Flying Tanks

Hi,

a Flying Tank drawing.

Katorin Unikalnaya i paradoksalnaya voennaya tehnika
 

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hesham said:
it's not a flying tank,but an explosive-laden war tank,carried by aircraft to drop on enemy,
just idea.

http://blog.modernmechanix.com/mags/ModernMechanix/5-1935/auto_strapped.jpg

It was not just idea,it was a real design by the designer Walter J. Christie,page 250;

https://books.google.com.eg/books?id=G-ZSNuX1jzQC&printsec=frontcover&hl=ar&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=true

http://blog.modernmechanix.com/fast-tank-and-plane-latest-war-machine/
 

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A flying tank drawing.

http://www.avia-it.com/act/biblioteca/periodici/PDF%20Riviste/Ala%20d'Italia/L'ALA%20D'ITALIA%201932%2006.pdf
 

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This is the Christie M1932 (one prototype built - sans disposable biplane). On the left is inventor J Walter Christie, on the right is U.S. Wheel Track Layer Corporation engineer P.G. Anderson.
 
The Soviet BT series started as license-built Christies, the BT-2 is essentially an M1932 with a conventional turret. That line led directly to a more famous tank, the T-34!
 
From Козырев - Авиация Красной Армии (Москва, 2011),

here is some Russian flying tanks in colors,but what was MAS-1 ?.
 

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Grzesio said:
but what was MAS-1 ?.
It was a proposition of Mr. M. Smalko from 1937, also known as the LT-1, a 4.5 tonnes tracked/wheeled tank with a crew of two, with folding and telescoping wings. :eek:

Thank you Grzesio,

and here is all Info about it;
Flying Tank MAS-1
In May 1937, M.A. Smalko has developed a flying project
Tank МАS-l (ЛТ-l), intended for conducting ground
And aerial reconnaissance, airborne operations,
Support deep cavalry raids, as well as overcome
Large natural and artificial obstacles.
MAS-l was a special machine,
Developed on the basis of units and assemblies of a light tank
BT-7 and adapted for movement in the air and on the ground.
On the ground, the car moved using wheeled tracks
Propulsion, and for the flight used retractable
Wings, tail assembly, folding helical
Installation, which was supposed to provide a practical tank
Ceiling up to 2000 m.
Armored body MAS-l had a streamlined shape,
It was supposed to be made from rolled armor plates with thickness
3, 4, 7 and 10 mm, and the tower - from 10 mm armor plates.
In the bow of the hull there was a motor compartment,
In the middle part there was a crew of the driver-mechanic
(Pilot) and the commander of the tank (arrow), the stern part of the hull
Occupied the transmission. The crew was stationed in its compartment
Tandem, for monitoring the battlefield and driving the tank
Observation gaps with triplexes were used.
The main weapon of the tank was a coupled installation
12 mm machine gun DT, placed in a hemispherical turret
Circular rotation, and one 7.62-mm SHKA machine gun adapted
For shooting through rotating air
Screw with the use of an aircraft synchronizer. For
Shooting from machine guns used telescopic optical
Sights.The length of the car consisted of two halves - the outer (armored)
And internal (retractable). Sheathing of the wing was supposed
Made of stainless steel. The outer half
The wing was attached to the tank body and could be rotated
Around the fastening axis by 90 ° back. Inner half
Put forward a special mechanism that had a drive
From the engine of the machine, and stalled mechanically. Wingspan
Was 16.2 m, the surface area of ​​the supporting surface was 32 m 2
Tail tail consisting of stabilizer, keel and
Rudders of direction and height, was fastened with four
Beams on special carriages inside the tank and with the help of a special mechanism put forward the axis and moved simultaneously with
Wings. The propeller had two metal blades,
Which were attached to special axes in the bushing of a screw
Installation, and two levers with drafts of the folding mechanism.
Laying blades when using the machine on the ground
Was produced in special housing niches, which were closed
Armored shields with the help of a special mechanism.
Since the car retained the suspension from BT-7, MAS-l
Retained the possibility of wheel-travel and was able to develop
Speed ​​up to 120 km / h, and on a caterpillar course - up to 70 km / h.
According to the designer, the cruise flight speed was
About 200 km / h, the practical ceiling - 2000 m, and
The flight range is about 800 km. Delivery of MAS-l to the district
Fighting was supposed to be towed behind a bomber
TB-3. A full-sized wooden
Layout, after which the work was suspended.
 
I have a problem with these projects ever getting the go ahead when the tanks involved would never have been of any real use in the field, light anti tank guns of the period would have easily been a match for them let alone opposition armoured units. The likeness of an evolutionary dead end comes to mind.
 
Jemiba said:
Here's the already mentioned proposal by Raoul Hafner, to fit a rotor to the
Valentine tank. Actually tested was only the "Rotabuggy".
At least the british concepts were superseded by the Hamilcar transport glider.

(from Aeroplane Monthly 10/91 via lark ;) )

From the same source.
 

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Antonov glider tank model, Tank Museum, Bovington, 2018
 

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From Kryl'ya Rodine 2019-9/10,

here is a flying tank Project of R.S. Ermonsky, A.I. Solovyov and V.I.Matsyuk.
 

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I have a problem with these projects ever getting the go ahead when the tanks involved would never have been of any real use in the field, light anti tank guns of the period would have easily been a match for them let alone opposition armoured units. The likeness of an evolutionary dead end comes to mind.

I disagree.
Light tanks and wheeled armoured cars fulfill a variety of military roles: scouting, screening, convoy escort, courier, senior officer transport, artillery spotting, etc. LT can even kill MBT with modern recoil-less missiles. South Africans have proven that wheeled armoured cars are more reliable over long-range battles.
Light tanks are only vulnerable when facing medium tanks or AT artillery.
Not all opponents can afford MBTS, nor can all of them afford to train competent AT gunners.
 
From Kryl'ya Rodine 2020/6;

Projects of "flying tanks" by A.G. Rafaelian (left) and M.Smalko (right).There are no illustrations for the project of P.D.Samsonov and A.L. Dobrovolsky
 

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Hi,

was that a flying tank or just a fake one ?,or what was it ?.
 

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Picture 284 looks poorly-balanced with its rotor too far aft of the tank's centre-of-gravity.
All the other photos look reasonably-balanced, but I do not read enough Cyrillic to understand how large and heavy it was. Those odd, rhomboid tracks look perfectly adapter to crossing WW1-vintage trenches.
 
Hydro-Aero-Tank 1920,

in 1920 Brest based Lieutenant of the French Navy Jean-François Didelot, patented this strange device which he labelled « Hydro-Aero-Tank ».
The machine was supposed to move
· on water
· In water
· On the bottom of the water
· On the ground
· In the air
The idea was to use « endless bands or chains ...carrying vanes so arranged that they will only act on the water or the air when moving in one direction and being feathered when moving in the opposite direction. »

This device amounts to an adaptation of the caterpillar to air and water propulsion.

For taking-off, air is pulsed through a « blower » (caterpillar-type) B4, against the undersurface of the wing...no guarantee that works!

Endless bands C-C’ and D-D’ can be oriented in any direction for moving horizontally or vertically the vehicle.

Z is the rudder.

J is another endless band used to control the inclination (pitch) of the fuselage

Source : patent..

A pendulum or gyroscope P controls the equilibrium of the machine (by increasing the speed of the bands on the side where the vehicle tilts.

On the ground a wheel arrangement G-G’ similar to an aircraft landing gear is used. It uses a tail skid H.

The band V is used as propeller in water. E-E1 and F are true « tracks » used on the ground or on the bottom of water.

Where propulsion is described, electric motors are suggested.

 

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From that Russian book.
 

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Text extracted from the book "Николай Якубович -Неизвестный Антонов" (Nikolay Yakubovich - the unknown Antonov), translated from Russian by Google translation. -"The last work on gliders during the war before Antonov's transfer in early 1943 to the Design Bureau of A.S. Yakovlev was the creation of the A-40 landing glider. It was also called "flying tank" (LT ) and "winged tank" (CT).

The first flying tank was proposed in 1932 by American engineer Christie. Its basis was a high-speed tracked tank weighing 4500 kg with a biplane wingbox. The body of the armored vehicle received a streamlined shape. For movement on the ground, a 900 hp engine. turned the wheels, and in flight - the propeller. Despite the appeal of the project, the flying tank was never built.

In the same year, the Soviet designer A. N. Rafaeliants offered his own version of the "flying tank", which compared favorably with the "American". First, the tank was suspended under the wing of a monoplane glider, which had its own landing gear. This made it possible to minimize possible damage to the combat vehicle during landing.

At the same time, the propeller was located at the rear of the tank, which simplified the transmission for its drive.Antonov took a different path, abandoning the propeller and relying on towing a heavy aircraft. The basis of the CT was the lightest tank T-60. Calculations showed that the tank's landing gear had sufficient strength and shock absorption for takeoff and landing. As conceived by the designer, the cell must be extremely simple and inexpensive to manufacture from non-deficient materials. Therefore, they adopted the known and well-established scheme of a braced biplane with a wingspan of about 18 m. The wing box and tail booms of the biplane were attached to the tank body at four points on the lower wing. By turning the handle, located to the right of the driver (pilot) of the tank, the mount was unlocked and the airframe was dropped. The tow lock was located on the tank. To reduce aerodynamic air resistance, the turret was turned over with a cannon when mounting the airframe on the tank. To improve the visibility of the pilot-pilot, a special optical device was made.

The estimated maximum in-flight weight of the CT was 7804 kg, while the glider weighed 2004 kg. The glider was manufactured in April 1942, and from August 7 to September 2 it underwent flight tests at the LII airfield. The CT was piloted by Sergey Anokhin. Given the insufficient power of the engines of the TB-3 towing vehicle, the tank was significantly lightened by removing the turret and filling no more than 100 liters of gasoline. Previously, we made several passes in tow on concrete and soil and three flights up to a height of 4 meters. The first and last flight took place on September 2. The takeoff of an unusual skytrain went well, but soon the TB-3 engines began to overheat - there was not enough power. On order from the plane

S.N. Anokhin picked up and landed at Bykovo airport. After landing, Anokhin started the engine and, without dropping the glider, headed for the airfield control tower. An air raid alert was issued and an anti-aircraft battery raised. Only by turning off the engine and leaving the tank, Sergei Nikolayevich reassured the audience, shocked by his unusual appearance. This was the A-40's only flight. Due to the lack of tow planes with engines of the required power, further work on the A-40 was stopped."-
 

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Hi,

Burnelli flying tank of 1942.
A slightly better picture.
Burnelli Army Tank Carrying Airplane
Futuristic illustration of Burnelli Army Tank Carrying Airplane, 16 June 1942. Reynold C. Anderson artist.
View: https://flic.kr/p/2oRuzG5
 
I can see the use of a glider big enough to carry a decent sized tank or American Tank Destroyer like an M10 or M18. It'd have to have a way to hook onto the tank so that the tracks don't touch the ground anymore, just so it could get airborne.


... or : When military experts dream ..
In the german “Fliegerkalender 1997” I recently “re-discovered” a report about one of the 19 patents applied by Dr.Hans Krech, a reserve officer of the army of the FRG and managing director of the “Wissenschaftliche Forum für Internationale Sicherheit e.V.” (Scientific Forum for International Security), It’s about a flyable fighting vehicle, especially for the use by the peacekeeping units of the UN.
Description:
The “Blue Peacekeeper” (because it is meant to be used by UN-troops only !) is a flyable, so self-deployable MICV (Mechanised Infantry Combat Vehicle), able to take-off and land vertically by means of a RR Pegasus 103 engine, transporting eight fully equipped soldiers directly into the combat zone. It shall be armed with a 30mm gun and a co-axial MG in a turret, 4 anti tank, 2 air-to-ground and 1 air-to-air missiles, armour would be up to 4 cm thick, giving protection against small arms fire and splinters, quite similar to a conventional troop carrier as the M 113. But the Peacekeeper shall even be able to engage targets from the air, much in the way of a helicopter or perhaps the Harrier, so probably being the dream of every army commander. Cruising speed is given as 750 km/h (405 kn), range 3330 km (1800nm), there’s provision for inflight-refuelling and pilot/commander, co-pilot and the eight troops are seated on ejection seats. It’s mentioned, that only vertical take-off and landing is possible, a little bit strange, I think, as even a tracked vehicle should be able of a rolling take-off.For the construction, already existing components, especially wing and tail of the Grumman F-14 Tomcat and of course the Pegasus engine should be used.

I had top and front view, so the side view could be reconstructed quite easily and determining the dimensions wasn't that difficult, due to the F-14 wings. And here came quite a surprise. The side view
looks a little bit strange, ok, but if we compare it to, say a M2A2 Bradley the sheer size becomes
obvious.No question, I think, that even the most powerful version of the Pegasus cannot lift such a
vehicle !
A rough calculation gave the estimated weight of engine, wings, armament, crew and fuel alone as
about 8.700 kg, not to mention the structure, chassis and armour !
So my résumé is : It’s not a joke, it’s a patent ! Or is it the other way round ? ;D

(The inventor has published a book with the title “Neue Waffentechnologien für den Kampf gegen den internationalen Terrorismus“ (New weapons technologies for the war against international terrorism), that includes this project, AFAIK. I’m really curious for all the other ideas !)
So strange... And here I thought it was just a concept of the classic Cyberpunk AV4 or AV6, either one of which is basically a 21-passenger bus with a Pegasus engine attached to it.
 
It just hit me - should we have a separate thread about flying submarines or at least parts thereof as well? UFO's Skydiver comes to mind...
 

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