At the end of the 19th century, the first attempts to build hydrofoil ships began. The first country that decided to develop the speed of water transport is France. It was there that de Lambert, a designer of Russian origin, proposed creating a ship with wings under water. He suggested that when using hydrofoils or propellers, some kind of air cushion would be created under the ship. Due to it, water resistance will be much less and ships equipped with hydrofoils will be able to reach much higher speeds. But the project was not implemented, since the power of steam engines was simply not enough.
History of the development of hydrofoil boats
At the beginning of the last century, the Italian aircraft designer E. Forlanini was nevertheless able to realize Laber’s idea of hydrofoils. And this happened thanks to the emergence and use of new, powerful gasoline engines. Multi-tiered wings and 75 hp motor. With. on gasoline, did their job, the ship was able not only to stand on its wings, but also reached a record speed of 39 knots at that time.
A little later, the American inventor improved the design, increasing the ship's speed to a record 70 knots. Later, already in 1930, an engineer from Germany invented wings of a more ergonomic shape, reminiscent of Latin letter V. New form the wing allowed the ship to stay on the water, even in strong waves, with a speed of up to 40 knots.
Russia also became one of the countries that were engaged in similar developments and in 1957, a famous Soviet shipbuilder developed a series of large boats codenamed:
- Rocket;
- Meteor;
- Comet.
The ships were very popular in the foreign market, they were purchased by countries such as the USA, Great Britain, as well as countries of the Middle East. Widespread use of hydrofoil boats served for military purposes, for reconnaissance of territory and patrolling maritime borders.
Soviet and Russian military hydrofoil boats
The Navy had about 80 hydrofoil boats. The following types were distinguished:
- Small anti-submarine ships. In terms of technical components, the boat consisted of an engine with two turbines with a capacity of 20 thousand hp. pp., middle side rudder, thruster, located in the bow of the ship and two rotary columns located at the stern. The main advantages were high speed and a radio station that operated over thousands of kilometers. The ship weighed 475 tons and was 49 meters long and 10 meters wide. The speed was 47 knots, with autonomy up to 7 days. The ships were armed with two or four tube torpedo tubes, and the ammunition load was 8 missiles.
- Boats of project 133 “Antares”. Any boat from this series had such specifications as a displacement of 221 tons, a length of 40 meters and a width of 8 meters. The maximum speed was 60 knots, with a range of 410 miles. The power plants consisted of two gas turbine engines of the M-70 series, with a capacity of 10 thousand hp. With. each. The armament included a 76-mm artillery system with 152 rounds of ammunition and a 30-mm anti-aircraft gun with 152 rounds of ammunition. In addition, most of the ships had 6 BB-1 class depth charges and an MRG-1 grenade launcher and one bomb releaser. It was considered a great advantage that the ship was capable of reaching speeds of up to 40 knots in a force five storm.
At one time, all developed countries managed to take part in the construction of hydrofoil boats, but Soviet ships are considered the best. During the Soviet era, about 1,300 hydrofoil ships were built. The main disadvantages of the ships were considered to be low fuel efficiency and the impossibility of approaching an unequipped shore.
In 1990, the last hydrofoil boat was put out of service. Over the entire history of that ship, it was controlled by 4 captains - V.M. Dolgikh and E.V. Vanyukhin - captains of the third rank, V.E. Kuzmichev and N.A. Goncharov - lieutenant captain. Subsequently, it was transferred to the OFI for disarmament and cut into metal.
Having risen above the surface of the water, these ships rush past at the speed of an express train; At the same time, they provide their passengers with the same comfort as on a jet airliner. Such ships are also associated with the idea of a liner by having wings attached to their bottom using thin struts, located under the surface of the water. These are the most characteristics hydrofoils. Currently, ships of this type, with a high degree of safety and reliability, transport millions of passengers in all parts of the world along sea bays, lakes and rivers, as well as in coastal shipping. Only in the Soviet Union - the leading country for ships of this class - ships various types hydrofoils annually transported more than 20 million passengers on regular lines. Hydrofoils have received a new development in last years XX century. And today, debates continue about the prospects for the development of hydrofoils, and these discussions are even more heated than before, since other ways to increase speed have emerged in technology sea vessels. The very idea of creating a hydrofoil vessel arose more than 100 years ago. The first patent for a hydrofoil boat was issued back in 1891. In 1905, a small hydrofoil boat reached an unusually high speed for those times - 70 km/h. Between 1927 and 1944, and then in the 1950s, research work on hydrofoils was carried out at the Rosslau shipyard. Experimental hydrofoil vessels weighing from 2.8 to 80 tons were built there. The hydrofoil system created by designer Schertel in Rosslau has found application in many ship projects, primarily on ships of the Swiss company Supramar in Lucerne. New stage The development of hydrofoils began in 1935, when Soviet scientists Keldysh and Lavrentyev proposed a complete hydrofoil theory. Under the leadership of the talented designer Alekseev, the development of hydrofoils continued so successfully that the Soviet Union was able to begin their mass production in the 50s. Now the serial construction of hydrofoil ships is already carried out at shipyards in the USA, Japan, Italy, Norway and other countries. Many hundreds of such vessels are already in operation. They swim mainly along rivers and reservoirs, as well as along the coasts of the Black and Baltic seas. Hundreds of hydrofoils are also in operation off the coast of Scandinavia, in the Mediterranean and Caribbean seas, and off the Asian and Australian coasts.
The vessel can carry 100 passengers at a speed of 40 knots with wave heights of up to 2-3 m. The length of the vessel is 31.4 m, width 5.6 m. The vessel is equipped with a gas turbine power plant with a capacity of 2570 hp. With.
The Soviet ship "Kometa" accommodates 100 passengers. This vessel reaches a speed of 35 knots with a cruising range of 500 km. Waves up to 1.5 m high do not interfere with the vessel. An even larger hydrofoil vessel floats on the Black Sea resort lines - the 300-seat Whirlwind. This 117-ton vessel can reach a speed of 43 knots in calm water. A completely new, modern modification of the hydrofoil vessel is the Soviet Typhoon. In exceptionally comfortable conditions, it carries 100 passengers at a speed of 40 knots with wind force up to 5 on the Beaufort scale. The electronic control system keeps the vessel in a horizontal position at all times, regardless of sea conditions. This is, of course, a great achievement that contributes to the conservation wellness passengers during a sea voyage. The project of the Soviet 70-knot vessel “Dolphin” is known, which was supposed to be the fastest hydrofoil in the world. Just like some of its predecessors, it is supposed to be equipped with water-jet propulsion and a gas turbine. The American hydrofoil Jetfoil is also of interest. This 112-ton vessel, designed for 250 passengers, reaches a speed of 40 knots using water jet propulsion. Electronically controlled hydrofoils make it possible to maintain a stable hull position despite the waves. If the storm intensifies, the wings are raised and the vessel continues its voyage in displacement mode with the help of auxiliary propulsors. With the wings raised, in particular, maneuvers are performed when entering, mooring and leaving the port.
American hydrofoil type "Jetfoil"
This double-decker ship carries 250 passengers. The length of the vessel is 27.4 m, width 9.5 m. A gas turbine power plant with a power of 4850 kW gives the vessel a speed of 40 knots using water jet propulsion.
Currently, the largest mass of civil courts hydrofoil has a 165-ton vessel of the RT-150 type, built in Norway under license from the Swiss company Supramar. The RT-150 has seating for 150 passengers and a car deck for transporting eight medium-sized passenger cars. This ferry-operated vessel has a cruising range of 250 miles and an operating speed of 36.5 knots, which is much faster than any conventional ferry. All hydrofoils built so far or currently under construction are intended only for transporting passengers or for resort voyages. At frequent movement the line does not require a passenger capacity of more than 100-250 people. Such ships are not suitable for transporting goods. A vessel of the RT-150 type, for example, has a net carrying capacity of no more than 23 tons, which is less than 15% of the total weight of the vessel. It should be added that the cruising range of the mentioned vessel is only 400-600 km, since with a longer range the mass of fuel reserves will completely “eat up” the payload capacity. The hydrofoil RT-150 has a power plant with a power of about 5000 kW. It is easy to calculate that for every ton of the vessel’s mass there is a power of 30.3 kW, i.e. 15-20 times more than that of a traditional ferry.
Car-passenger hydrofoil ferry RT-150
Will the development of hydrofoils stop at the current level? The answer to this question can be confidently: no. There are already hydrofoil warships weighing 320 tons with a speed of 70 knots. On the drawing boards of designers you can find designs for ships weighing 400-500 tons. In the Soviet Union, a 400-ton hydrofoil vessel with a speed of 47-52 knots was developed. Among other numerous projects, it is worth mentioning a 500-ton hydrofoil vessel with a speed of 100 knots and a power plant power of 44 thousand kW. The payload of this vessel is 100 tons. Long time believed that the limit of the mass of a hydrofoil vessel due to physical laws is 1000 tons. This is due to the belief that the destructive effect of cavitation on hydrofoils limits the speed of winged ships to 65-70 knots. For such a speed, a 1000-ton hydrofoil vessel was designed with a power plant power of 39 thousand kW and a possible payload of about 400 tons. Such a vessel allows us to think about transoceanic flights. New research has shown the technical feasibility of building a hydrofoil vessel weighing 2500-3000 tons, which could transport containers, cars and other valuable cargo across the ocean at a speed of 150 knots. High racks will raise the hull of this vessel so high above the surface of the water that no waves will be afraid of it. Of course, the appearance of such large and very fast hydrofoils can only be expected in the distant future. For technical and economic reasons, in the coming years, attention will primarily be focused on hydrofoils weighing no more than 200 tons.
Estimated general view of a 1000-ton hydrofoil passenger ship
The possibility of increasing the size of the vessels in question very much depends on the adopted hydrofoil design. This is due to the following main provisions. The principle of movement of a hydrofoil vessel is that profiled wings located under its bottom and rigidly connected to the vessel, installed at a certain angle, during the forward movement of the vessel create dynamic lifting forces, which, at a sufficiently high speed, lift the vessel’s hull above the water surface and support it is in this state when moving. This is the same principle as airplanes, with the difference that water is about 800 times denser than air. But since the lifting force of the wing is directly proportional to the density of the medium, the necessary dynamic forces to support the vessel are created with relatively small areas of the hydrofoils. In addition to fulfilling its main purpose - providing the necessary lifting force, hydrofoils must also perform other functions. All seaworthiness, which in conventional displacement vessels is determined by the shape of the hull, in hydrofoil vessels is ensured by the hydrofoil design - the type of their design and position along the length of the vessel. Such qualities include longitudinal and lateral stability, heading stability and seaworthiness, limited draft (for river boats) etc. That is why hydrofoils are a defining element of the design of the vessels in question. Hydrofoil systems can be classified both by their location and by the principles of ensuring the stability of the movement of ships and their stability. Based on the first feature, three main schemes can be distinguished:
The usual arrangement in which the area of the bow hydrofoils is much greater than the area of the stern hydrofoils, as a result of which the bow wings bear the main load. This scheme is adopted on all Supramar ships; (1)
An arrangement of the car nag d type, in which the area of the aft hydrofoils is much greater than the area of the bow ones. This arrangement is used on some American hydrofoil warships; (2)
Tandem - an arrangement in which the lift forces of the bow and stern wing systems are approximately equal. This scheme was adopted for most Soviet hydrofoils. On some large ships, a third, intermediate hydrofoil is installed approximately in the middle of the ship. (3)
According to the principles of ensuring motion stability and stability, it is known big number various solutions. Trapezoidal, V-shaped and arched hydrofoils crossing the water surface are self-stabilizing (Fig. 1). If a ship equipped with such wings, due to the action of some external forces, such as wind or waves, falls deeper into the water or rolls on board, then at this place it enters the water additional area wings and an additional lifting force arises, which restores the position. Although such hydrofoils are simple in design, sailing on such vessels is not very pleasant for passengers, since when sailing at high speed in waves, changes in the magnitude of lifting forces are associated with periodic shocks. Such fender systems are not suitable for large boats. Foil systems that cross the surface of the water and also have the property of self-stabilization include systems of the “shelf” or “ladder” type, where the hydrofoils are installed in two or more rows in height, one above the other (Fig. 2). When heeling or trimming, additional wings that were previously above the water enter the water, which leads to an increase in lifting force and to the restoration of the vessel’s position. Such systems, adopted for Soviet hydrofoil ships, are very simple in design and allow the operation of winged ships with shallow draft on rivers. Strong waves, however, are contraindicated for such wing systems. It is highly doubtful that the use of such wing systems will provide any advantages in terms of reducing draft compared to other types of wing systems. Quite the opposite. By the way, the overwhelming majority of Soviet hydrofoil ships use low-submerged hydrofoils, which for some reason fell out of the authors’ field of vision, the lift of which is adjusted automatically, decreasing when approaching the surface of the water (the lift increases as the wing moves away from the surface).
The most suitable for swimming on waves are fully submerged wings with a variable angle of attack (Fig. 3). The angle of attack is changed using automatically operating actuators based on signals from mechanical or acoustic sensors of the water surface level in front of the wing. Thanks to this, the lifting force of the wings is automatically adjusted, maintaining an almost constant value. The hull of a vessel equipped with such a wing system moves without any shocks at an almost constant distance from the wave crests. In this case, however, it is necessary that the hydrofoils do not become exposed when passing the bottom (trough) of the wave, and that the struts attaching the hydrofoils to the hull are of such length that the crests (tops) of the waves do not touch the hull of the vessel. But, since the height of the racks must be in a certain ratio with the length of the vessel, maximum height the waves a hydrofoil can overcome depends on the size of the vessel. The largest of modern hydrofoil vessels can be operated at wave heights of no more than 3-3.5 m. On larger, promising vessels, only fully submerged hydrofoils with a variable angle of attack will be installed. How larger sizes vessel, the longer the racks can be and the better its seaworthiness will be. When the speed increases beyond a certain limit, cavitation begins to affect the hydrofoils. The pressure on the suction (upper) surface of the wing drops to such an extent that the water there boils and steam bubbles form. These bubbles are then carried by the flow to an area of greater high pressure, where they collapse, causing severe damage to the upper part of the hydrofoil. Until now, it has not yet been possible to create hydrofoils suitable for speeds above 70 knots.
Further increases in speed and the associated increase in the size of hydrofoils largely depend on whether the harmful effects of cavitation can be overcome. The speed and mass of a hydrofoil vessel are directly related: it is advisable to increase the hydrodynamic support forces created by the hydrofoils by increasing the speed, and not by increasing the wing area, since the lift of the wing is proportional to the square of the speed and only the first power of the hydrofoil area. Thus, as the size of a hydrofoil vessel increases, its speed should also increase. Here a difficult-to-solve problem of main engines arises. The power of a hydrofoil ship's power plant is approximately proportional to the product of the ship's mass and its speed. A 100 ton hydrofoil at 40 kt requires approximately 2800 kW. For a vessel 10 times heavier, with a speed of 65 knots, from 45 to 60 thousand kW will be required. A promising 3,000-ton hydrofoil vessel with a speed of about 150 knots will have a main engine power that is unlikely to be less than 300 thousand kW. So, it is absolutely clear that forecasts for further technical progress of hydrofoil ships should be based only on achievements in the field of creating new types of wing profiles and heavy-duty engines. In the next 10-20 years, the development of hydrofoils will be characterized by the fact that ferry services and Passenger Transportation short distances will increasingly be carried out by vessels of this type, weighing 100-150 tons, and in some cases up to 400 tons. In this sense, one should not be overly optimistic. In the early 60s in the USA, for example, forecasts were made regarding the creation of 1000-ton transoceanic hydrofoil ships in our years. However, we are still very far from this.
Having risen above the surface of the water, these ships rush past at the speed of an express train; At the same time, they provide their passengers with the same comfort as on a jet airliner.
In the Soviet Union alone, the leading country for ships of this class, hydrofoil ships of various types annually transported more than 20 million passengers on regular lines.
In 1957, the first Project 340 “Raketa” left the Feodosia shipyard in Ukraine. The ship was capable of reaching an unheard-of speed of 60 km/h at that time and carrying 64 people. 
Following the “Rockets” in the 1960s, larger and more comfortable twin-propeller “Meteors” appeared, produced by the Zelenodolsk Shipyard. The passenger capacity of these ships was 123 people. The ship had three salons and a buffet bar. 
In 1962, Project 342m “Comets” appeared, essentially the same “Meteors”, only modernized for operation at sea. They could walk with more high wave, had radar equipment (radar) 
In 1961, simultaneously with the launch of the Meteors and Comets series, the Nizhny Novgorod shipyard "Krasnoe Sormovo" launched the Project 329 ship "Sputnik" - the largest SPC. It carries 300 passengers at a speed of 65 km/h. Just like with Meteor, they built a naval version of Sputnik, called the Whirlwind. But during four years of operation, a lot of shortcomings were revealed, including the great gluttony of four engines and the discomfort of passengers due to strong vibration. 
For comparison, “Sputnik” and “Rocket” 
Sputnik is now...
In Togliatti they turned it into either a museum or a tavern. In 2005 there was a fire. Now it looks like this. 
"Burevestnik" is one of the most beautiful ships in the entire series! This is a gas turbine vessel developed by R. Alekseev’s Central Design Bureau SPK, Gorky. "Burevestnik" was the flagship among river SPCs. It had a power plant based on two gas turbine engines borrowed from civil aviation(with IL-18). It was operated from 1964 until the end of the 70s on the Volga on the route Kuibyshev - Ulyanovsk - Kazan - Gorky. The Burevestnik accommodated 150 passengers and had an operating speed of 97 km/h. However, it did not go into mass production - two aircraft engines made a lot of noise and required a lot of fuel. 
It has not been used since 1977. In 1993 it was cut into scrap. 
In 1966, the Gomel Shipyard produced a vessel for shallow rivers, just over 1 meter deep, “Belarus”, with a passenger capacity of 40 people and a speed of 65 kilometers per hour. And from 1983, it will produce a modernized version of the Polesie, which can already carry 53 people at the same speed. 
Rockets and Meteors were getting old. New projects were created at the R. Alekseev Central Clinical Hospital. In 1973, the Feodosia Shipyard launched the second-generation Voskhod SPK.
Voskhod is the direct receiver of the Rocket. This vessel is more economical and more spacious (71 people). 
In 1980, at the Shipyard named after. Ordzhonikidze (Georgia, Poti) production of the Kolkhida agricultural production complex opens. The speed of the vessel is 65 km/h, the passenger capacity is 120 people. In total, about forty ships were built. Currently, only two are in operation in Russia: one ship on the St. Petersburg - Valaam line, called “Triada”, the other in Novorossiysk - “Vladimir Komarov”. 
In 1986, in Feodosia, the new flagship of the marine passenger SPK, the double-deck Cyclone, was launched, which had a speed of 70 km/h and carried 250 passengers. Operated in Crimea, then sold to Greece. In 2004, he returned to Feodosia for repairs, but is still standing there in a semi-disassembled state. 
In Russia full swing construction of a civil hydrofoil vessel (SPK) is underway in a new way, the first since Soviet Union project. We are talking about a ship designed to carry 120 passengers. The construction of a civilian vessel is underway in the city of Rybinsk, Yaroslavl region, at the Vympel shipyard. The vessel, intended for high-speed sea transportation, is being built according to project 23160 “Kometa 120M”.
JSC Shipbuilding Plant Vympel specializes in the production of small and medium-tonnage sea and river vessels and boats for both civil and military purposes. Since the founding of the enterprise in 1930, more than 30 thousand various ships of all types have been assembled and launched in Rybinsk. Over the past 40 years, more than 1,800 ships and boats built in the Yaroslavl region have been delivered to 29 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, countries of the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
Passenger hydrofoil ship "Kometa"
The vessel is being built according to a project that was created by the designers of the famous Nizhny Novgorod Central Design Bureau for Hydrofoils named after R. E. Alekseev in Russia. The very fact of construction symbolizes the fact that high-speed civil shipbuilding is beginning to awaken from a long hibernation and period of decline in the 90s of the 20th century. A source in the Russian shipbuilding industry in an interview with RIA emphasized that in the 1990s, available passenger high-speed ships were sold abroad: to Greece, China, the Baltic countries, where at that time they were in demand by local customers. But now such ships are in demand in Russia itself. They would be very useful today on the Black Sea, where there are really great difficulties in servicing passenger flows. According to Soviet designs, such ships were built in Russia until about the mid-90s of the last century.
The new ship according to project 23160 was laid down at the Vympel shipyard in the city of Rybinsk on August 23, 2013. The regional governor Sergei Yastrebov and the Minister of Transport Maxim Sokolov took part in the solemn ceremony of laying the keel of the marine passenger hydrofoil ship "Kometa 120M". At the ship's laying ceremony the following were announced: approximate dates construction of a new vessel - 9-10 months. As it turned out, the terms that appeared in the press at that time turned out to be very optimistic. But the event itself, when, after an almost 20-year break in Russia, the construction of high-speed passenger hydrofoil ships began under a new project and the subsequent serial production of the new generation SPK in Rybinsk, is certainly a very important and significant stage for Russian civil shipbuilding.
Perhaps it is precisely such a long break that affects the construction time of the small vessel as a whole. According to the manufacturer's information, on March 13, 2015, the ship under construction was moved from the conductor slipway from the first construction position to the second. In Rybinsk they note that this important point, which means the end of a large construction phase. Now the ship will remain at the second outfitting position for about another month. The technological clamping strips, the so-called butts, have already been removed from the ship. The body is welded from the outside. Ahead of the ship is a mandatory stage of work - testing the hull for leaks. As part of this work, X-ray inspection of the seams will be carried out; in addition, the tanks will be filled with water and tested for water tightness.
To save time on the construction of the vessel, work on the formation of the superstructure frame will begin at the second outfitting position. At the third stage construction work"Kometa 120M" will be returned back to the conductor slipway, where the superstructure will be riveted. At the fourth, final stage of work, the ship will be placed on high keel blocks for the installation of the propulsion and steering complex, wing device, propellers, shafts and rudder.
The marine passenger hydrofoil "Kometa 120M" is a single-deck vessel equipped with a twin-shaft diesel gearbox power plant. The vessel is designed for high-speed transportation of passengers during daylight hours in new aviation-type seats. It is reported that this project The sea vessel was designed on the basis of the SPK, which were created in the USSR according to the projects “Kometa”, “Kolkhida” and “Katran”. The main purpose of this ship is to transport passengers in the coastal sea zone. It is reported that the ship will be able to reach a speed of 35 knots. Its main difference from the SECs previously built in our country will be the provision of a high level of comfort for passengers. For this purpose, the ship will have to have automatic system moderation of pitching and overload. Modern vibration-absorbing materials will be used in the design of the ship, which should also have a positive effect on passenger comfort.
The spacious business and economy class cabins on the new Comet will have comfortable aviation-style passenger seats, maximum amount passengers - 120, provision is made for the installation of an air conditioning system in the cabins. The peculiarities of the ship include the accommodation of passengers in the bow and middle salons. There will be a bar in the aft saloon. There is also double glazing in the pilothouse and bar areas. The vessel will receive modern means communications and navigation. It is planned to reduce fuel consumption through the installation of modern 16V2000 M72 engines with electronic fuel injection, manufactured by the German company MTU, and propellers with an increased coefficient useful action.
Also, Sergey Italiantsev, who holds the post of director of the River-Sea Vessels program in the civil shipbuilding department of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, told reporters that USC is considering the option of completing two hulls of marine passenger hydrofoil ships of the Olympia project located at the Khabarovsk Shipyard . In the future, these completed ships could be used to provide passenger transportation at the Kerch crossing in Crimea. Also, in the event of completion, the vessel data could be used for Far East. It is in the Black Sea and the Far East that today there are big problems with servicing passenger traffic.
The ships of the Olympia project are able to carry up to 232 passengers. They are designed for high-speed transportation of passengers across seas with tropical and temperate climates at a distance of up to 50 miles from “ports of refuge”. A total of two such vessels were built, both of which were sold for export. The degree of completion of the two unfinished ships is approximately 80%. If a decision is made and a contract for their completion is concluded, the ships can be completed within 6-8 months, as noted on the website of the Central Design Bureau for Hydrofoils named after R. E. Alekseev.
Two such vessels were built in the 80s of the last century and were successfully operated. Olympia is one of the latest projects Soviet civilian SPK. According to RIA Novosti, there are currently several potential customers who are ready to use these vessels in the Black Sea. According to Italiantsev, currently in Khabarovsk there is preparatory work, in order to modernize this project to meet the requirements today and according to the register rules in force in Russia and complete the construction of the ships.
In the meantime, the ferry crossing across the Kerch Strait (crossing port "Crimea" - port "Caucasus") is the main transport artery that connects Crimea with the rest of Russia. For this reason, long traffic jams and hours of waiting for cars to be loaded onto the ferry have become commonplace here, especially during the summer holidays. Moreover, in winter and autumn, traffic jams occur here only during a storm. By the end of 2018, it is planned to complete and put into operation a new bridge across the Kerch Strait. 247 billion rubles are allocated for the construction of this bridge, and a total of 416.5 billion rubles are planned to be allocated for the development of the transport infrastructure of Crimea.
Main characteristics of the vessel "Kometa 120M":
Displacement - 73 tons.
Overall dimensions: length - 35.2 m, width - 10.3 m, draft - 3.2 m.
Operating speed - 35 knots (in calm water).
Passenger capacity - 120 people (22 business class, 98 economy class).
Range - 200 miles.
Autonomy (flight duration) - up to 8 hours.
The power of the main power plant is 2x820 kW.
Fuel consumption - 320 kg/hour.
Seaworthiness (wave height): when sailing on foils - 2 m, in displacement position - 2.5 m.
Crew - 5 people.
Information sources:
http://www.vz.ru/news/2015/5/19/746141.html
http://ria.ru/economy/20150519/1065394853.html
http://portnews.ru/news/166150
http://www.vympel-rybinsk.ru (manufacturer)
http://www.ckbspk.ru (design company)
The effect of hydrofoils is well known: the lifting force generated by them completely pushes the boat's hull out of the water, due to which the speed increases sharply without increasing the expended power of the engines.
Currently, the most common option is to install stern and bow wings with approximately equal distribution of the boat's weight between them (both the bow and stern wings can consist of one or two wings located on the sides). The double-wing design provides the highest hydrodynamic quality at the calculated maximum speed, but its implementation is usually associated with great difficulties in the development of the rudder complex and the fine-tuning of the built boats. In search of simplification, the designers came to the paradoxical idea of abandoning the aft wing.
It turned out that a sufficient effect can be obtained with a single-wing scheme. One hydrofoil is installed in the bow of the boat, which takes up about half the weight of the boat. While moving, when the lift on the wing reaches a certain value, the bow end of the boat rises above the water and the boat moves only on the wing and on a small section of the bottom near the transom.
Since the quality of the planing plate, a type of which is the aft part of the boat bottom, does not exceed K = 10, it is obvious that theoretically in most cases hydrofoil boat will lose to the Diptera in speed. However, we can talk about certain advantages of the simplified single-wing design, which allow boats with one bow hydrofoil practically compete with Diptera.
Firstly, the design of the wing device as a whole is simplified; the cost of its production is halved, it turns out to be much lighter; if necessary, one bow wing is much easier to make retractable, rotating or with an automatically controlled angle of attack than devices with two wings.
Secondly, the design of the stern propulsion and steering complex (bracket, propeller, rudder) is simplified; the angle of inclination of the propeller shaft axis is reduced and the operating conditions of the propeller are improved, regardless of the engine location; the overall draft of the boat stern is reduced. When overcoming the “hump” of resistance and reaching the wing, the engine experiences less overload.
The seaworthiness of a boat on one hydrofoil even increases due to a reduction in the swing of the bow and improved conditions for joint operation of the wing and the boat’s hull in rough seas. (This refers to the “dips” of the bow wing, which, in the presence of a wing in the stern, lead to the appearance of negative angles of attack and corresponding forces causing the bow wing to sink, which is accompanied by an increase in drag and a decrease in speed.)
It is also very important that during sea trials, boats with one bow hydrofoil are easier to choose optimal values angles of its installation, height of racks and other elements. At the same time, the fine-tuning of the propeller is also greatly facilitated, which is carried out simultaneously with the fine-tuning of the wing in order to obtain complete coordination of the propulsion system and the mechanical installation, allowing the development of the highest possible speed.
Another plus that should be added is the ability to equip an already designed and built planing boat with a bow wing without any change in the line of the propeller shaft or alteration of the protruding parts. (In some cases, such a solution makes it possible to obtain the optimal running trim of a poorly designed boat - with bow alignment, with a convex bottom, etc.)
Reports about the construction of single-wing boats have appeared repeatedly in the foreign press. As an example of installing a bow wing on an existing serial ship, one can cite the successful experiment with the crew boat “Chaika”, built in 1961 (see V.I. Blyumin, L.A. Ivanov and M.B. Maseev, “Transport hydrofoils", pp. 38-40). Basic data of the boat: length - 6.1 m; width - 1.86 m; displacement - 1.60 tons; engine power - 90 l. With. Maximum speed speed (48 km/h) thanks to the bow wing increased by 8 km/h while simultaneously increasing seaworthiness. The authors recommend using bow hydrofoils on all other operating Chaika-type boats.
One wing was installed (Fig. 1) on a 6-seater service and crew boat of type 370M, having a length of 6.18 m; width - 2.03 m; total displacement - 1.95 tons; engine power - 77 hp. With. The speed increased from 40 to 48-50 km/h.
Finally, it can be noted that back in the 60s there were several reports of attempts to use a single-wing design on serial motorboats to increase speed with the limited power of the outboard motors then available.
If we talk about the theoretical justification of the scheme under consideration, it is worth mentioning, for example, that the installation of one bow wing is recommended by M. M. Korotkov in the article “Features of using hydrofoils on small ships” (“Shipbuilding” No. 11, 1968); the expected increase in speed, according to his estimates, ranges from 10 to 20%.
Shown in Fig. 2 curves resistivity R / Δ of wingless boats and boats with one bow wing show that the installation of a wing is justified only when Fr Δ > 3. (Let us immediately make a reservation that all the recommendations in this article apply to planing boats with traditional sharp chine lines; with L / B = 3- 6 and the bottom deadrise angles at the transom are 3-6° and at the midships about 15°.)
Rice. 2. Typical resistivity curves R / Δ = f (Fr Δ)
1 - an ordinary sharp-cheeked boat; 2 - sharp-chine boat with a transverse step;
3 - sharp-cheeked boat with a bow hydrofoil.
The design of the bow wing and its hydrodynamic calculations for the single-wing and double-wing versions of the boat are almost the same, except for some reduction in the height of the struts of the single-wing device in order to reduce the running trim.
It is advisable to install a bow hydrofoil if the expected speed is not less than
where Δ is the displacement of the boat, m³.
At lower speeds, the bow hydrofoil does not provide any significant benefit, since its area must be excessively large to create the necessary lift; it can even cause an increase in the boat's drag and a drop in speed compared to the wingless version.
On initial stage design, the value of the highest speed of a boat with a bow wing with a known displacement Δ and engine power N e is determined as
where η is the propulsion coefficient, K = Δ / R is the hydrodynamic quality, which is the ratio of Δ to the total resistance R during the stroke on the bow wing.
The approximate value of K can be taken from the one shown in Fig. 3 of the curve showing the decrease in K of a winged boat with an increase in its speed. (This happens because, in the ratio Δ / R, the lifting force of the wing and planing bottom, equal in magnitude to Δ of the boat, should not change with increasing V, since otherwise the movement will be unstable, and the resistance R in the denominator gradually increases.)
Rice. 3. Approximate dependences of the hydrodynamic quality K and propulsive quality Kη on the Froude number
1 - single-wing boat; 2 - an ordinary sharp-cheeked boat; 3 - sharp-chine boat with a transverse step; 4 - two-wing boat.
The propulsive coefficient, which characterizes the efficiency of using engine power, can be taken within the range η = 0.50-0.60.
It is advisable to immediately determine the value of the product K η, which is the coefficient of propulsive quality:
The dotted line in Fig. 3 characterizes the simultaneous increase in V and K η of planing boats when installing hydrofoils. By moving parallel to this line from one curve to another, you can roughly estimate the increase in speed due to the presence of a transverse step or hydrofoil.
After making sure that it is advisable to install a bow hydrofoil, you should determine its area and location. For this purpose, it is necessary to set the part of the boat's weight that the wing should carry. Most often it is taken equal to 50-60% of the total weight of the boat. Thus, the lift force on the wing should be
The location of the wing installation is found from the expression
You should strive to ensure that the wing is located in a relatively wide and convenient place for mounting on the boat hull. When designing a new vessel, it may even be advisable to widen the hull.
Wing load-bearing area
where C y is the wing lift coefficient.
The value of Cy must be selected taking into account many circumstances, the most important of which are ensuring high hydrodynamic quality and the absence of wing cavitation at the design speed. For speeds of 25-40 knots, these conditions are satisfied by a value close to C y = 0.15-0.20.
L. L. Kheifets, “Boats and Yachts” 1974
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