holy shit this is an insanely cool vehicle that I had no idea about, fucking Soviet Half-Life 2 airboat :sicko-yes:

  • macabrett
    ·
    2 years ago

    It would have been so fucking cool to see Pierce Brosnan's James Bond gunned down by one of these while he was skiing

  • Beaver [he/him]
    ·
    edit-2
    2 years ago

    Wikipedia article about these.

    Snowmobiles did exist in this time period, so I'm wondering what the advantage is. My guess is that with the technology of the 30s and 40s, this was actually a cheaper and easier maintain option than trying to make a vehicle with continuous tracks.

    • The_Walkening [none/use name]
      ·
      edit-2
      2 years ago

      You don't have to manufacture a transmission for one of these - the propeller goes straight on the crankshaft of the engine so that likely saves a bunch of labor time/materials. You're sort of limited to the redline of the engine, but if it's designed for high RPMs (rotary engines are great for this) feel like a that's not much of a limitation.

    • TheCaconym [any]
      ·
      2 years ago

      The article suggests "otherwise-disused vintage aircraft engines and propellers", so it might simply have been cheaper / easier to find a use for those.

  • LGOrcStreetSamurai [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    The right Russian with a half-life 2 airboat can make all the difference in the world war and kill a nazi

  • Hoyt [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    i wonder how many degrees of incline these things could handle. im guessing not many

    • Beaver [he/him]
      ·
      edit-2
      2 years ago

      Wikipedia suggests that they can't handle any kind of grade... but that's okay if you're using them to fly down a frozen river super fast.

      • Hoyt [he/him]
        ·
        2 years ago

        there's an alternate reality where the USSR won and Comrades of Duty (it sounds better in Russian) is the most popular video game series and there's a level where you get to absolutely whip down a river gunning down nazis in this thing

  • Frank [he/him, he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    There were a couple of units of vehicles like this, some lightly armored, that were used on frozen lakes and rivers. Frozen rivers become, essentially, free roads if the ice is thick enough.

  • FakeNewsForDogs [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    This is hands down the coolest vehicle I have ever seen. How do I get my hands on one?

    • Frank [he/him, he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      As far as frankenvehicles you can build at home this is probably pretty straightforward. The problem is finding anywhere on earth where the lakes and rivers still freeze over hard enough to use it.

      Check out dry lake sailing, though. It has a similar vibe.

      • FakeNewsForDogs [he/him]
        ·
        2 years ago

        I like the way you think. I'm pretty far north, so my main concern would be not so much finding the ice, but rather sourcing a machine gun to mount on the hood. Maybe I could DIY one like that guy who iced Shinzo Abe.

  • The_Walkening [none/use name]
    ·
    2 years ago

    I wonder how well those can turn - I know airboats are extremely good at.

    Also these things rock so fucking much.