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Starting in 1996, aircraft designer Alexey Annenkov and his team developed and built an entire line of seaplanes, both flying boats and amphibians. The story of "two-keel" amphibian aircraft by Annenkov began with the "Vera" amphibious aircraft, the first flight of which took place in February 1996. Contrary to other Russian startup directors who embraced the Western corporate values and business processes, full of "motivations" and "bonuses", Annenkov kept a very simple, no-nonsense approach to aircraft making: an idea, a common goal, and cooperative work driven by enthusiasm and a human attitude throughout. Annenkov and his team enjoyed working together, but also relaxing and spending off-time together. Money was always a means, never a goal. In total, more than 30 aircraft of various types and modifications were custom-built, nearly all along the same basic design: flying boats with twin fins surmounted by a horizontal tail (a configuration allowing for rear access to the cabin between the fins). The basic "Vera" led to the L-6, L-4 and La-8 designs (the digits indicating the number of passengers), and apart from the La-8 (which had a T-tail) and the one-off S-44F and S-72 landplanes, all of Annenkov's designs followed the same unique pattern.It can be misleading that Annenkov's aircraft appear as produced under different company names. In fact, he founded or co-founded them all for the production of his design: Chaika for the L-4 and L-6 families of aircraft (L-3, L-4, L-42, L-44, L-6, S-44F, S-72), Aerovolga (for the L-6M and La-8) and Aviatech (for the L-42M/L142, L-72/L162) — the brand Seabear Aircraft being merely a rebadging of Chaika for foreign markets (L-44M, L-45, L-65). And despite being produced in small quantities, all of those designs enjoyed tremendous popularity in the seaplane community on an international level.
Sadly, G. A. Annenkov lost his life on August 7, 2014, along with three passengers, in the crash of an L-42 which he was piloting, on the territory of the Podosinovsky district of the Kirov region.. The aircraft was flying for tourism purposes in tandem with a similar aircraft on the route Samara-Kazan-Arkhangelsk, which also made an emergency landing on the Northern Dvina River after witnessing the emergency landing of the first. The Volga Region Transport Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation conducted a pre-investigation check into the disappearance of the L-42 aircraft in the Kirov region. According to preliminary data, the L-42 had flown from Kazan to Arkhangelsk without notification of the flight or escort from air traffic controllers, and crashed in a failed emergency landing.
At the AOPA-2015 Volzhanka Conference, A.G. Annenkov received posthumously the “Silver Wings” in the category Design Engineer of the Year, in recognition for his contribution to Russian general aviation. It is worthy to note that American legend Burt Rutan liked Annenkov and his designs, and signed him an autograph as a souvenir, wishing good luck to the staff of the enterprise. There is little doubt that his appreciation of Annenkov's "Seagull" seaplanes was instrumental in Rutan's designing his own "SkiGull" as his final retirement project.
Research by Stéphane Beaumort for Secret Projects © 2024
A.G. Annenkov (center) & Gennady Ivanov (right) during tests of "Vera" on the Volga, 1996
A.G. Annenkov and the Aviatech team in the assembly shop
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