Bartini Beriev VVA-14
Beriev · Soviet Union · first flew 1972 · reconnaissance aircraft
Robert Bartini's amphibious VTOL anti-submarine leviathan — a catamaran aircraft meant to hover off the ocean on a dozen lift jets, and one of aviation's great glorious dead ends.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | High-mounted, straight |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 2 × turbofan, fuselage-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | 25.97 m fuselage |
| T — Tail | Twin fin |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Catamaran pontoons flanking a central pod — like nothing else ever flown
- Designed to hover on twelve lift jets that were never delivered
- Twin fins on a short boom pair
A central crew pod between two huge sponsons with the wing bridging them, twin fins behind — resembles a moth crossed with a catamaran.
Specifications
- The Bartini Beriev VVA-14 has a length of 25.97 m (85 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 30 m (98 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 760 km/h (472 mph).
- Typical crew: 3.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
The Italian-émigré designer flew the VVA-14 conventionally in 1972, but the twelve RD-36-35 lift engines never arrived and inflatable pontoons misbehaved; Bartini's death in 1974 ended the dream after two airframes.
Variants
The 14M1P rebuild added rigid pontoons and ekranoplan ambitions.
Where you'll see it
The stripped hulk rots gloriously outside at Monino museum near Moscow — a bucket-list wreck for the dedicated.
Related aircraft
- Beriev Be-32
- Beriev Be-30/32
- Beriev Be-12 Chayka
- A-42 Albatros
- Boeing E-3 Sentry
- Dornier Aerodyne
- MiG-25RU
- Boeing YQM-94 B-Gull
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