EKIP Lev Shchukin - Russian UFO

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

EKIP is a project of a multifunctional aerodromeless aircraft without wings. This unique development, like many others, has no place in the global parasitic system until the people themselves, enlightened en masse, do not throw off the noose of the world government.

The function of the wing is performed by a disc-shaped fuselage. Aerodromelessness is achieved by using an air cushion takeoff and landing device. It is an ekranoplane operating in ekranoplan and airplane mode.

The design feature is the presence of a special system for stabilization and reduction of drag, made in the form of a vortex control system for the flow of the boundary layer flowing around the aft surface of the vehicle (patented in Russia, in Europe, the USA and Canada), and an additional flat-nozzle reactive system - for controlling the vehicle on small speeds and takeoff and landing modes.

The need for a stabilization system and a reduction in frontal resistance is due to the fact that the body of the vehicle is in the form of a thick wing of low aspect ratio, has a high aerodynamic quality (the lift is several times higher than that of a thin wing), but low stability due to the breakdown of flows and the formation of turbulence zones … The use of an aerodynamically bearing body allows us to have useful internal volumes several times larger than those of promising aircraft of equal payload. Such a hull increases the comfort and safety of flights, significantly saves fuel and reduces operating costs.

To reduce aerodynamic drag, a boundary layer control system is used. This layer in the form of a set of successively located transverse vortices is sucked into the inside of the body, which ensures uninterrupted aerodynamic flow around the vehicle. This allows the car to move in laminar airflow with less drag. The system allows, at a low level of energy consumption (6-8% of the thrust of auxiliary engines), to provide low aerodynamic resistance and stability of the vehicle for a range of angles of attack up to 40 ° at cruising and takeoff and landing flight modes.

The device was invented in the USSR by L. N. Shchukin in the early 80s. It has several modifications depending on the purpose. EKIP can fly at altitudes from 3 to 10,000 meters at a speed of 120 to 700 km / h.

The relative weight of the aircraft body to the take-off weight, according to DASA experts, when using composite materials, is 1/3 lower than for aircraft. This is achieved by the fact that the design allows you to evenly distribute the loads on the body of the apparatus. Thanks to the use of composite materials, it is possible to significantly reduce the acoustic, thermal and radar (see stealth technology) visibility of the device.

The power plant can include two or more cruising high-efficiency by-pass turbojet engines and several auxiliary high-efficiency twin-generator turboshaft engines.

When all propulsion engines are turned off and at least one auxiliary engine is running, the device is capable of making a trouble-free landing on unprepared unpaved sites or on water.

A list of the main advantages of EKIP vehicles over aircraft:

No aerodrome due to the use of an air-cushion jet landing device.

Profitability due to low aerodynamic resistance of the apparatus and perfect engines.

High carrying capacity (100 and more tons), the ability to transport bulky cargo is ensured by:

- large lifting force of the wing-bearing body. The carrying area of the vehicle is 3-4 times larger than that of modern aircraft, and the value of the lift of a thick wing is significantly higher than that of a thin wing, which is characteristic of a modern aircraft with the same value of the lift coefficient. This allows you to significantly reduce takeoff and landing speeds and reduce takeoff and run distances.

- large relative thickness of the body. This allows us to have useful internal volumes several times larger than those of traditional and promising modern aircraft of equal payload;

Flight safety.

Low takeoff and landing speeds. The use of the vortex system makes it possible to use more effective bottom braking during approach with high angles of attack (up to 40 degrees), and the reverse of the main engines significantly reduces the mileage. The device is capable of landing on an unprepared site or body of water with the sustainer engines turned off while at least one auxiliary engine is running. With at least one propulsion engine running, the device is capable of continuing its flight, albeit at a lower speed. These features of the device are an essential factor in ensuring flight safety.

Aerodynamic rudders and a flat nozzle control system provide control and stabilization of the vehicle over the entire speed range;

Multiple redundancy of auxiliary engines ensures high flight safety. Auxiliary engines are used for takeoff and landing using an air cushion and boundary layer control device. The engines operate in economy mode during cruise flight and in forced mode during takeoff and landing.

Comfort for passengers is achieved by the spaciousness of the cabins, unattainable for cargo-passenger aircraft with the same carrying capacity.

The environmental friendliness of the device was originally incorporated in its design and is ensured by a significant reduction in the noise level due to the chamber placement of the power plant, the rapid attenuation of acoustic waves in flat nozzles of jet engines, the use of more environmentally friendly fuel, as well as steeper glide paths and, in this regard, the increased compactness of EKIP airports. … In addition, airports do not require special preparation of runways, which significantly reduces the burden on the environment.

In 1993, the Russian government decided to finance the EKIP project. By this time, the construction of 2 full-size EKIP vehicles was completed, with a total take-off weight of 9 tons. DF Ayatskov took the initiative to start mass production. It was supported at the state level by the Ministry of Defense Industry, the Ministry of Defense (the main customer) and the Ministry of Forestry. In 1999, the development of the EKIP apparatus (in the city of Korolev) was included in a separate line in the country's budget. Despite this, funding was interrupted and the money was never received. The creator of EKIP, Lev Shchukin, was very worried about the fate of the project and after numerous attempts to continue the project with his own funds, he died of a heart attack in 2001.

With a complete lack of interest from the Russian state, the management of the Saratov Aviation Plant, which is in a critical financial condition and is part of the EKIP concern, began to look for investors abroad, which was crowned with success in 2000. In January, the director of the Saratov aircraft plant, Alexander Yermishin, traveled to the United States for negotiations, to the state of Maryland, where EKIP is to be tested in three years. At the US Navy base, he spoke to the US military and aircraft manufacturers. Several years ago, he and the general designer of the concern were offered to build a plant in the United States, since the estimated market for EKIP class vehicles in the United States is estimated at $ 2-3 billion, but the parties agreed on partnership. The indispensable condition of the director of the plant, Alexander Yermishin, on financing parallel production in Russia by the American side was immediately rejected. Since 2003, after an agreement on cooperation, work on the creation of EKIP at the Saratov aircraft plant was stopped due to the critical financial condition of the enterprise. The Russian-American aircraft, created on the basis of EKIP, was to undergo flight tests in 2007 in the United States in Maryland. The US is now off to a good start for the development and manufacture of these devices, with multiple advantages.

Lev Shchukin's original ideas received worldwide publicity. A consortium uniting several European and Russian research groups from universities and industrial enterprises received a grant to conduct research on flows similar to the flow around EKIP. This project is called "Vortex Cell 2050" and is carried out under the 6th European Framework Program.