December 01, 2019

An Ode to the Hovercraft


An Ode to the Hovercraft
This police hovercraft really adds to a classic St. Petersburg cityscape. Griffin Edwards

Winston Churchill once called Russia "a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma." While there are some Russophobe overtones to this quote, we've got to agree that Russia is a mysterious place. And one of the mysteries that's been bugging us the longest is why Russians love their hovercraft so dang much.

They use them for hunting, exploring, and transport. Russian police forces and rescue operators use them. Want massive military hovercraft with machine guns for storming beaches? Got you covered

Hovercraft are also Putin's preferred method of transport for getting to thirteenth-century churches for Christmas services.

Shotgun gets to pick the music: Putin in the passenger seat of a police hovercraft in Novgorod Oblast. We assume the lights on top of the vehicle are to tell speeding hovercrafters to pull over. | Press Office of the President of Russia

For most of us, it's easy to forget that hovercraft exist. It's not an everyday form of transport, like cars or metros or planes. But Russians appreciate them so much, they even put cute little ones in the country's largest train set.

Vroom, Vroom: A model hovercraft at "Grand Maket Rossiya," a massive museum of miniatures. | Griffin Edwards

To answer the question of why Russia — but not elsewhere — has hovercraft fever, it's useful to start with how hovercraft work.

Rather than moving on wheels or with wings, hovercraft use fans to create a high-pressure cushion of air under a flexible "skirt," which lifts the vehicle up off the ground by a few feet, thereby preventing friction with the ground. Propellers can then push the hovercraft in any direction, typically at fairly high speeds (up to 70 mph!). They'd win a race against almost any boat; after all, boats have to cut through the water, whereas hovercraft glide on top of it.

Imagine putting a little fan on an air hockey puck and driving it around the table. That's basically what's going on, at hundreds of times the scale.

Russian military hovercraft
Two Russian Zubr-class hovercraft, the largest hovercraft in existence, armed with rockets, cannons, and wow-factor. | Russian Ministry of Defense, Wikimedia Commons

Hovercraft are not without limitations, however. They're noisy and difficult to maneuver: lack of friction means stopping and turning are difficult.

What's more, you can't drive a hovercraft just anywhere. Hovercraft do great on flat surfaces such as smooth pavement, calm seas, swamps, frozen lakes and rivers, tundra, and grassy steppe.

Hills, forests, and similar spaces are no-go zones: anywhere requiring lots of maneuvering or uneven areas makes the hovercraft inefficient and possibly dangerous. Broken ground, too, can damage the undercarriage, and if you think towing a car is difficult, imagine doing it without wheels.

So our working theory is that it's a geographical thing.

Where's a place with lots of low-lying areas, wide-open lakes and rivers that usually freeze, and acres upon acres of steppe? If you guessed Russia, especially the swamps of its northwest, rivers and steppes of it southwest, and frozen tundra of its North and Arctic, you'd be right. It seems to fit: what better to use to cross a frozen lake or impassible swamp than a low-flying vehicle?

Of course, we'll never truly know the true reason for Russia's hovercraft fever. Until we come up with a better explanation, we'll just enjoy this quirk of Russia, like we do all the others.

See Also

Floating Fishermen

Floating Fishermen

Approximately 600 fishermen were stuck on an ice floe, despite being warned about the dangerous ice.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.
Murder at the Dacha

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
Fearful Majesty

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
The Latchkey Murders

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
Russian Rules
November 16, 2011

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.

The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

Frogs Who Begged...
November 01, 2010

Frogs Who Begged...

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.

At the Circus
January 01, 2013

At the Circus

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.

Steppe
July 15, 2022

Steppe

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.

Murder and the Muse
December 12, 2016

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.

Bears in the Caviar
May 01, 2015

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.

Fearful Majesty
July 01, 2014

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.

The Little Humpbacked Horse
November 03, 2014

The Little Humpbacked Horse

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.

The Moscow Eccentric
December 01, 2016

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955