Aerosan RF-8, 1/35 scale, from Paper Diorama

[Sakrison]

The "Aerosan RF-8" was built by the Gorky Automobile Factory under the name GAZ-98 and entered service in 1942. It was used in variety of roles including, recon, patrol, communications and raiding, often in support of ski troops and often behind enemy lines. Some 2,000 were built.

It was built of plywood on a wooden frame, rode on independently sprung wooden skis, carried a crew of two, and mounted a single 7.62 mm DT machine gun. The RF-8 was fast, stable, and effective in its various roles. It continued in service until 1950 for border patrol.

My 1/35-scale paper model was a free download from PaperDiorama. I built this one as a gift for a friend who was a product engineer in the snowmobile industry. It's a nice little model and an easy kit to build, and it begs for a 1/35-scale diorama.

[Sakrison]

Jeff Selesky of IPMS Richard Bong Chapter in Milwaukee, WI posted this on Facebook. For those of you not familiar with the term, a "Yooper" is a native of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and St. Ignace is a town in the U.P. on the straits between Lakes Michigan and Huron.

"Of interest to me was what I learned about a similar design during a Google search looking for photos. Designed by Chester Wing who was mayor of a small town of St Ignace, MI about 150 miles from me. He was looking for high speed travel from the mainland to Mackinac Island (around 5 miles each way) in the winter when the Strait froze over.

"Wing was also a car dealer and had access to Ford Model A engines for power. The story continues with the plans being obtained by Igor Sikorsky and found their way to Russia. They were then mass produced. Michigan Historical Society photos show similar machines in use. So the project hit close to home without realizing it."

Pictured is the first snowmobile operated by the Michigan State Police, 1930s. (Source: Michigan History Center)

[Don Boose]

This is a beautiful rendition of an aero-sled, David.

And I enjoyed the additonal info about the provenance of this apparatus.

Wiki (which I am sure you have already checked) says this about the likelihood that Chester Wing invented the first aero-sled: "The Spring 1943 issue of the magazine Science and Mechanics states that 'from his [Wing's] aerosleds the Russians developed their present battle sled.' The claim though has to be viewed in the context of a pre-World War I picture of an Igor Sikorsky machine in Kiev." Aerosani - Wikipedia

This seems to be based largely on this source: The Propellor-Driven Sleigh.

I await further developments in the Yooper-vs.-Soviet aerosan history saga.

Don

[Tapcho]

Beautifully built nice model David. But maybe it was Finnish masterminds who invented the thing later to be called an aerosani?

"To start of this story, we go back in time almost one hundred years, to 1919. In newly independent Finland, ValtionLentokonetehdas (the State Aircraft Factory) began building aerosled’s (“moottorireki”) from immediately after thenew state was created. In 1919, aerosleds were themselves a fairly revolutionary means of transport, first used in the early years of the twentieth century, they had been popular in the old Tsarist Russia and this is possibly wherethe idea for the first Finnish aerosleds originated. Regardless of where the idea came from however, we know that aprototype aerosled had been built at Suomenlinna in 1919 by Asser Järvinen. This earliest of Finnish Aerosleds was alarge (and heavy) three-ski design that could carry 15 persons and was powered by a 150hp Benz engine."

Source: Finnish Aerosleds in Greenland, the 1930 Wegener Expedition. article by Captain Antti Tervasmaa from Feeniks N2, 1997 courtesy of the
Finnish Aviation Museum Society

One picture from 1919 below.

Tappi

[Sakrison]

The plot thickens. It's possible they were "first" invented in several places in response to similar needs and resources. History can be clever that way.

[Michael Mash]

Nice work. I have not seen a vehicle like this before.
How fast would this machine go?

[Paskal]

Yes, Nice work .
I love that machine. Sure i'll build it soon.
Thank you Sakrison (and Paperdiorama) !

[Sakrison]

Originally Posted by Michael Mash

Nice work. I have not seen a vehicle like this before.
How fast would this machine go?

Wikipedia doesn't say how fast, only that: "The RF-8-GAZ-98 was fast, stable effective; and was perfect for reconnaissance, communication, patrolling and raiding roles especially in support of ski troops; often operating behind enemy lines."

Given its light construction and the size of that propeller, I wouldn't be surprised by 100 kph or more on a good surface.