, it is only possible to prove that the craft actually exists.
05:00This is just one more confirmation that this is a truly worthy cause, and it was of great interest to the world.
05:07In fact, Kai-M was not a warplane, but a huge flying laboratory full of men and machinery, measuring the parameters of a whole new area of aerodynamics.
05:20For Alexievs, it was a huge leap of faith.
05:24I think that everybody who took part in it feels proud for our country, proud that it was Russia who created this craft.
05:3195% of the experts said that it was a technical gamble, and that it would not develop.
05:46The experts were wrong.
05:48What the Bureau was investigating was the phenomenon of winging ground effect flight, often experienced by pilots in very low level flight.
06:06It has qualities that are quite distinct from flight in free air.
06:10As a pilot, I've never experienced anything like it.
06:15Even flying a plane at extremely high altitude.
06:18Here you can feel everything, you can see everything, and it's just a wonderful feeling.
06:24There's nothing better than ground effect flight.
06:31Used by large seabirds to rest their wings on when travelling long distances, the phenomenon was nonetheless uncharted territory.
06:39Until an exceptional young scientist from Nizhny Novgorod decided to make it his life's work.
06:44Rostislav Yevgenovich Alexiev.
06:51Alexiev was a man who liked to travel fast.
06:54His exploits were famous in, on, and above the Volga.
06:58During the war as a pilot, he would often fly his plane low over the river, perhaps looking for that elusive area of flight.
07:05But it wasn't until the 1950s as a boat designer that he really started to explore that area between the water and the sky.
07:14Alexiev invented the modern hydrofoil.
07:28A hydrofoil is a boat that literally flies through the water.
07:31Wings submerged beneath the hull operate exactly like a wing does in free air.
07:37When the speed is increased, the wings lift the hull out of the water.
07:41Once on the foils, it can go twice as fast as a conventional boat with equivalent power.
07:46Alexiev designed huge 300-seater hydrofoils and gave them space-age names like comet and meteor.
07:59The Soviet Union was about to send a man into space and Alexiev and his team were caught up in that race to the horizon.
08:06With his scientific and design skill, combined with his appetite for speed, the Bureau was at the cutting edge of boat design.
08:21At that time, the first hydrofoil, created by Alexiev, arrived in Moscow for the festival.
08:38And it was then that the Soviet government realized that there was such a talented person in their country.
08:44In an era of rapidly accelerating science and technology,
08:50Khrushchev rewarded Alexiev's hydrofoils by awarding him the Lenin Prize in 1957.
08:56But Alexiev still wanted to go faster.
09:00With the hydrofoil, he had taken boats almost out of the water.
09:05Now he was trying to teach them to fly.
09:12Alexiev had already been designing a crano plans on his own initiative.
09:18And he managed to get the government interested in his work.
09:21That was how the history of the Soviet Akrana plans began.
09:24As any child might tell you, all a wing needs to make it fly is a positive angle of attack and a bit of speed.
09:31Suppose that we have a wing in the floor.
09:32Let's set an angle of attack to it.
09:33Then, because of the pressure on the underside and suction on the upper side, there's a pressure on the upper side.
09:34Here, the wing would be a lift.
09:35If you want to take the power of the Ü coordinators on his own initiative, the wing will be part of the air.
09:37As any child might tell you, all a wing needs to make it fly is a positive angle of attack and a bit of speed.
09:47a bit of speed suppose that we have a wing in the floor let's set an angle of attack to it
09:55then because of the pressure on the underside and suction on the upper side
10:00there occurs a lift so that the wing can go up like that
10:08in the early days of flight wings have no special aerofoil shape at all
10:12it was simply a case of propelling the wing forward and tilting it in a positive way
10:17although it is not very efficient it is enough to make it fly however the whole principle has
10:23a dramatic secondary effect when an aircraft is close to the ground when the wing is closer to
10:30the ground like this and you set it again at an angle of attack then the contribution of the lower
10:36side becomes larger because the lower side has an airflow which is sort of stuck under the wing
10:44so that the pressure becomes much larger and that's the effect of increase of the lift
10:50but this increase in lift from being near to the ground isn't the most significant feature
10:54of winging ground effect aerodynamically there is another hidden bonus all aircraft in free
11:02flights suffer from lift induced drag this drag streams off the wing tips in huge invisible swirling
11:08trails limiting the aircraft's forward speed because of the high pressure underneath the wing and the low
11:16pressure on the top of the wing the air attempts to leak from the bottom of the wing around the tip
11:23to the top of the wing and as a result it's carried backwards in a large vortex behind the aeroplane and
11:29there's a similar vortex on the other wing tip in exactly the same way but when we get close to the
11:36ground these vortices are constrained by the presence of the ground and as a result they're reduced in
11:43intensity and the drag of the aeroplane falls significantly in fact drag is reduced by as much as 60
11:51meaning an aircraft can fly much further and faster on a given amount of fuel than in free air
11:56for commercial and military applications harnessing ground effect could be hugely valuable with the
12:02potential to redefine high speed transport alexiev knew he was on to something they had rediscovered flight
12:11with the full support of the soviet government alexiev's hydrofoil bureau started building ukranoplans
12:31it was a tremendous development program khrushchev gave so much attention to ukranoplans that he allowed
12:37alexiev the chief designer to contact him directly at any time on any issue regarding their construction
12:48in five years alexiev's team went from building wooden models to embarking on a craft that was 150 tons
12:55bigger than a jumbo jet kai m they began to build kai m in 1963 the work was very intensive workers worked in
13:11shifts to build such an enormous ukranoplan in two and a half years required very intensive work
13:25in october in october 1966 the ukranoplan went on trials
13:41kai m was taken from alexiev's to a remote area of southern russia on the caspian sea for its first flight
13:47at around 10 in the morning the chief designer said let's do it
14:01so we began the trials and the craft is running and running it's picking up speed 200 220 and around
14:09220 it lifts out of the water and it keeps going going going i'm holding the control wheel pushing it
14:17trying to keep the craft down so that it should stay closer to the water
14:21when you fly a plane you try to gain height but here you try to keep it down
14:26and so we're going one and a half two three meters and we reach ground effect
14:32i see that the speed is going up and up 300 400 450 we didn't go beyond that on that day
14:48the chief smiles and gives the thumbs up okay everything is okay that's it he says well
15:02done and we turned around and returned to the anchorage place
15:05afterwards they threw us into the water according to siemens tradition and offered us a drink
15:18a drink everyone was delighted
15:35there are things in a man's life that he will remember to the end of his days
15:39i'll never forget the victory parade but this isn't a victory parade it is a parade of human thinking
15:45you hardly have time to look around you've accelerated seen something on the horizon
15:55what is it my god you realize it's the opposite side of the caspian sea already
16:01you quickly turn around then in 30 to 40 minutes you've crossed the caspian sea
16:11but while the designers had conquered a unique area of flight in the name of science
16:16the discovery was about to be put to a more sinister use
16:19this was the mid-60s in a deteriorating political climate the soviet military was quick to spot how
16:32the principles of ground effect would be applied to war
16:38in a top secret base on the shores of the caspian sea they began testing their new weapon
16:43the combatter chrono plan
16:59their development was envisaged as using them as landing craft a strike option with missiles
17:05and as a rescue vessel the landing option is obvious it is for dropping small groups of tactical troops at
17:12the rear of the enemy they could disembark at any place
17:23as concerns the strike option they were very good for action against groups of ships
17:28because with a small radar profile they were very difficult to locate and target with missiles
17:36so it was planned to use these very qualities in theaters of war
17:40the navy's used to taking on aircraft high above the surface and they're not accustomed to finding an aircraft
17:59coming in very low and being able to perhaps launch a anti-ship missile at the same time
18:07so it becomes a very difficult target to to engage and so yes there was a serious concern where this would lead
18:17what alexiev had done was to create a breed of fighting machine that no navy had ever seen before
18:24it was a ship an aeroplane and a landing craft it could fly at up to 350 miles per hour invisible to both
18:31radar and sonar while carrying troops military vehicles and cruise missiles in the pursuit of science alexia had
18:41created a monster
19:02but the acrano plans were never used in anger today the caspian sea is quiet
19:07With the end of the Cold War and the subsequent cut in defence spending,
19:11the development of the huge military equino-plans has ground to a halt.
19:18Two craft are kept maintained on the base at Kaspiske, although they are seldom flown.
19:37This footage from 1993 is the last main flight of the Orleonok.
19:59Back in Nizhny Novgorod, the new task is to capitalise on this highly specialised experience and sell it to the world.
20:07We have been working on equino-plans since 1960, for over 35 years.
20:20We have accumulated a lot of experience in building equino-plans, which is impossible to get from any theoretical knowledge.
20:27With this experience in highly specialised military engineering, Alexievs are now tackling the civilian market.
20:42This is the Volga 2, their first step towards commercial passenger transport.
20:53Carrying passengers at aircraft speeds, combined with the practicality of a boat, is a highly marketable commodity.
20:59In addition to the huge fuel economies gained by flying in-ground effect, the Volga 2 has an added attraction for commercial operators.
21:11Because it flies so close to the water, there are far fewer dangers than travelling by aircraft.
21:16It is a revolutionary form of passenger transport.
21:25No other company has ever built as many operational equino-plans, and equino-plans of such dimensions.
21:33Therefore, we believe that so far, we are ahead of the field in comparison with the rest of the world.
21:38But in this new commercial marketplace, the Russians have found that they are no longer alone.
21:56If they are going to corner the market, they are going to have to beat off some very strong competition.
22:00Hanno Fischer, an engineer and pilot from Duisburg, is also racing to exploit the commercial benefits of ground-effect flight.
22:12What we try is to fill the gap between the slow and inexpensive ship transport, sea transport, and the fast but very expensive air transport.
22:24There's a big gap.
22:25All winging ground-effect craft have a very specific set of technical criteria which have to be addressed.
22:33With an eye always to commercial application, Fischer's approach differs sharply from the Russians.
22:39This is most obvious in his approach to the fundamental danger that exists for all ground-effect craft.
22:45The wing has a tendency to move up, or to pitch up.
22:49You know it from fast boats, race cars.
22:52They have always these accidents, they say, on pitch up, go vertical, and this is a big problem to stabilize a wing in ground-effect.
23:01The major problem of getting in and out of ground-effect is a change in trim on the aeroplane.
23:07The point at which the lift actually acts on the aeroplane actually moves as you move into ground-effect.
23:13It actually moves rearward backwards towards the back of the aeroplane.
23:16That means the trim of the aeroplane is changed, the balance between weight and lift is no longer what it was,
23:23and as a result, the pilot has to make some quite violent trim changes in order to keep the aeroplane on an even keel.
23:30This was why CHI-M was so full of technical equipment.
23:35Flying over the constantly changing surface of the sea at 350 miles an hour,
23:40no pilot would be able to react quickly enough to keep the wings in ground-effect.
23:44Every wave trough could risk the huge craft veering skywards.
23:48What I don't like is that they have not a natural stability.
23:55The stability is controlled by an automatic system, like an autopilot.
24:01When this doesn't work and you are only three meters high, the risk is high.
24:06So we say we need natural stability.
24:10Fischer's solution is based on the work of the great German engineer, Dr. Alexander Lippisch.
24:30Lippisch's work with Messerschmitt during the Second World War led him to design the delta wing shape.
24:35Triangular wing, which we call the delta wing.
24:40Although this shape was designed for high-speed stability and free air,
24:43when reversed, it proved to be stable in ground-effect.
24:47This discovery led to Lippisch's first ground-effect trials in 1962,
24:52using the reverse delta wing shape, a craft called the X-112.
24:57This was the first craft which runs in ground-effect stable.
25:02And he installed a T-tail, so the tail is flying out of ground-effect.
25:08And this combination between a wing and ground-effect,
25:12and a tail which is out of ground-effect in a certain distance, a certain height,
25:17this is the secret to stabilize the craft.
25:21Fischer's approach to ground-effect is called the air fish.
25:32We have flown hands up, not touching the controls.
25:42They run it half an hour, and stabilize automatically.
25:46When you come closer to the ground, the lift go up,
25:49and come back to the previous altitude.
25:51So we learned, mainly thanks to Lippisch, to stabilize a wing in ground-effect.
25:58By comparison, the Russian craft is a very complex piece of engineering.
26:07With its high-tech background, the Volvo 2 appears to have inherited
26:10all the complexities of the giant Kai M.
26:14While the air fish has a simpler and more elegant design,
26:18it still carries all the trappings of an aircraft.
26:20But there is yet another approach to ground-effect, which is simplicity itself.
26:27This is the Flareboat, the third, and by far the most simple approach
26:31to winging ground-effect flight.
26:41The Flareboat was designed by Gunter Jorg, an aerodynamicist from Frankfurt.
26:46He is well acquainted with the problems associated with the Russian system of flight.
26:50Jorg's approach is from the opposite direction, to design a boat with wings.
26:59The ground-effect vehicle has a system of wings,
27:02a tandem system of wings with specially calculated profiles
27:05that automatically select the correct distance within ground-effect.
27:12They can feel the waves, and always stay above them.
27:16You just have to run the engines and steer left or right.
27:21Everything else is taken care of by the aerodynamic stabilization on its own.
27:25It's a stabilisation, alone.
27:36Jorg's tandem system is based on two wings and large side screens.
27:41The front wing passes the air beneath the rear wing,
27:44creating a channel of air on each side of the craft.
27:47This is sufficient to keep it stable.
27:49With such a system, there is no need for the huge tailplanes
27:53of the Russians or the Lippish system.
27:54When the flare boat is flying, it has a magical quality of a boat
28:23that has somehow taken to the air.
28:26The air cushion is almost visible.
28:29It is undeniably the cheapest and simplest design,
28:32perhaps the two major factors in any commercial project.
28:38Jorg is currently making final adjustments
28:40to a ten-seater version for Japan.
28:53But before this ten-seater tandem can start to provide
28:56anything like a regular ferry service,
28:59he will have to face up to a problem
29:00that confronts every potential passenger carrier.
29:03The main problem for all Grandefeld craft is
29:11to have enough speed for take-off.
29:14All these craft are supported by aerodynamic lift.
29:19But before you have enough aerodynamic lift,
29:21you need a certain speed.
29:23So you have to run through the water,
29:26and water is 800 times thicker than air.
29:28So you need a lot of power.
29:30Half the three times of the power which you need
29:32in Grandefeld craft to overcome the high drag.
29:35We call it untrade.
29:38Because winging Ground-Effect craft have very small wings
29:41that don't generate a great deal of lift at low speeds,
29:44take-off requires a massive amount of power
29:46to get them out of the water.
29:48Alexiev's solution to the problem
29:50was to position engines in front of the wings
29:52using the thrust as a lifting force.
29:54Whereas this does have the advantage
30:10of making craft amphibious,
30:12it is hardly an elegant engineering solution,
30:14requiring large amounts of brute force.
30:16In the case of the Cayenne,
30:21eight of the ten engines were only used for take-off
30:24and were carried as baggage for the rest of the trip.
30:30It is here that York's tandem
30:32is at the mercy of even the slightest sea condition.
30:35The craft requires a forward speed
30:42of nearly 50 miles per hour
30:43before it will climb out of the water.
30:45And like an aircraft,
30:47this has to be into the wind,
30:49which means it's also into the waves.
30:56Despite conditions that clearly aren't troubling
30:58even the smallest of conventional craft,
31:00the flare boat is having trouble getting airborne.
31:05This highlights a fundamental problem
31:16with craft that try to take off from water.
31:19It is here that Fisher's newest craft
31:21has the commercial edge on all others.
31:28This is the hover wing,
31:30Fisher's new design for the future
31:31of winging ground effect travel.
31:33With lippish-designed wings and tail,
31:36it has a patented take-off system.
31:39We tried to find a solution
31:42to reduce the wetted area.
31:45So we installed a propeller on a pylon
31:48and the pylon has a door
31:51which we can open and close.
31:53Roughly 7% of the slipstream
31:55we catch and bring it
31:58between the two catamarans here
32:00and we have a skirt in front and in the rear
32:04so that we build up a static air cushion.
32:08This static air cushion
32:09is so strong that it lifts up
32:11already 80% of the weight of the craft.
32:14So we don't run anymore through the water,
32:16we are already above the water.
32:17I'm absolutely sure that this is the answer.
32:25When you look to all the technology
32:27in the history,
32:29always the fastest craft
32:31has replaced the slower one.
32:34We have more than 700 harbors
32:36around the Baltic Sea
32:37which we can use,
32:38but we have only 10 airports.
32:40So we can just fill the gap
32:42between these two
32:43vehicle, the ship
32:45and aircraft.
33:09While the Germans forge ahead
33:11with plans for the future,
33:13Alexievs are currently struggling
33:14to keep pace
33:15with the financial investment required
33:17to capitalise on their years of knowledge.
33:22But there is another reason
33:24why the Volga too
33:25has been left standing
33:26and behind the closed doors
33:27of their giant hangar
33:28lies a dark secret
33:30that is a monument
33:31to what Alexievs might have been.
33:35In part three,
33:37we reveal the colossus
33:38in the Volga hangar.
33:41Within one hangar,
33:51there is a very different beast,
33:53Spassartle.
33:54Spassartle is currently the largest
34:23ecranoplane in production
34:24in the world today
34:25by about 300 tons.
34:28Built of ship-grade
34:29magnesium aluminium,
34:31it is a throwback
34:32to the grand old days
34:33of Rostislav Alexiev.
34:38Sitting where the Caspian sea monster
34:40once sat,
34:41it measures over 300 feet
34:43in length
34:44and over 60 feet
34:45in height.
34:46With eight engines
34:47mounted behind the cockpit,
34:49it is truly biblical
34:50in scale.
35:01In the near future,
35:02Spassartle is to go on trials.
35:05As you can see,
35:06it is ready to go
35:06into the water.
35:07As soon as we receive
35:14the budget details,
35:15we shall start work
35:16at the factory
35:17for its preparation
35:18to launch.
35:23But in truth,
35:24Spassartle is far
35:25from being ready.
35:26Work began on the craft
35:27as long ago as 1981,
35:29but with the end
35:30of the Cold War,
35:31the funding from the Navy
35:32dried up.
35:33In fact,
35:36it has been like this
35:37for over 10 years
35:38and the state
35:39of the economy
35:39means that there are
35:40no funds available
35:41to complete the work.
35:43It may never be finished.
35:48But its huge shell
35:50is symbolic
35:50of darker motives
35:51at the Central Design Bureau.
35:56Since the heady days
35:57of Cayenne,
35:58work on ekranoplans
35:59became increasingly
36:00more difficult
36:01for Alexiev,
36:02falling between
36:03the ministries
36:04of shipbuilding
36:04and aircraft
36:05with the Navy
36:06signing the checks,
36:07Alexiev's dreams
36:08were ground to a halt
36:09by Soviet bureaucracy.
36:11Slowly but surely,
36:13his powers were removed,
36:14his budget slashed,
36:16and in 1976,
36:18he was sacked
36:18from his own
36:19ekranoplan department.
36:20Dmitry Sinitsyn
36:33was the heir
36:33to Alexiev
36:34at the time.
36:35Having spent
36:36the last 25 years
36:37of his life
36:38working alongside
36:39the great man
36:40on ekranoplans
36:41of all sizes,
36:42he had to watch
36:43as the future
36:44of Russian
36:44winging ground effect
36:45came to a halt.
36:46That took place
36:49in front of our eyes
36:50and of course
36:51the blow
36:51to the morale
36:52of the workforce
36:52because of Alexiev's
36:53sacking
36:54was colossal.
37:02Without his leadership,
37:04the drive
37:04to build ekranoplans
37:05was gone
37:06and Alexiev's
37:07ekranoplan department
37:08was virtually
37:09closed down.
37:10Today,
37:21Alexiev's build
37:21small hydrofoils
37:22for the government.
37:24In the new market economy,
37:26the Central Design Bureau
37:27is cut to the bone.
37:30For the ekranoplan
37:31and Alexiev's dream,
37:33the future
37:34has come
37:34to a standstill.
37:35Spisatel
37:39could have represented
37:40the link
37:41between the past
37:41and the future
37:42for Alexiev's.
37:44If fitted out
37:44for passenger transport,
37:46it could carry
37:46500 people
37:47at a fraction
37:48of the cost
37:48of air travel.
37:50No one else
37:51in the world
37:52has the experience
37:53to build
37:53this type of craft.
37:56Of course,
37:57I feel upset
37:58and frustrated
37:59and not only myself
38:01but all
38:02the Central Design Bureau
38:03and the factory employees.
38:06However,
38:06the funding schedule
38:07for this project
38:08is so slow
38:09that it takes
38:09a very long time.
38:16But while some
38:17are prepared
38:17to sit it out
38:18and wait
38:19for a change
38:19in climate,
38:20for one man,
38:21being unable
38:22to work on ekranoplan
38:23was unbearable.
38:25He had to keep
38:25the flame of Alexiev alive.
38:28So he left the Bureau
38:29that had been his life
38:30for 25 years
38:31and started out
38:32on his own.
38:35Dmitry Sinitsyn,
38:43the man
38:44who took over
38:44from Alexiev,
38:45left Nizhny Novgorod
38:47and the Bureau
38:47to set up
38:48his own company,
38:49Amphistar.
38:50In a hangar
38:51once used by Alexiev
38:52for his early prototypes,
38:54Sinitsyn's new company
38:55is hard at work
38:56building ground-effect vehicles.
38:58We buried Alexiev
39:02with our own hands.
39:04We felt it was
39:04our destiny
39:05to inherit his work
39:06and we should do
39:07our duty
39:07to continue his cause.
39:17What that man
39:18needed to rest in peace
39:20was for some enthusiasts
39:21to continue
39:22his life's work
39:23and we are
39:25those enthusiasts.
39:29The Amphistar
39:30is not on the same scale
39:31as for Sartle
39:32but for Sinitsyn
39:33it is just a start.
39:35With his knowledge
39:35and first-hand experience
39:37from the Caspian sea monster
39:38all he needed
39:39was financial investment
39:41and where it came from
39:42would have raised
39:43a few Communist Party eyebrows.
39:45The engineering
39:58may be 100% Russian
40:00but the company's headquarters
40:01is in the heart
40:02of the United States.
40:04It is here
40:05that the Akrana plans
40:06are painted,
40:06upholstered
40:07and refinished
40:07to a high standard
40:08before being marketed
40:10under a more Western name.
40:15Chan Cho is the brains
40:18behind this set-up.
40:19A businessman
40:20from Taiwan
40:21who was scouting
40:22for Russian technologies
40:23after the breakup
40:23of the Soviet Union
40:24in 1991.
40:27I can say
40:29the idea
40:29of ground effect
40:30is very, very touching.
40:33I knew nothing
40:34but I got affected
40:36and now
40:37I am an enthusiast
40:39too.
40:41The Soviet Union
40:42had a lot
40:44of good technologies
40:45from space
40:46down to ocean
40:48but since everything
40:49was falling apart
40:50the scientists
40:52could not get funding
40:53they were worried
40:55about their life
40:56their future
40:57how should they
40:58feed their family
40:59so
41:00I said
41:01well
41:01we should save
41:02this person
41:02and save their
41:04know-how
41:04and or know-knowledge
41:05and that's the background
41:08how we started
41:09this deal.
41:10Cho was operating
41:11with the help
41:11of his Russian partner
41:12Vladimir Globyenko
41:14with a background
41:15in engineering
41:16and an intimate
41:16knowledge of the
41:17Soviet system
41:18Globyenko
41:19was able to guide
41:20Cho to highly secret
41:21areas of technology
41:22together
41:23they discovered
41:24the design bureau
41:25that created
41:26the Caspian Sea Monster
41:27and travelled to Nizhny Novgorod
41:30to meet the designers
41:31At that time
41:32when Russia
41:33was opening up
41:34a lot of technologies
41:36seemed to be military
41:37applications mostly
41:39so most of the new things
41:40were classified
41:42or even kept secret
41:44until a certain time
41:45and getting access
41:47to those technologies
41:48which could be commercialized
41:50was not that simple
41:51basically with our project
41:53we started
41:54we did manage
41:55to get to the right source
41:56the central hydrofoil bureau
41:58and we got there
42:00at the right time
42:01when the bureau
42:02was closing this project
42:04and the designers
42:04were practically dismissed
42:07they had nothing to do
42:08so we were
42:09at the right place
42:10at the right time
42:11and we got the right people
42:12to work on this
42:14I personally reached
42:34my absolute limit
42:35every day
42:37I used to look forward
42:37to going to work
42:38but in the last
42:39two or three years
42:40I was ashamed
42:41to go to work
42:42because I was
42:42relative to the others
42:44fairly well paid
42:45I was ashamed
42:48to receive those wages
42:50Zinitsin saw his opportunity
42:56to escape the bureau
42:57and arranged a secret meeting
42:58in Moscow
42:59the meeting was held
43:02in a small office
43:03at the base
43:04of a suburban tower block
43:05but it was the meeting
43:06that was to decide
43:07the future
43:08of Russian
43:08wing-in ground effect
43:10so let's call
43:13the historic meeting
43:14it took place
43:19in Moscow
43:19in a small office
43:20it was a small room
43:22about this size
43:23with a similar table
43:24well not as nicely decorated
43:27some chairs around the table
43:30that's all I remember now
43:32this meeting determined
43:40the following five years
43:41of our existence
43:42up to this day
43:44this was a very big event
43:46what Zinitsin brought
43:49to the table
43:50was 30 years
43:51of top secret knowledge
43:53from Alexeyev's
43:53what the Taiwanese brought
43:55was hard currency
43:56although Zinitsin
43:58risked being seen
43:59as a traitor
44:00by his colleagues
44:00only the deal
44:02cut in the Moscow
44:02tower block
44:03could keep Alexeyev's
44:04dream alive
44:05it may be that
44:15if he were alive today
44:16he would say to us
44:17guys you're doing
44:18everything wrong
44:19chances are
44:20that's what he would have said
44:21so
44:22he might lead us
44:24in a completely
44:24different direction
44:25but the fact is
44:27that we didn't give up
44:28and we are the only
44:29people in Russia
44:30who are still working
44:31on Ekranoplans
44:32we just continue
44:34doing the work
44:34at which we are experts
44:35and this is a great
44:38happiness
44:38Sinitsin has created
44:45his own design bureau
44:46in Nizhny Novgorod
44:47with other defectors
44:48from Alexeyevs
44:49together they work
44:50on what Sinitsin
44:51believes to be
44:52the future of Ekranoplans
44:53the MPE series
44:55of large-scale
44:56passenger craft
44:57it is only
44:58when a craft
44:59reaches this size
45:00that the full
45:01economic advantages
45:02can be exploited
45:03and as in the
45:04days of Alexeyev
45:05they can cross
45:06the oceans
45:06that is the
45:08intended future
45:09for Sinitsin's company
45:10in the meantime
45:12the American
45:13publicity machine
45:14is busy preparing
45:15the western world
45:16for this transport
45:17revolution
45:18I'm a bit of an adventurer
45:32on the water
45:47and when I saw the craft
45:49and saw its application
45:50immediately it came to me
45:52extreme explorer
45:53no beach
45:54out of reach
45:54to us this is a new
45:56wheel
45:56this is a new means
45:57of transportation
45:58and we're on the
45:59cutting edge
45:59and we are the
46:00extreme team
46:01that's for sure
46:02we're fortunate enough
46:06to have the designers
46:07that were in the early 60s
46:09with the Caspian sea monster
46:11we have the designers
46:13we have the skippers
46:15that skippered those craft
46:16fortunate enough
46:17to have them here
46:18in the USA
46:18which four years ago
46:20you would have had
46:20to have been a spy
46:21to see what we're seeing
46:22today
46:22I believe we've accomplished
46:26in a matter of a few months
46:27what our governments
46:28couldn't put together
46:29in a matter of 30 years
46:30I believe that too
46:32in a series of
46:34high speed demonstrations
46:35the Russian team
46:36travels around the states
46:37with the extreme explorer
46:39it's ironic
46:40that 30 years down the line
46:42top secret Soviet technology
46:44is for sale
46:45in the United States
46:46what's even more ironic
46:49is that in this
46:50particular boat show
46:51it's not being test driven
46:53by the citizens
46:53of the sleepy town
46:54of Solomon Island
46:55but by the people
46:56on the other side
46:57of the river
46:58the research and development
46:59department of the United States
47:01Naval Air Warfare Center
47:02our idea was to convert
47:06this military craft
47:08and make it something
47:09which is more suitable
47:11for civil applications
47:12of course
47:14American military
47:16the US military
47:17are interested in this craft
47:19but our position now
47:21is that we're making
47:22a modification
47:23just the one you see outside
47:25and this is the model
47:26which we're offering
47:27to our buyers
47:29we are not knocking
47:33on their doors
47:33but they are trying
47:34to reach us
47:35the Cold War technology
47:48that turned up
47:48on a spy satellite photograph
47:49is now being scrutinized
47:51at first hand
47:52by the US Navy
47:53and explained
47:54by Russian scientists
47:55for winging ground effect
47:57it is a triumph
47:58of engineering
47:59over politics
48:00the engineering
48:10has real efficiencies
48:12that we have known
48:12for years
48:13the Russians
48:14have tremendous
48:15experience
48:16in this area
48:18and I think
48:18it's a wonderful world
48:20when we can share together
48:21thank you
48:23thank you again
48:24we're expecting
48:31some orders
48:32for these belts
48:33in the nearest days
48:34we really are
48:37with Sinitsin
48:43in his team
48:44the future
48:45of winging ground effect
48:46seems secure
48:47with plans
48:48for two or three hundred
48:49seaters
48:50within ten years
48:51designed by Alexiev
48:52himself
48:52there is a sense
48:54that the Akrana plan
48:55has finally come of age
48:56and is flourishing
48:57free from the weight
48:58of communist bureaucracy
48:59in this politically
49:01changed environment
49:02we may soon be able
49:03to benefit
49:04from the astonishing
49:05technology
49:06that was once hidden
49:07away from the rest
49:08of the world
49:09this is the first time
49:12I've seen this picture
49:13at that time
49:15we were sitting
49:16right here
49:17here is the craft
49:19in the dock
49:20and this
49:21is where we are sitting
49:22there is an illustrated
49:43channel 4 booklet
49:44that tells you much more
49:45about these amazing machines
49:46for a copy
49:47just send a check
49:48or postal order
49:49for four pounds
49:50payable to channel 4
49:51to Equinox
49:52Ekrano Plan
49:53PO Box 4000
49:55Manchester M60 3LL
49:57and next week
49:59Equinox unravels
50:00the mystery
50:00of a 9,000 year old
50:02skeleton
50:03that's opened up
50:04a can of worms
50:05in America
50:06a novel
50:07and next week
50:22the mystery
50:23little pessimists
50:24were on
50:27bitcoin
50:27or
50:28the mystery
50:28of a
50:30other
50:32buildings
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