WW2 Ski Sleds Aerosan

RF-8 or GAZ-98

NKL-26 Aerosan

aerosan

An aerosan (Russian: aэросани, aerosani, literally 'aerosled') is a type of propeller-powered snowmobile, running on skis, used for communications, mail deliveries, medical aid, emergency recovery and border patrolling in northern Russia, as well as for recreation. Aerosans were used by the Soviet Red Army during the Winter War and the Second World War.

The first aerosans may have been built by young Igor Sikorsky in 1909–10, before he built multi-engine airplanes and helicopters. They were very light plywood vehicles on skis, propelled by old airplane engines and propellers.

Military aerosans

Military use of the aerosan goes back to at least the 1920s. During the 1939–40 Winter War against Finland, some were equipped with a machine-gun ring mount on the roof. They could carry four to five men, and tow four more on skis. The aerosans were initially used for transport, liaison, and medical evacuation in deep snow, and mostly used in open country and on frozen lakes and rivers because of their poor hill-climbing ability and limited manoeuvrability on winding forest roads.

During WWII, aerosans were found to be useful for reconnaissance and light raiding in northern areas, thanks to their high mobility in deep snow (25–35 km/h, where many vehicles couldn't move at all). Responsibility for aerosans was transferred to the Soviet Armoured Forces (GABTU) and orders were submitted for design and fabrication of lightly-armoured versions, protected by ten millimetres of steel plate on front.

http://www.armor.kiev.ua/Tanks/WWII/sani/

http://wapedia.mobi/en/Aerosan

http://www.armor.kiev.ua/Tanks/WWII/sani/?img=sani4.jpg.html

www.wikipedea.com

I tried my own scratchbuild version for the Germans: