Fw: Track Questions [TANKS]

["Chrysanthos Kanellopoulos" <xchrysk-at-otenet.gr>]

You're right! They do fly, although my question was meant as a compliment. Wait a minute. Your tank is scale 1:10 - 1:12 so if it performs these stunts with 8 -10 kms/h, that means this is a true 1:1 speed of about 100 -120 kms/H on rough , bumpy terrain?? Is that possible?

((I know people who run speed boats complain about pains in the back and their dental fillings - they tend to fall off from bouncing on sea waves. WHat happens with such shocks to a tank's crew?)

 

I had seen this old footage with a CHristie rolling down a slope and bouncing and flying and thought THAT was insane. And that was the 1930's !! - or 1928??

 

CHrys

 

>and, do real tanks jump and fly and land in one piece like YOUR tank does?



>Absolutely, Check out these vids of tanks going fast and being pushed to their limits.
>Should also mention the importance of weight distribution for this sort of stuff.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTJk49Cqf3M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F-KRPAXizw&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dvi5WjZGcc&NR

----- Original Message -----

From: Chrysanthos Kanellopoulos

To: tanks-at-rctankcombat.com

Sent: Tuesday, October 17, 2006 10:00 AM

Subject: Fw: Track Questions [TANKS]

 

You're right George, return rollers were used in tanks with smaller wheels; it just happens in scale models that the rollers hold the track on one level, thereby minimizing flapping. That's a "side effect". I was talking about the effects that occurr on scale tanks with to-scale spaces and materials. Still, in great speeds, the wave - though a smaller wave- bounces on the rollers of the model and is transferred from the rollers to the front. That's if you don't have suspensions...

 

Materials in different scales work a little different. That's mainly because we tend to overdo it with stunts, like driving and abusing in a rocky terrain with a "real" speed of 60 kms/h (and, do real tanks jump and fly and land in one piece like YOUR tank does?). See bending momentum, say of a rod, when you double the scale. The volume and weight increases 8 times, however the section of  the rod is increased only 4 times while the strength of the material remains the same.  Meaning, the smaller, the stronger.

Tracks to scales 1:5 - 1:10 tend to flap more easily, either because the tracks have the proper dimensions but they don't have the proper to-scale weight (made of different materials) or are made of more elastic materials. However, the "wave" effect for flapping appears on tracks made of individual links. I think. I checked it on a video, in slow motion! - again without road wheel suspensions.

 

CHrys

 

 

From what I understand return rollers where to stop the track flapping around. Tanks with return rollers usually have their road wheel arms dropped lower to improve ground clearance with smaller wheels. T34 was a very low tank compared with US tanks with rollers.
T34 was also a tank that was considered to have a tight track due to its sprocket/track design and wheel placement