"Meteor", project 342E- a series of river passenger hydrofoils developed by Rostislav Alekseev.
History
M / v "Meteor"
Produced from 1961 to 1991 at the Zelenodolsk Shipyard named after A. M. Gorky. In total, more than 400 motor ships of this series were built. The Rostislav Alekseev Nizhny Novgorod Hydrofoil Design Bureau developed a Meteor-2000 modification with imported engines and air conditioners, which was also supplied to China. By 2007, the Meteor production line was dismantled at the plant, and motor ships of the new A45-1 project were laid down.
Description
The motor ship Meteor of project 342E is a duralumin, diesel, single-deck, two-shaft hydrofoil motor ship designed for high-speed passenger transportation during daylight hours along navigable rivers, freshwater reservoirs and lakes in regions with a temperate climate. The remote control and monitoring system provides control of the ship directly from the wheelhouse.
Passengers are accommodated in three cabins equipped with soft seats: bow, middle and stern - for 26, 44 and 44 seats, respectively. The passage of passengers from the middle to the aft saloon is carried out along a roofed deck (seen as a "hump" in the photographs), from the deck, doors lead to the toilet, engine room and utility room. There is a buffet in the middle salon.
The wing device consists of a bow and aft bearing wings and two flaps attached to the side and bottom struts of the bow wing.
Two diesel engines of the M-400 type (12ChNS18 / 20) of right and left rotation, twelve-cylinder, four-stroke, turbocharged, water-cooled, reversible clutch, with a rated power of 1000 hp are installed as main engines on the ship. each at 1700 rpm, converted from aircraft M-40s. Propellers - two five-blade fixed-pitch propellers ø 710 mm. A combined diesel-generator-compressor-pump unit was installed to service the power plant and shipboard needs. The unit consists of a 12 hp diesel engine. at 1500 rpm with a starter and manual start, a 5.6 kW generator, a compressor and a vortex self-priming pump. The mechanical installation of the ship is controlled from the posts in the wheelhouse and in the engine room.
Sources of electricity
The main source of electricity in running mode are two running DC generators with a power of 1 kW each at a normal voltage of 27.5 V, installed on the main engines. There is an automatic generator for parallel operation and rechargeable batteries... To power consumers of electricity in the parking lot, an auxiliary DC generator with a power of 5.6 kW and a nominal voltage of 28 V is installed.
"Meteor-236" on the Lena
- The famed pilot Hero of the Soviet Union Mikhail Devyatayev became the first captain of the Meteor SPK. Patriotic War was able to escape from captivity by hijacking an enemy bomber.
- In the center of the Sormovsky district Nizhny Novgorod a model "Meteora" was installed on the Burevestnik square. V the given time the model was moved to the square in front of the Polytechnic College near Sormovsky Park.
- A model "Meteora" was installed near the Kazan River College.
Motor ship Meteor-86
VIP class vessel!
In 2011, the ship's saloon was completely renovated, the decoration and layout of the premises were changed (the bow and middle compartments were combined). Equipped with leather seats with folding wooden tables, there is a wardrobe and separate tables for negotiations.
Passenger capacity = 86 people
There is a bar on the ship, you can also organize meals on board by delivering snacks using special carts (like on an airplane). In addition, a well-equipped closet is available.
The windows are tinted, there is a built-in air conditioning system.
Due attention was also paid to the hold of the ship: new rivets, straightened flora, fresh paintwork. The hull of the ship also received the necessary care.
The motor ship is equipped with the latest O2.0 class radio navigation equipment. A separate cabin is equipped for special communications while escorting VIP flights.
In addition, the diesel power plant was updated: the company carried out a major overhaul of two M419 engines (2200 hp in total). Additionally, a 220 V Westerbeke generator is installed.
In contact with
"Petrel", "Sputnik", "Comet" and "Meteor" - the names of these Soviet ships gave rise to romantic thoughts about flight. Although it was only a river trip. However, it is difficult to say, a trip on a hydrofoil is also sailing, but it has something of flying. These ships, which in general view, called rockets and could reach speeds of 150 km / h (carrying up to 300 passengers), were the same symbol of the USSR of the 60s - 80s, like the real space rockets that roamed the Bolshoi Theater in space.
The severe economic crisis (if not an industrial disaster) of the 90s led to a sharp decline in the number of ships of this class. Now let's remember brief history these unusual ships.
The principle of movement of these ships was twofold. At low speed, such a ship goes like an ordinary ship, that is, due to the buoyancy of the water (hello to Archimedes). But when it develops a high speed, then due to the hydrofoils available to these ships, a lifting force arises, which lifts the ship above the water. That is, a hydrofoil is both a ship and, as it were, an airplane at the same time. Only he flies "nizenko".
Perhaps the most elegant high-speed hydrofoil was the so-called. gas turbine "Burevestnik". It was developed by the Central Design Bureau of the SPK R. Alekseev in the city of Gorky and, with a length of 42 meters, could reach an estimated speed of 150 km / h (although there is no data that the ship has ever reached such a speed).
The first (and only) experimental ship "Burevestnik" was built in 1964.
It was operated by the Volga Shipping Company on the Volga along the Kuibyshev - Ulyanovsk - Kazan - Gorky route.
Two aircraft gas turbine engines on the sides (such engines were used on the IL-18 aircraft) made this vessel especially effective.
In such a ship, travel really had to resemble flight.
The captain's cabin was distinguished by a special grace, the design of which resembled the design of the futuristic American limousines of the 50s (in the photo below, however, the wheelhouse is not "Petrel", but about the same).
Unfortunately, having worked until the end of the 70s, the unique 42-meter "Burevestnik" was decommissioned due to wear and tear, and remained in a single copy. The immediate reason for the write-off was the accident in 1974, when the Burevestnik collided with a tug, severely damaging one of the sides and the gas turbine engine. After that, it was restored, as they say, "somehow" and after a while its further operation was considered unprofitable.
Another type of hydrofoil was the Meteor.
"Meteora" were smaller than "Burevestnik" (34 meters in length) and not as high-speed (no more than 100 km / h). Meteors were produced from 1961 to 1991 and, in addition to the USSR, were also supplied to the countries of the socialist camp.
In total, four hundred ships of this series were built.
Unlike the Burevestnik aircraft engines, the Meteora flew with diesel engines driving propellers typical of ships.
Ship control panel:
But the most famous hydrofoil is probably the Rocket.
For the first time "Raketa" was presented in Moscow in 1957 at the International Festival of Youth Students.
The leader of the USSR himself, Nikita Khrushchev, then expressed himself in the spirit that, they say, enough to swim on the rivers in rusty bathtubs, it's time to travel in style.
However, then only the first experimental "Raketa" sailed on the Moskva River and after the festival it was sent for trial operation to Volgna on the Gorky-Kazan line. The vessel covered the distance of 420 km in 7 hours. An ordinary ship traveled along the same route for 30 hours. As a result, the experiment was recognized as successful and the "Raketa" went into series.
Another famous Soviet vessel is the Kometa.
The Comet was a naval version of the Meteor. This 1984 photograph shows two "Comets" in seaport Odessa:
The Comet was developed in 1961. Serially produced from 1964 to 1981 at the Feodosia shipyard "More". A total of 86 "Comets" were built (including 34 for export).
One of the surviving "Comet" in a bright design:
By the beginning of the 70s "Rockets" and "Meteora" were already considered obsolete ships and the "Voskhod" was developed to replace them.
The first ship of the series was built in 1973. A total of 150 "Voskhod" were built, some of which were exported (China, Canada, Austria, Hungary, the Netherlands, etc.). In the 90s, the production of "Voskhod" was stopped.
Sunrise in the Netherlands:
Of the other types of hydrofoils, the Sputnik is worth remembering.
It was truly a monster. When the first ship, Sputnik, was built (October 1961), it was the world's largest passenger hydrofoil vessel. Its length was 47 meters, and the passenger capacity was 300 people!
"Sputnik" was first operated on the Gorky - Togliatti line, but then, due to its low landing, was transferred to the lower Volga on the Kuibyshev - Kazan line. But on this line he passed only three months. On one of the voyages, the ship collided with a sinkhole, after which it stood for several years in a shipyard. At first they wanted to cut it into scrap metal, but then they decided to install it on the Tolyatti embankment. "Sputnik" was installed next to the river station, where there was a cafe with the same name, which with its appearance continues to delight (or frighten) the residents of Avtograd (proof).
The naval version of the Sputnik was called the Whirlwind and was intended for sailing in waves up to 8 points.
It is also worth remembering the ship "Seagull", which was created in a single copy and took on board 70 passengers, but developed a speed of up to 100 km / h
Another rare one cannot but mention the Typhoon ...
... and "Swallow"
A story about Soviet hydrofoils would be incomplete without a story about a man who devoted his life to creating these vessels.
Rostislav Evgenievich Alekseev (1916-1980) - Soviet shipbuilder, creator of hydrofoils, ekranoplanes and ground-effect vehicles. Yacht designer, winner of all-Union competitions, master of sports of the USSR.
He came to the idea of hydrofoil ships during work during the war (1942) to create combat boats. His boats did not have time to take part in the war, but in 1951 Alekseev was awarded Stalin Prize second degree. It was his team that created Raketa in the 50s, and then, starting in 1961, almost every year a new project: Meteor, Comet, Sputnik, Burevestnik, Voskhod. In the 60s, Rostislav Evgenievich Alekseev began work on the creation of the so-called. "Ekranoplanov" - ships for the Airborne Forces, which were supposed to float above the water at a height of several meters. In January 1980, during the tests of a passenger screen aircraft, which was supposed to enter service for the Olympics-80, Alekseev was seriously injured. He died from these injuries on February 9, 1980. After his death, the idea of ekranoplanes was no longer returned.
And now I offer some more photos of these insanely beautiful hydrofoils:
Built in 1979, "Comet-44" is currently operated in Turkey:
Olympia project
Project "Katran"
Two-story monster "Cyclone"
Cemetery of ships near Perm.
Bar "Meteor" in the city of Kanev (Ukraine)
Red Meteor in China
But even today, these ships of the 60s look quite futuristic.
"Meteor-193" was built at the Zelenodolsk plant. A.M. Gorky in 1984. Export variant built for sale to Brazil. It was equipped with Czechoslovak aviation seats. He worked in Kazan until 1997, belonged to the Volga United River Shipping Company, and later to the Tatflot company, and in 2004 was erected as a monument in front of the Kazan River College named after Mikhail Devyatayev in honor of the centenary of this educational institution.
Address and coordinates of the object: Kazan, st. Nesmelova, 7, Kazan River College (now - Kazan branch of Volga State University water transport"). Monument on Wikimapia.
Photos of the monument are dated August 2011.
View from the nose: 
View of the bow salon: 
Stern: 
Nasal wing device: 
Stern wing device: 
Wheelhouse: 
History of creation
Hydrofoil Meteor - the second winged passenger ship, developed by the designer Rostislav Alekseev in 1959. The history of the creation of these ships dates back to the early 1940s, when, while still a student, Alekseev became interested in the topic and defended his thesis project on the topic “Glisser on hydrofoils”. In those years, the design did not attract the attention of the top management of the navy, but interested the chief designer of the Krasnoye Sormovo plant, where during the war Alekseev worked as a tank test master. Alekseev was given a small room, designated as a "hydro laboratory", and was allowed to devote three hours a day to his favorite topic. The development and testing of models of hydrofoils began, and the search for an optimal design began. In 1945, on the A-5 boat of his own design, Alekseev made his way to Moscow, which finally attracted the attention of the military and received the task of equipping the 123K torpedo boat with hydrofoils, which he successfully completed (having worked out another modernization of his know-how on boat A -7 and along the way familiarized himself with the design of the captured German SPK TS-6) and received the Stalin Prize for it in 1951.
Rostislav Alekseev: 
Parallel to this, the designer has developed a project for the first river passenger hydrofoil vessel "Raketa". But with the implementation of the project, everything turned out to be not so simple: the engineer had to knock down the thresholds of ministries for years, fight with bureaucratic inertia, conservatism, skepticism, knock out funding ... Real work on the "Rocket" began only in the winter of 1956, and the ship was launched was in 1957. It was demonstrated with great success at the World Festival of Youth and Students, then during the year there was a trial operation of the "Rocket" on the Gorky-Kazan line, and since 1959 the ship went into series. A revolution took place in the transportation of passengers along the river: the winged motor ship was almost five times faster than the usual displacement one.
The first "Rocket" on the Volga, 1958 (photo from the collection of the University of Denver): 
Following the successful "Rocket" appeared "Meteor" - a ship larger, twice as spacious and faster than the firstborn, and even able to cope with a higher wave height. It took on board up to 120 passengers and could reach speeds of up to 100 km / h (the actual operating speed was still lower - 60-70 km / h). The first "Meteor" in the fall of 1959 went on a test flight from Gorky to Feodosia, and in 1960 it was presented in Moscow to the country's leadership and the public as an exhibit of a river fleet exhibition.
Sketches by R. Alekseev (from the book "From Concept to Implementation"): 
The lead ship of the series (photo from the archive of E.K.Sidorov): 
Two fragments of Soviet newsreels of those times, in which we are talking about a new outlandish ship:
Since 1961, "Meteor" went into series. "Meteor-2" was launched in September 1961, and on May 7, 1962, on the eve of Victory Day, led by the legendary pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union Mikhail Petrovich Devyatayev, left the water area of the Zelenodolsk shipyard. A.M. Gorky, where these ships were built. He was assigned to Kazan river port... The next "Meteor" went to Moscow, the next - to Leningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don ... For several years, the ships of the series spread along the rivers and reservoirs of the entire Soviet Union.
"Meteor-47" on the channel them. Moscow (photo from Moscow Channel Avenue): 
"Meteor-59" on the Volga (photo from the archive of V. I. Polyakov). 
The dry cargo ship Partizanskaya Slava delivers Meteor-103 to Komsomolk-on-Amur from the Black Sea (photo from the Marine Fleet magazine: 
In total, from 1961 to 1991, almost 400 ships were built, and they spread not only throughout the USSR, but also around the world: "Meteora" operated in Yugoslavia, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, the Netherlands, Germany.
With the arrival of the Union's economy in decline and the onset of the market era, high-speed passenger transportation along the rivers began to massively decrease and close: unprofitable. Government subsidies came to naught, fuel, oil, spare parts became expensive, and passenger traffic became scarce: many passengers acquired personal transport, villages that were connected by winged ships with cities became empty, competition from outside bus routes... As a result, over the course of several years, many hydrofoils were cut into scrap metal. Some Soviet Meteors were more fortunate, they did not fall under the knife, but were sold abroad, and now work in China, Vietnam, Greece, Romania.
Greek "Falcon I" Greece - former Ukrainian "Meteor-19": 
Vietnamese "Greenlines 9", former Ukrainian "Meteor-27": 
Chang Xiang 1, China: 
Meteor-43 left for Romania and was renamed Amiral-1: 
In Russia, however, only a few dozen "Meteors" are currently operating: the main part - on tourist routes in St. Petersburg and Karelia, a few of them still carry passengers along the Volga (in Kazan, Yaroslavl and Rybinsk), a dozen and a half in total will be typed on the northern rivers.
"Meteor-282" on the Ob (photo by Anatoly K): 
Yaroslavl "Meteor-159" arrives in Tutaev (photo by Dmitry Makarov): 
Kazan "Meteor-249" (photo Meteor216): 
"Meteor-188" on the Lena (photo by Vladimir Kunitsyn): 
"Meteor-242" in the Kizhi skerries (photo by Dmitry Makarov): 
Meteor-189 on Malaya Neva (photo by Seven_balls): 
Serial production of "Meteors" stopped in 1991, but several more motor ships left the stocks of the Zelenodolsk shipyard. In particular, in 2001 and 2006, two Meteors were built for OJSC Severrechflot. In addition, the Rostislav Alekseev Nizhny Novgorod Hydrofoil Design Bureau developed a Meteor-2000 modification with German Deutz engines and air conditioners, and several of these vessels were sold to China. By 2007, the Meteor production line was finally dismantled, and they were replaced by planing vessels of project A145.
Chinese "Chang Jiang 1" project "Meteor-2000": 
But the fate of the Krasnoyarsk "Meteor-235" was unusual: from 1994 to 2005 he served in the Yenisei river shipping company, after which it was sold, and a few years later, having changed owners again, it was modernized at the Krasnoyarsk shipyard according to project 342E / 310, turned into a luxury yacht and was re-baptized into "Verny"; according to rumors, it was the personal "Meteor" of the governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. It is easy to recognize by its futuristic appearance and dubious aesthetic value of the interior decoration with an abundance of leopard-like skins.
Construction and specifications
"Meteor-193" is a project 342E vessel, developed by the Central Design Bureau for SPK (chief designer - Rostislav Alekseev) in 1959 and released by Zelenodolsk shipyard them. A.M. Gorky. Type - two-screw passenger hydrofoil motor ship. The length of the hull is 34.6 meters, the width (in the span of the hydrofoil structure) is 9.5 meters. Draft afloat - 2.35 meters, while on the wings - about 1.2 meters. Displacement with full load - 53.4 tons. Operating speed - 65 km / h (record - 108 km / h). Cruising range (without refueling) - 600 km.
Meteor has three passenger cabins: in the bow, middle and stern parts of the vessel. The total passenger capacity is 124 people.
Nasal salon (photo by Dmitry Shchukin): 
Middle salon (photo by Vladimir Burakshaev): 
There is a small semi-covered (promenade) deck between the middle and aft saloon.
Promenade deck (photo by Vladimir Burakshaev): 
The control posts of the ship are located in the wheelhouse recessed into the semi-superstructure in the bow of the ship.
The wheelhouse (photo by Alexey Petrov): 
The main engines are two V-shaped 12-cylinder turbodiesels of the M-400 type (a version of the M-40 aviation diesel engine, converted into a marine one) with a capacity of 1000 hp each. each. They rotate two 5-blade propellers with a diameter of 710 mm, which set the ship in motion.
Engine room (photo by Alexey Petrov): 
Under the Meteor's hull there is a wing device - the bow and stern load-bearing wings and two hydroplaning wheel arch liners fixed on the nose wing struts. The wing flaps help the vessel when "going out on the wing", and on the move do not allow it to return to the displacement mode, sliding along the surface of the water.
The principle of their action of the wings of the "Meteor" is the same as that of the wing of an aircraft: the lifting force arises due to the occurrence of excess pressure under the wing profile and the rarefaction zone above it. With an increase in speed, the pressure difference "pushes" the vessel up, the hull moves from the displacement position to the surface position, which significantly reduces the area of contact with water and its resistance, which makes it possible to develop high speed.
The Meteora wing device uses the low-submerged hydrofoil effect, also known as the Alekseev effect. As a result of his research, Alekseev obtained such hydrodynamic characteristics of a hydrofoil, in which it, rising to the surface of the water, gradually loses its lifting force due to the deceleration of liquid particles in a zone close to the boundary of the media. Due to the fact that at a certain depth the lift of the wing approaches zero, it does not jump out of the water.
P.S. If dear participants find any inaccuracies, please report it.
At first glance, it looks like a space boat from " Star Wars". In fact, this rusting ship was made more than 40 years ago. During the Cold War, such hydrofoils cruised the rivers at great speed in the Soviet Union, causing general delight and admiration of passengers.
The creators of Soviet passenger hydrofoils used a technology in which, after reaching a certain speed, the ship's hull rose above the surface of the water. This reduced drag and allowed an incredible speed of up to 150 km / h.
These ships were called "Rockets", "Meteors", "Comets", "Sputniks" (not surprising, because at that time there was an active development of the space program), and some of the models were even equipped with turbines from aircraft.
Father modern ships on hydrofoils, ekranoplanes and ekranos is the Soviet inventor Rostislav Alekseev. It was according to his drawings that almost 3,000 ships were built for Russian and Ukrainian rivers. Over the years, many different models have been introduced, which have received names inspired by the Soviet space era ("Sputnik", "Comet", "Voskhod").
But then the collapse of the Soviet Union came and the production of hydrofoils ceased. They were decommissioned and many of them are rusting today in ship cemeteries, one of which is located in a forest near the city of Perm.
Other ships were sold different countries... For example, in Vietnam, Voskhod hydrofoils, built in the 1970s, are still in operation today, running daily between Cat Ba Island and the city of Haiphong. Other former Soviet missiles continue to fly over rivers in Canada, Greece, the Netherlands, Thailand, Turkey and China.
One wealthy Russian even turned one of the ships into his own luxury yacht. Another ship has been turned into a trendy bar in Ukrainian Kanev.
The most beautiful and famous hydrofoil ship "Meteor", built in 1959 by the Gorky shipyard "Krasnoe Sormovo", is still used on the rivers of our country. "Meteor" is a high-speed motor ship carrying passengers on freshwater lakes and reservoirs and navigable rivers during daylight hours.
The history of the development of hydrofoils
For the first time, a small hydrofoil vessel (SPK) was tested in France on the Seine River in 1897 by a Russian citizen Charles de Lambert. However, the power of the steam engine used was not enough to lift the ship's hull above the water. At the same time, the Italian inventor E. Forlanini accelerated an experimental vessel on multi-tiered wings to 68 km / h. At the beginning of the last century, tests of SPK models were carried out by inventors from the USA, Britain, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, Italy. In 1919, Frederick Baldwin's vessel HD-4, approved by the US Navy, set a world record on two engines, developing a speed of 114 km / h on water. The one-winged models of the British shipbuilder D.I.Thornicroft were about 7 meters long and developed at a speed of about 64 km / h.
In the 40s, the German design bureau under the direction of Hans von Schertel built a cruise ship, developing a speed of up to 74 km / h with a load of 20 tons on board. In the 1950s, Schertel founded the Supramar company in Switzerland and built a wooden ship with partially submerged wings, which was the first in the world to commercially transport 32 passengers between the cities of Italy and Switzerland. In 1956, under the Supramara license, Rodriguez began mass production hydrofoil vessels RT-20 for use at sea. RT-20, with a displacement of 32 tons, transported 72 passengers through the Messinsky Strait, developing a speed of about 62 km / h. For 20 years "Supramar" has developed a series of models on partially submerged hydrofoils and under its license more than 200 vessels have been built in Italy and Japan.
In the United States in the 60s, Boeing took part in the development of military patrol and missile-carrying boats. Fast armed ships of the Pegasus class were in the US Navy from 1977 to 1993. Since 1974, Boeing has produced about 20 sea civil courts Jetfoil carrying from 167 to 400 passengers on board. Today Jetfoils are being built under license by the Japanese company Kawasaki.
In the 60s and 70s of the last century, the Canadian and Italian navies were armed with high-speed armed hydrofoils.
The appearance of "Meteor"
In the USSR, most of the SPK was constructed under the guidance of the talented engineer Rostislav Evgenievich Alekseev. In 1941, in his diploma work "Glisser on hydrofoils", R.E. Alekseev. described the principle of operation of a low-submerged hydrofoil. The examination committee of the Gorky Polytechnic Institute learned about the ship, which has no analogues in the history of shipbuilding.
In the early 50s, military torpedo boats with bow hydrofoils were built in the Soviet Union. During 1963-1967, 16 patrol boats and 12 border hydrofoil boats were built according to the Antares project and 2 anti-submarine ships “Sokol”.
In the 60s, several individual experimental SPKs "Strela-1,2 and 3", "Chaika", "Burevestnik", "Sputnik", "Whirlwind", "Typhoon" were built. In the service of ship supervision and at rescue stations, Volga hydrofoil boats were used. The Soviet Union exported passenger SPKs to dozens of countries around the world.
The experimental motor ship "Meteor" during the tests in November 1959 passed its first journey - from Gorky to Feodosia. After wintering in May 1960, the Meteor returned to Gorky. The successful test voyage of the vessel made it possible to exhibit the passenger motor ship "Meteor" as an exhibit at the exhibition of the river fleet in Moscow for presentation to the leadership of the Soviet Union. Demonstration of the first motor ship "Meteor" to the head of the USSR NS Khrushchev was held under the joint management of R.E. Alekseev and the famous aircraft designer A.N. Tupolev.
Serial production of the motor ship "Meteor"
The river fleet of the Soviet Union had the largest fleet of winged ships. More than 1000 high-speed boats and hydrofoils were used on the rivers and lakes of our Motherland. Raised on the wing river vessels increased speed and became an attractive transport for local passenger transportation and quick travel between cities. River travel attracted Soviet residents with comfort, speed and efficiency.
Since September 1961, the serial production of the Meteor motor ships has been carried out in Tatarstan by the Zelenodolsk Shipyard named after A. M. Gorky. For 30 years more than 400 motor ships of the Meteor series have been launched. The increase in passenger traffic required new, more spacious and comfortable motor ships. And in May 1962, the Meteor-2 left the water area of the plant, taking 115 people aboard with a bar and cafe.
Nizhny Novgorod Design Bureau for SPK im. R.E. Alekseeva developed a modification of the Metor-2000 motor ship, equipped with imported engines and a comfortable air-conditioned cabin. Since 2007, the line that produced Meteora has been reconstructed for the production of new motor ships of the A45-1 series.
Description SPK "Meteor"
Single-deck duralumin river boat hydrofoil "Meteor" is equipped with a diesel engine. In autonomous mode, without refueling, the motor ship delivers passengers to a distance of no more than 600 km along navigable rivers and freshwater lakes of Russia. Tourist excursions or business trips on the motor ship "Meteor" are carried out only during daylight hours. Remote control over the movement of the vessel from the wheelhouse is carried out by a team of 3 people.
Three passenger cabins for 124 people, located in the bow, aft and middle parts motor ships, equipped with soft comfortable seats and a single audio system for transmitting information to passengers. In the middle saloon there is a bar, and in the bow saloon, picturesque surroundings float behind huge panoramic windows. Through the deck of the ship, there is a passage between the passenger saloons, to the toilet, to the utility room and the engine room.
Technical characteristics of the motor ship "Meteor"
The motor ship "Meteor" is operated at a speed of 60-65 km / h, although it can accelerate in open space up to 77 km / h. With a vessel length of 34.6 m and a width with a wingspan of 9.5 m, the empty motor ship has a displacement of 36.4 tons, and when fully loaded - 53.4 tons. During anchorage, the height of the vessel is 5.63 m, and the draft is 2.35 m. While moving on the wings, it “grows” up to 6.78 m and sags by 1.2 m.
High fuel consumption of the motor ship "Meteor" - a significant drawback cruise ship... The first models of the ship consumed about 225 liters of diesel fuel per hour. The use of new modern motors reduces this figure to 50 liters per hour.
Engine "Meteora"
The main engines on the ship are 2 twelve-cylinder four-stroke diesel engines of the M-400 type, with a turbocharger, a reversible clutch and water cooling. The rated power of each engine at 1,700 rpm is 1,000 horsepower. The auxiliary propellers are a pair of 5-blade propellers 710 mm in diameter. The ship's needs are handled by an aggregate consisting of:
- Diesel engine with 12 horsepower at 1500 rpm.
- Generator (5.6 kW).
- Compressor.
- Self-priming vortex pump.
The wing device includes in its design load-bearing (bow and stern) steel wings and two flaps made of magnesium-aluminum alloy, mounted on the struts of the bow wing.
Electric power in running mode is supplied by two direct current generators installed on the main engines with a power of 1 kW each. During the stop, an auxiliary generator is used, and the ship is equipped with an automatic generator for parallel operation with batteries.
Safety on board the ship
All devices and mechanisms of the ship are controlled by the ship's control system. Smooth movement and reliable operation of the engines is guaranteed by regular thorough maintenance of passenger ships. The deck and passenger saloons are protected from the weather by a solid roof. Comfortable seats and safety on the motor ship "Meteor" exciting travel and river walks with family or with friends.
Weekdays "Meteora" today
Despite the fact that Meteor hydrofoils are no longer produced, these ships are still used for passenger transportation in Russia, the CIS countries and far abroad. In the difficult 90s, many river shipping, left without work, were forced to sell "Meteora" in travel companies Greece, China and Vietnam. In Italy, Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia to this day the motor ships "Meteor" and other hydrofoils produced in the USSR are used.
In Russia regular flights operate during the navigation period along the Irkutsk - Bratsk routes along the Angara, from Petrozavodsk to Shala, Kizhi and Velikaya Guba along Lake Onega, along Ladoga to Valaam from Sortavala. Between the cities of the navigable rivers Volga, Don, Lena, Amur and Kama, passengers enjoy using motor ships rather than commuter trains and trains.
