Tupolev's Aero-Engined Snowmobiles Were The Bear's Distant Cousins

[@olivergs9840]

I love how the channel itself has now gone from air to ground

[@lucashinch]

And he hasn't a pound for it either.. It's all coming apart now. Makes sense

[@Lensman864]

It's a little known fact that these vehicles were primarily tasked with dragging cables around the legs of the Wehrmacht's proposed "Walking Tank" which was designed to operate in the Hoth region of Siberia.

[@ednigma6526]

Makes total sense.

[@geodkyt]

😂

[@RextheDragon881]

Jokie

[@rafale1981]

However, the walking tanks had to be successfully reconnoitered beforehand. But a lack of funds and resources led to the red army‘s attempts at taming tauntauns being frozen

[@RCAvhstape]

Good to know, Cliff!

[@glennmorrissey5309]

Funky little vehicle. Love the gull wing doors. I want one!

[@thomas316]

"Mind the propell.... ...oops, never mind."

[@RextheDragon881]

@@thomas316 me want gullwing snow travel! You hear about the lady who fell into the fan? Dis ass ter

[@albertpotter9787]

@@thomas316He must have had a lot of Guts

[@The_diffman]

I really enjoy your channel. The narration is excellent, content is beyond the scope of most channels and consistency is 100%. Other channels should take a cue from your format, it's so relaxing. Thank you keep it coming!

[@michaelogden5958]

"Oh, what fun it is to ride in a..." 38 horsepower, open sleigh. If the wind chill wasn't enough, sitting in front of the suction created by the propeller must have been quite something.

[@mrkeogh]

"WHAT??? YOU'LL HAVE TO SPEAK UP, I CAN'T HEAR YOU, COMRADE!"

[@huskergator9479]

So REFRESHING…

[@LolTollhurst]

This is the part where we compare the amount of sunlight in the USA with the rest of the world and say Sunny Johnny is outlier and he shouldn't be counted

[@epikmanthe3rd]

I'm just going to make note of how much we've deviated from the channel's namesake. Not that I'm complaining, I'm only pointing it out.

[@minimumapature3361]

I love it

[@thesuit4820]

To be fair, this thing does not appear to go _from_ Air _to_ Ground.

[@thomas316]

As this isn't a Friday I'm going to allow it.

[@LupusAries]

​@@thesuit4820Indeed, it's more quite a few pounds on the ground.....and given that for quite a lot of the time the Eagle is just that.......there doesn't seem to be a problem, does it?😉

[@reinbeers5322]

Well, it doesn't carry bombs and like an aircraft it spends most of its life on the ground. Also fast and lightly armored. Therefore it is an air superiority fighter.

[@GrigoriZhukov]

Whilst not quiet our normal fare. I approve, these sides of various designers is fascinating.

[@ryanvargas4889]

Wow. I remember these sledges were enemies you could shoot @ in the first level of Soviet Strike, the helicopter video game for Sega Saturn.

[@paulflocken2730]

There is no sensible length of video when your voice wanders into earshot. Even the longest presentations are eminently enjoyable.

[@JTA1961]

I think snow too

[@stevenscoggins170]

The earliest aero-sledge looks like a ground bound version of NCC-1701/7 Galileo.

[@stitch626aloha]

Where do you think Gene Roddenberry got the design in the first place?

[@shawnc5188]

Reckon you’ll be doing a video on ekranoplans soon..

[@GrigoriZhukov]

One can only hope. So glad I am not wealthy enough to "Rescue" these surviving examples and all documentation, for uh... restoration for display. Please ignore the engineers' reworking mounts for modern engines.

[@pimpinaintdeadho]

Great video! Thanks for the upload! 👍

[@appaho9tel]

great video, imagine the noise inside that thing, being towed behind that on skiies would be an experience

[@g_e_o_m9369]

That is beyond cool and I want one. I don't even live near the snow.

[@jackray1337]

Nice surprise to see this just now.

[@paulwoodman5131]

The snowmobile with tracks seems logical, but more complex with a transmission that drove tracks that would wear out. The propeller is your only transmission device. I like the little Anzani engine. 3:26

[@RextheDragon881]

@@paulwoodman5131 I just think the major downside is steer-ability. Especially in wooded areas, your basically driving a woodchipper with that exposed propeller. And if you damage the propeller badly I doubt your going anywhere. Early snowmobiles had super basic gear boxes, usually just a chain on sprockets with selectable range hi/lo some with reverse. I'm kinda sad these bonkers versions of snow travel didn't become the norm, who doesn't want gullwings on their snow transport?

[@christophmahler]

"(...) a transmission that drove tracks that would wear out." Exactly. A vehicle that can navigate open snow _and swamp_ , rivers, coasts (like the Airboat in Florida Everglades) suits Russian geography which infrastructure is underdeveloped as too maintenance intensive. Unless the open engines were prone to failure in weather, it looks much more preferable than snowmobiles that are extensively used by the indigenous peoples.

[@frog8220]

“Plenty Rubles for winter troubles”

[@paulwoodman5131]

@@frog8220 Is that like the Russian generals. January and February?

[@Jonathan-d8d7i]

This gives me hope that we'll get something on the Ekranoplans sometime in the future.

[@dingoatemybaby9739]

This is a peculiar break from the norm… A very good vehicle though!

[@kidmohair8151]

i bet they were a blast to drive. 06:30 gives a whole new meaning to foot brake...

[@themostokaypersonever84]

The dry humor in your videos is amazing

[@9Apilot]

The Soviets didn’t place too much stock in consumer safety. We could never have a contraption like that here in the USA . Trial lawyers would have a field day with that unguarded propeller being the most obvious issue.

[@ruskiwaffle1991]

Leave that to the hillbillies.

[@geodkyt]

​@@ruskiwaffle1991"Crackers" and "Cajuns" , not "hillbillies", please. Keyword being "hill" as the differentiator. 😂 And seriously, airboats in the US have had guarded propellers for *decades*, almost from the beginning of the big explosion of their use shortly after WWII.

[@JTA1961]

The soviets were always russian to get... a~head

[@PhantomLover007]

Very cool topic. kind of like a predecessor to the hovercraft for the later models that could go both on land and in water

[@shaider1982]

This fighter has all the pounds for ground to ground🤣 seriously, hope you also cover Tupolev's PT boats.

[@frog8220]

Plenty rubles for winter troubles

[@The_ZeroLine]

Please make a video about the other makes of these aero sleds. I loved this video.

[@bravodelta3083]

Never heard of this; thank you!

[@yes_head]

Yes, very Christmas-y, comrade.

[@petesheppard1709]

Thanks for a really interesting, if off-beat video! Another example of little-known Russian ingenuity. Like the Everglade airboats, but for snow. 😎

[@Deviation4360]

It's great to see a film dedicated to these vehicles. They are the coolest type of terrestrial vehicle when seen from an air enthusiasts point of view. It's a wonder there hasn't been a version of these made in the US to exploit the air-boat tech developed there, in order to make unique road going vehicles. I know general folks (and especially their kids) and propellers don't mix but conventional automobiles aren't much less lethal. Drive trains (especially on modern SUV's) are the most expensive and complicated/heavy aspect of cars and "Air-cars" I suppose they would be called would eliminate all that. Woodland living people wouldn't have as many kinetic arguments with wildlife if they got around sounding like a very large hungry Mosquito.

[@OgamiItto70]

What a brilliant man Sir Guy was...

[@yogurt3572]

Yep, another banger !

[@dhroman4564]

Very interesting video on an unusual vehicle.

[@mortisCZ]

I want that gullwing one! I would rarely desire anything produced in CCCP but this one is cool.

[@TryingToBeReasonable]

Drawings from the Modelist-Constructor monthly magazine, I perceive.

[@MM22966]

What an odd evolutionary design line. Not snow mobiles exactly, and the last version is more like a hovercraft and a swamp boat had a baby together. I had seen pictures of the WW2 models, thought they were a one-off joke, and didn't know about the other models or the history. Those Russians, always doing things to their own criteria! Thanks, NotAPound!!!!

[@sadwingsraging3044]

Seen an A3 go ascoss the Barrett-Jackson auction block. The guy who bought it also bought an orange Hemi Cuda convertible!😮

[@davidg3944]

Very cool (is joke) video! If you can find information on similar machines from other countries it would be nice to see it.

[@jonqualey2204]

I sure could use on of those today in north-east Ohio.

[@WildBillCox13]

A fascinating concept and weirdly appealing execution. Compare with the USA's M29C Weasel. A sort of a tracked Jeep with amphibious capability. Very good in snow. Not as fast as an aerosan, but fast by most amphibious vehicle standards. Weasels were used in snowy country until quite recently, a tribute to a design and vehicle almost 80 years old. Also compare with Florida air boats.

[@Matt_The_Hugenot]

The anime of these being used like machinegun armed cavalry is writing itself in my head.

[@The_ZeroLine]

I need one of these.

[@zooot820]

Where’s the CF100 Canuck video?! Soon I hope!

[@bigblue6917]

I do know about these vehicles but but it was nothing more that a photograph and a line or two. So it is nice to get a fuller picture. The French had trials with an aero car during WW1 which was a car with and aircraft engine and propeller at the back. For some reason they thought they could cross the battlefield better than a standard armoured car.

[@mcal27]

Bit of a diversion, but very nice! Just FYI Tupolev is pronounced Too-Pol-ef Just a minor thing :) enjoyable vid as usual!

[@40over86]

I want one.

[@CapitalRoach]

The A3 sledge from the 60s looks like it's straight out of Captain Scarlet

[@rm6330]

How did the brakes on the rear skis work? I'm not familiar with snowmobiles living in Australia 😂

[@warmstrong5612]

The gullwing models remind me of tiny ekranoplans.

[@yolkiandeji7649]

“Most people laughed at us, but the Russians have put it into production. Its a Hovervan!”

[@danieltaylor5231]

How much would they have loved a committee set up to purge previous committees?

[@angrydachshund]

Who makes these and where can i buy one?

[@elliotdryden7560]

Looks like “The Sharper Image” was late to the party. 😎

[@MarijnRoorda]

Sensible video sizes? Feels like youtube algorithm ruling to me!

[@johnstirling6597]

When did the "Sov's" make the jump to jet powered aerosans?

[@paulwoodman5131]

Right about the time they put jet engines on trains too. 😅

[@johnstirling6597]

@@paulwoodman5131 powered by vodka🤣🤣

[@PositionLight]

Tupolev, the Bombardier of Russia.

[@matthewdupuis232]

ROFL, what an opening!😅

[@mrkeogh]

If you were a very lucky Comrade, you got to sit on a committee on purges and not on a purged committee. Although the odds of surviving both Stalin AND the aftermath of Beria's removal were pretty tiny. The purgers got purged eventually 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@tomsmith2209]

Russia has General Winter, we have Major Rain.

[@BobAbc0815]

Like those Boats in the Swamps of Florida, except in cool🥶

[@kenmartin1919]

Too bad Russia/Soviet Union have chosen or allowed political systems other than capitalism. I have met many Russians and Ukrainians in the early 2000’s in Sacramento, California. I was a Deputy Sheriff. Talented yes. Resoursvol yes. Adaptation took awhile but you could feel they were happy and wanted to adjust to America. With their limited speech, the elders would tell me I don’t like America, i love America. The words spoken were sincere and now these people are just making America more diverse, in a positive way.

[@ruskiwaffle1991]

I've seen videos of dudes on sleds powered by rockets or pulsejets. Have the Russians ever tried slapping on some of those on these things?

[@WALTERBROADDUS]

Seems like a half step to a hovercraft?

[@christophmahler]

Communists: 'In the future, we shall have propeller driven sledges !' And they did.

[@HeaanLasai]

So you gave a pound for air on ground?

[@Bob-b7x6v]

Aerosans.

[@SpacePatrollerLaser]

How 'bout that? Every pound for ground to ground. Almost like the airboats used down in the Everglades and other large southern US swamps

[@budwyzer77]

A decadent Western aerosled would have wastefully housed the propeller inside of a safety cage.

[@peterdoege1740]

Growing up in Florida we had airboats with roughly similar configurations. I’ve never seen one without a safety cage. Largely to protect the propeller from branches

[@simon199418]

Even 100+ year old Soviet schematics use metric units of measurement.....

[@alepaz1099]

👀