The 1930's and 1940's were certainly an inventive era for aircraft design .....
I guess it was because there was not a firm understanding of what was, and wasn't possible .... or even what was actually desirable in an aircraft.
So the Americans were no more immune from this sort of speculative design than the Soviets .... The Hughes H-4 Hercules for instance, was made of Birch wood (aluminium shortages in WWII), to keep weight down, and conceived in 1942, it could carry two 30-ton M4 Sherman tanks. It was in fact the largest flying boat ever built, and is still on display at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum.
But back in 1932, an American aircraft designer called J. Walter Christie, told Modern Mechanic magazine that he was working on the design of 'flying tanks,' and that the arrival of a 'flock of these on the battlefield' would end the battle almost immediately.
He had already produced the 'Christie tank suspension' system, which became the mainstay of the Soviet T34 battle tank (as well as early British tanks), so his claims were initially given some traction ... but the US military refused to fund development of the idea.
However the Soviets wanted to find away to deliver battle tanks directly to the battlefield during the second world war ... the obvious solution of parachuting tanks from bombers, just required too many parachutes (made of expensive silk in those days, and in short supply in Soviet Russia), and very big powerful air planes that weren't available to fly them. Also the parachutes couldn't be sure to safely handle the loads and not damage the tanks or crews, so that was a non starter.
They found that their heavy bombers could land on the battlefield carrying T-27 tankettes and T-37 tankettes (light tanks), but these were of limited battlefield impact. They also experimented, with T-40 amphibious tanks being issued to some airborne units, but again it was a small tank, and of limited use. So they still wanted to find a way to drop larger battle tanks into the front using winged methods.
Again, it wasn't a new or original idea. The Imperial Japanese Army was doing similar experiments, but again only with small lightweight tanks ... the mini tanks could be winged or carried in heavy gliders. The UK had conducted very similar experiments, and in 1941 even produced a design for a 100 ft wingspan "Carrier Wing Glider", a large tailless wing to carry a tank ... trials on a reduced scale glider were successful, but deemed to be less useful than heavy gliders, with light scout tanks (these were developed instead for DDay).
So undeterred by Mr Christie's knock back on flying tanks, and unaware of Japanese and British experiments, the Soviets looked to gliding tanks, and commissioned Oleg Antonov to examine the idea. He considered large gliders, but instead added a detachable cradle, to a much lightened T-60 light tank, with large wood and fabric biplane wings, and a twin tail. Code named the Antonov A-40 Krylya Tanka
A prototype was built, and one semi-successful very limited test flight was completed on the 2nd of September 1942, this after the crew had stripped it to the bone to weigh 7.8 tons .... the glide towing plane nearly broke under the strain. with its engines smoking. So they barely got a couple of miles away, then cut the tow rope and it managed to glide to the ground, the relieved crew stripped off the wings and drove back to the air field.
However to the relief of all concerned (not least comrade Antonov - he will certainly have heard of the fate of the unsuccessful "hydro bus" designers, who were strapped into the G-45 for a test drop after an earlier failure; they survived, but the project was cancelled), the Krylya Tanka project was dropped due to the lack of sufficiently-powerful aircraft to tow it at the required 160 km/h.
Strange and wonderful times in the aircraft world ... we may never see the like again.
 |
| Hughes H-4 Hercules "Spruce Goose" Flew in 1947 - The Largest Flying Boat Ever Built. |
I guess it was because there was not a firm understanding of what was, and wasn't possible .... or even what was actually desirable in an aircraft.
So the Americans were no more immune from this sort of speculative design than the Soviets .... The Hughes H-4 Hercules for instance, was made of Birch wood (aluminium shortages in WWII), to keep weight down, and conceived in 1942, it could carry two 30-ton M4 Sherman tanks. It was in fact the largest flying boat ever built, and is still on display at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum.
But back in 1932, an American aircraft designer called J. Walter Christie, told Modern Mechanic magazine that he was working on the design of 'flying tanks,' and that the arrival of a 'flock of these on the battlefield' would end the battle almost immediately.
 |
| Flying Tank Idea J Walter Christie |
He had already produced the 'Christie tank suspension' system, which became the mainstay of the Soviet T34 battle tank (as well as early British tanks), so his claims were initially given some traction ... but the US military refused to fund development of the idea.
However the Soviets wanted to find away to deliver battle tanks directly to the battlefield during the second world war ... the obvious solution of parachuting tanks from bombers, just required too many parachutes (made of expensive silk in those days, and in short supply in Soviet Russia), and very big powerful air planes that weren't available to fly them. Also the parachutes couldn't be sure to safely handle the loads and not damage the tanks or crews, so that was a non starter.
They found that their heavy bombers could land on the battlefield carrying T-27 tankettes and T-37 tankettes (light tanks), but these were of limited battlefield impact. They also experimented, with T-40 amphibious tanks being issued to some airborne units, but again it was a small tank, and of limited use. So they still wanted to find a way to drop larger battle tanks into the front using winged methods.
Again, it wasn't a new or original idea. The Imperial Japanese Army was doing similar experiments, but again only with small lightweight tanks ... the mini tanks could be winged or carried in heavy gliders. The UK had conducted very similar experiments, and in 1941 even produced a design for a 100 ft wingspan "Carrier Wing Glider", a large tailless wing to carry a tank ... trials on a reduced scale glider were successful, but deemed to be less useful than heavy gliders, with light scout tanks (these were developed instead for DDay).
So undeterred by Mr Christie's knock back on flying tanks, and unaware of Japanese and British experiments, the Soviets looked to gliding tanks, and commissioned Oleg Antonov to examine the idea. He considered large gliders, but instead added a detachable cradle, to a much lightened T-60 light tank, with large wood and fabric biplane wings, and a twin tail. Code named the Antonov A-40 Krylya Tanka
 |
| The Krylya Tanka The Worlds First Flying Tank ...... |
A prototype was built, and one semi-successful very limited test flight was completed on the 2nd of September 1942, this after the crew had stripped it to the bone to weigh 7.8 tons .... the glide towing plane nearly broke under the strain. with its engines smoking. So they barely got a couple of miles away, then cut the tow rope and it managed to glide to the ground, the relieved crew stripped off the wings and drove back to the air field.
However to the relief of all concerned (not least comrade Antonov - he will certainly have heard of the fate of the unsuccessful "hydro bus" designers, who were strapped into the G-45 for a test drop after an earlier failure; they survived, but the project was cancelled), the Krylya Tanka project was dropped due to the lack of sufficiently-powerful aircraft to tow it at the required 160 km/h.
Strange and wonderful times in the aircraft world ... we may never see the like again.
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