The first clue that it was Soviet was the placement (and number
) of the engines. Nobody else I know of ever put their engines high up on nacelles forward of the wings. Weird.
It seems to me that flying full-time in ground effect would be a tricky thing to do. I realize that the thing is almost riding on a 'cushion' of air like a hovercraft - but how careful do you have to be
turning it???