SM-1 — SM-8 is a series of self-propelled ekranoplan models on which the Central Design Bureau for Hydrofoil Ships named after R. E. Alexeyev under the direction of Rostislav Alekseev worked out the ground-effect phenomenon. The first flight of SM-1 took place on July 21, 1961, at the test base in Chkalovsk; SM-2 was shown to Nikita Khrushchev in 1962. [1][2]
How the idea was tested
The ground effect — the increase in lift near a surface — was already known, but no one had built a transport vehicle around it. Alekseev's bureau took its usual path: not to theorize, but to build and fly. The SM self-propelled models were small piloted craft on which layouts, stability, and controllability near the screen were tested one after another. [1]
On July 21, 1961, SM-1 made its first flight at the test base in Chkalovsk on the Gorky Reservoir — the history of Soviet ekranoplan building is dated from this day. [1][2]
Demonstration to Khrushchev
In 1962, SM-2 was demonstrated to Nikita Khrushchev. The demonstration had consequences: the program received state support, and the bureau moved on from models to full-scale craft that already had no equivalents in the world — above all the KM. [1][2]
Sources
- chkalovsk-zbs.narod.ru — Vessels of R. Ye. Alekseev
- Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — Pravda of Nizhny Novgorod — The flight of an ekranoplan: how Rostislav Alekseev's invention made headlines around the world (archived)