Ken,

The Russian company Beriev had this interesting

amphibian at OSH

Look how close the wing is to the water for

ground effect

and the length of the  wing strakes. The Russians

know a lot about

flight in ground effect. It was built with

aluminum so composites

ought to be tougher and stronger.

Look how fast it is with only 420 HP.
I think the payload number is a mistake.
That is probably less fuel.

http://www.beriev.com/eng/be-103/be-103.html

I think the idea will work on the Coot.
You could do away with the sponsons and their

drag.

Paul Lamar

   That is what Molt's idea was but on my new

plane I raised the wing

5.5 inches to get the thrust line closer to the CL

of the prop.

  I was the first to put sponsons on the coot and

they added 10 mph

and everyone that has added them has reported the

same gain in speed.

  I think that the V-hull is sending dirty air

into the wing and the

sponsons are sending that air under the wing

instead making the wing

more efficient.
  I am not impressed with the cruise speed

considering the landing

speed, that tells me there ain't no wing on it and

any seaplane pilot

will tell you that ain't going to work.

Ken

Looks like a lot of wing area to me. In true ground
effect a wing becomes more
efficient. Also the strakes will prevent the hull
air from affecting the
wing. Beriev really knows what they are doing when
it comes to sea
planes as they are the only company in the world to
go into production
with a jet powered amphibian. They have been doing
this for many years.

I will say mounting two engines on struts lowers the
thrust line.
That is one advantage they have over the Coot
configuration.

Paul Lamar

Just a thought....

That big wing probably acts like a flat planing
surface with the forward V sectional providing
hard-chine lift to keep the nose up and centered(think
drag boat); I would surmise that planing to the aft
part of the wing occurs pretty quickly once the
initial drag-stream is broken. The Russians as a whole
have a knack for making weird combos do quite
well.....ever seen the counterrotating, prop-driven,
swept-wing TU-95 and it's impressive stats?

 
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