The LUN Class Ekranoplan

It is fun to be associated with the Cold War Air Museum (although admittedly, some days are more "fun" than others).

One of the fun aspects is to hear from so many people who have stories to tell, or aircraft to sell. The MD-160, (NATO code named "Duck", Russian "Hen Harrier") is a unique "aircraft".

Intended to be the first of a new class of anti-ship weapon platform, only one was completed, serving with Soviet and Russian forces through the 90's. With engines mounted in a canard at the front, six nuclear capable missile tubes above the fuselage and a radar/sensor suite on the tail, the MD-160 was intended to approach its target from below radar coverage at speeds approaching 300 knots. More information about the design and class can be found at these Global Aircraft and Wikipedia links.

Recently, we were contacted by Igor, who has produced an active journal with more pictures and information about this aircraft. With a 240 foot length, 144 foot wingspan and a maximum takeoff weight of 882,000 pounds, this is a truly massive project in the finest Soviet tradition. For those of us that can't read Russian, Google makes a valiant attempt at rendering a translated version of Igor's journal. A sense of humor is helpful when reading automated translations. In this effort, one of my smiles came from Google's choice description of an engine part as a "marching band".

After construction, the craft was launched into the Volga river on 16 July, 1986. Although reported to be capable of limited flight and having the appearance of an airplane, most Western sources show the MD-160 to have been commissioned as a ship in the Soviet Navy.

Like sea birds skimming just above the ocean, an ekranoplan uses ground effect to decrease the energy required for flight. In addition to the MD-160, the Ekranoplan Program developed high speed naval transport designs. A sister ship, the second in the LUN series, was changed on the drawing boards from an attack craft to a mobile hospital or rescue ship, but it was never completed.

Experimental designs using ground effect pre-date WWII and the inherent efficiency of the design continues to see expression in experimental projects such as the Boeing Pelican ULTRA.

We enjoyed Igor's journal and hope others will enjoy it as well and by the way, if you are looking for a very large piece of Cold War History, this one might be available. It's too big for us, at least until our next hangar expansion or until we can construct a Texas sized lake or river nearby.

Feature Associate, New Director Andre Plaskota

Recently we elected another new director at the Cold War Air Museum.

Andre is a local businessman who frequently flys his Piper Cheyenne on extended business trips. Andre is also a long time partner in one of the L29's on the field and actively participates in various airport activities.

68SJ was featured in one of our earlier posts. We appreciate Andre's support and look forward to his participation at the museum.

UH-1 Restoration at the Cold War Air Museum, Engine and Transmission Removed

Work on the UH-1 being restored at the Cold War Air Museum required removing the transmission and engine so that various components and compartments could be cleaned and checked.

Removing the transmission should have been fairly straightforward, disconnect and unbolt everything, then lift it out. Some persuasion was required however, because forty years of sitting in place made it reluctant to move at first. Fortunately, we only had to use "American" persuasion, not "Russian" persuasion. No big hammers were required.

After the transmission came out, it was re-mated with the mast assembly. The mast head had been removed for transport. This delivery team at least understood the concept of bridge clearance.

Old fluids were drained and inspected, and new fluids were added and circulated. The old sight glasses at first seemed unusable, but after a good cleaning they again deserved their name.

Re-mated, the transmission and mast form a sealed system preventing inadvertent contamination. A temporary mount holds the system upright and allows it to be moved around while work proceeds.

The engine came out more readily. So far, everything that is supposed to rotate does, but bore scoping and more component inspections are on the schedule.

With the engine and transmission out and the compartments clear, teams can tackle each project independently, calling upon each other for further support as necessary.

A UH-1 from the 56th Transportation Company

The UH-1, serial number 62-1890, being restored at the Cold War Air Museum is the subject of ongoing historical research. We know from military records that she was deployed to Vietnam with the 56th Transportation company in 1966.

Military and FAA records further reflect that the aircraft was returned to the U.S and served with various units before being released to the National Guard and thereafter to the Washington National Forestry Service, where she gained her "N" number, 333WN.

We are appreciative of the various web sites and veterans groups who have attempted to preserve their unit and aircraft histories. It may be possible that the picture below is of our ship, or one like ours, "in country". We are hoping to hear from everyone who has a story or pictures to share from 62-1890's past.

Pete, one of our associates, contacted Major Gerald Royals (Ret.), a former commander of the 56th, who shared some recollections of 62-1890. A picture of Maj. Royal "in his younger days" and several photos from unit operations are on the 56th's page at the Fly-Army-Air website. Our thanks to Major Royal for his information and the picture and information found on his web page.

The 56th was a helicopter recovery company, call sign "Good Nature". Recovering damaged helicopters from the field and repairing them accounted for keeping more than 10% of the airborne unit's flying. An early motto used by the unit was "You Crash and Call - We Dash and Haul". Inspection of the pictures on the website shows three generations of nose art. The final insignia adopted by the unit, is seen on the nose of the UH shown beside the Major and matches the unit patch shown below.

"Find'm, Fix'M, Fly'M" certainly fits the history of the Cold War Air Museum as well.

Antihelicopter mines saw their first use during the Vietnam war. Improvised explosive devices were placed in likely landing areas with the intention of destroying arriving aircraft. From what we have learned to date, one such device went off underneath 62-1890 while she was attempting to recover another helicopter downed in a previous landing. Although the belly of the ship was heavily damaged, she was flown back to base where further inspection scheduled her for extensive repair.

Flown to the USNS Corpus Christi Bay, a floating repair depot, she was eventually returned to the U.S. for overhaul.

We hope to hear more about this worthy aircraft and her extensive history. Please contact us with updates that we can share as her restoration continues.