A team of YouTubers built an excellent homemade flying boat in just 100 days, and what they built was hugely impressive.
The YouTubers are MojieAirCrafting/Aircraft Model Art, and their work is also showcased on the Quantum Tech HD channel.
The team built the incredible flying boat in 2024 out of 3D-printed components and precision laser-cut wood.
The foam was also used to help keep it afloat, and yes, they did actually fly it!
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The flying boat is similar to a Soviet Ekranoplan
While called a flying boat by Quantum Tech, the creators themselves dubbed it an Ekranoplan.
An Ekranoplan is like a flying boat, but it uses lift generated by the ground effect to almost ‘float’ above the water rather than fly.
Think of it as the craft riding over an invisible cushion of air.
The most famous Ekranoplan is the Soviet Union’s ‘Caspian Sea Monster’ or KM Class.
This homemade Ekranoplan used the same ground effect to achieve ‘flight’ status.
Creating it was a painstaking process over several 100 days.
Foam board was used for the hull to provide buoyancy and keep the weight down.
The YouTubers then strengthened the hull, with wooden pieces reinforcing the hull’s framework.
3D printing was used in the creation of the aircraft
The creators utilized 3D printing to make some of the components for the flying boat.
The parts created in the printer included secure holders for components such as carbon fiber rods, which helped form part of the aircraft’s structure.
Adhesives, bonds, and glue helped to hold everything in place before they took it out for flight.
The video showed the aircraft on its first flight, with model aircraft systems controlling the Ekranoplan.
The first tests are carried out on water to check that the hull is strong enough, that there are no leaks, and that it won’t sink!
Those initial tests also took place without a pilot, just to be safe.
After those tests are passed, the creator gave the aircraft a few fast blasts down the water before lifting it slightly off the surface.
That revealed the ground effect as it floated just above the water, very similar to the old Soviet machines.
To create something like that takes immense skill, and the results were truly outstanding.
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