Where's the section for "WIERD?"

[frichie68]

The "Schneekrad" prototype snow machine was built in either 1936 or 1939 by BMW engineer Riemerschmidt, using a BMW R-12 engine in a "Gleitkettenkraftrad" or "slip-chain" (?) motorcycle design and a Steib TR-500 sidecar. There is almost no further information on the machine that I can find, which leads me to believe it was a hastily abandoned project with perhaps only a single prototype built.

Tracked motorcycles were neither new nor unique to BMW of course; the British Osborn Engineering Co. (Gosport, Hants) prototyped a tracked motorcycle as early as 1928 and Victoria-Werke AG. experimented with an inline design (replacing the rear wheel with a track) 3 seater in the 1930's as well.

The Kettenkrad proved an effective off-road and general utility vehicle despite the fact that it was relatively expensive to produce and maintain (the tracks alone have 80 lubrication points which need to be greased every 500 miles), and they saw extensive service especially in the deep mud and snow of the Eastern Front. Around 8800 Kettenkrads were built during the war, with another 550 produced post-war (up to 1951) by NSU for agricultural use.


Snow of course has always proved a challenge to military vehicles, and various armies have come up with some unique concepts for dealing with it. One of the most visually interesting was the Russian NKL-26 Aerosani; a lightweight plywood box with ten-millimeter armour plate on the front and armed with a 7.62mm DT machine gun in a top mounted ring. It was powered by an M-11G aircraft engine, and could reportedly reach speeds up to 25–35 km/h in deep snow, where most other vehicles couldn't move at all. Each NKL-26 was operated by two crewmen, and could carry four ski troops riding outside the vehicle on its skis.

An interesting note on the NKL -and one which ties into my old stomping grounds back in Michigan's U.P.- is that there is some evidence that the Soviets obtained plans for "air sleighs" as early as 1924 from one Chester B. Wing, an aviator, automobile dealer and former mayor of St. Ignace, Michigan, U.S.A. He had built practical aerosleds to run across the ice between St. Ignace and Mackinac Island: the Spring 1943 issue of the magazine Science and Mechanics states that "from his aerosleds the Russians developed their present battle sled", although that claim has to be viewed in the context of a picture of an Igor Sikorsky machine in Kiev pre-WWI. Multiple designs of the propeller driven snow machine were used during WWII, including a an ASD-400 heavy assault sled.

Above: ZiL 4904 Heavy Amphibious Vehicle

ZiL 2906

There's plenty of other weirdness out there of course, and as long as mankind is able they'll certainly continue to attempt reinventing the wheel. And cheers to them. I can't help but wish many of these prototype machines had proven more successful; no matter how cool your Polaris "Assault" is, that '36 Schneekrad is WAY cooler.

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[frichie68]

Had to delete a lot of good stuff to get it to fit, a learning exercise!
Rich