A real oddity at Russia's Central Air Force Museum

When poster JosieNorden identified most of the aircraft at Monino, Russia's  Central Air Force Museum, she left at least one unidentified. I've always  wondered what it was. For one thing it looks more like a boat hull than an airplane fuselage

. 

It is indeed a type of water based craft, a flying boat named the Bartini Beriev VVA-14. Only one of the two examples of this aircraft ever built survives at the Monino museum. Russian LINK

The Bartini Beriev VV-14 was originally built as an anti submarine craft to hunt American Polaris subs, but it never was able to come anywhere near to expectations.

Attachments:

Bartini Beriev VVA-14.kmz (875 B)

Good job Hill! Did you try to contact Josie and let her know? Just curious. (I liked her.)

A number of us have tried, but no success so far. We have a list of potential and successful contacts. We'll keep trying. If you have ideas about missing members you'd like to see join, let us know or give them a try yourself if you have contact info.  (No luck with Markopolo yet).

That's great! The video is so interesting and at one point the  narrator says, "The VVA-14 looked funny in the air and was nicknamed the...[fire-something?]." I can't understand what he's saying, but it absolutely does look funny in the air. 

I'd love to see Josie back, too, but I think she stopped posting late even in the old-old GEC.  Marcopolo seemed pretty determined to retire and is probably miserable over there in Hawaii!