Lun-class Ekranoplan: The Real Caspian Sea Monster
The Lun-class ekranoplan is a unique and fascinating machine that straddled the line between resembling an aircraft and a ship.
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Experimental
Aircraft that were either too weird, too awful or too extreme to be accepted into service.
Northrop YB-35/XB-35 – The Flying Wing Failure
In 1938 after setting up his independent venture, engineering legend John Northrop could finally work on a project he had
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Sikorsky S-72 – Helicopter-Plane Hybrid
Able to operate as either a helicopter, compound helicopter, or fixed-wing aircraft, the Sikorsky S-72 was an ambitious attempt to
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Grumman X-29 – The Backward Wing Plane
The Grumman X-29 was a bizarre-looking experimental plane that was one of the first serious attempts to assess the concept
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Vought V-173 – America’s Flying Pancake
Known variously as the ‘Flying Pancake,’ ‘Flying Flapjack,’ ‘Flying Saucer,’ and ‘Zimmerman’s Skimmer,’ the V-173 was a bizarre US attempt
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Grumman XF10F-1 Jaguar – The Swing Wing Fiasco
Over the decades the manufacturer Grumman has been an indispensable source of high-quality fighters for the US Navy. On only
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Northrop XP-79 – The Flying Battering Ram
The Northrop XP-79 ‘Flying Ram’ was a bizarre attempt to make an aeroplane that disabled enemy craft by colliding into
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Payen Pa 49 – The Petite Plane with a Galactic Legacy
The Payen Pa 49 was a tiny experimental aircraft and the brainchild of aviation extraordinaire Roland Payen, who hoped it
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MiG-105 – The Cancelled Soviet Spaceplane
The MiG-105 was a space plane that was originally earmarked to play a starring role in the Soviet’s aborted attempt
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F-16XL – The Crank Wing Experiment
The F-16XL is a derivative of the iconic F-16, and was superior in many aspects to its predecessor despite being
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