Weren't the Soviets planning something bigger?
Yes! The Antonov 225 is big, but
I saw something on TV a while ago
indicating that the Soviets
planned to build a truly enormous
amphibious flyingcraft that takes
advantage of a phenomena called
"ground effect" lift.
The flyingcraft proposed would only have flown
several meters above a body of water at
a speed of between 300-500 knots. The craft
itself would have an astonishing weight of over
2000 tons (roughly the weight of a navy destroyer).
Jacob