I’m not obsolete yet!

I’m not entirely convinced that we can call these things “planes” given the fact that they don’t actually fly.. To travel they rely on ground effect forces that allowed them to “fly” a few meters off the ground at serious speeds and while carrying enormous loads.

My favorite has always been the Caspian Monster. Everything about it just looks lean and fast. With 8 jet engines up front it actually reminds me of the jet trains and how they were pulled along the rails.

Designed to carry over 100 tons of cargo at speeds of 250 miles per hour, they were intended to be used on the Caspian and Black Seas as military transports. But what really amazes me is that as late as 1985 these things were still being funded. Originally 120 planes were planned, but in the end only 4 were operational (3 A-90 Orlyonok and 1 Lun-class) when funding was pulled..