Da Vincis Tank

I think, this is the most famouse invention of Da Vinci.

His tank. He was born in a time of big trouble. So he made some war-machines.

Imagine, you are a soldier in the 15/16th century and this strange, unknown thing rolls up to you and you cant do anything against it.

At the bottom I have a "short" video about a freaky team who builds and testes this machine after the original plans.

So, this is perhaps one of the most famous of Da Vinci’s projects. His idea of reaping panic and destruction among enemy troops was envisioned in this tortoise-shaped vehicle, reinforced with metal plates, and ringed with cannons. In a job application to the Duke of Milan, Da Vinci boasted "I can make armoured cars, safe and unassailable, which will enter the close ranks of the enemy with their artillery, and no company of soldiers is so great that they will not break through them. And behind these the infantry will be able to follow quite unharmed and without any opposition." Da Vinci’s precursor to the modern tank surely could have created "shock and awe" on the 15th-century battlefield, the design contained some serious flaws. Even with several modifications to the original plans he continued to be faced with a number of unresolved problems and eventually abandoned the project.
 

The biggest Battleship the world has ever seen!

THE YAMATO

Some datas about this huge Battleship

    Nation: Japanese Empire

Type: Battleship
Shipyard: Kure Naval Dockyard
   Laid Down: November 4, 1937
 Launched: August 8, 1940
Commissioned: December 16, 1941
Fate: Sunk in action North of Okinawa, April 7, 1945

Specifications:
Displacement: 72,800 tonnes
Length: 862 ft. 6 in. (overall)
Beam: 127 ft.
Draft:: 36 ft.
 Propulsion: 12 Kampon boilers, driving 4 steam turbines and 4 propellers
Speed: 27 knots
Range: 7,145 miles at 16 knots
Complement: 2,767 men

Armament (1945):

Guns:
9 x 18.1 in. (3 turrets with 3 guns each)
6 x 6.1 in.
24 x 5 in.
162 x 25 mm anti-aircraft
4 x 13.2 mm anti-aircraft

Aircraft:
7 aircraft using 2 catapults

Construction:

Naval architects in Japan began work on the Yamato-class of battleships in 1934, with Keiji Fukuda serving as the chief designer. Following Japan's 1936 withdrawal from the Washington Naval Treaty, which forbade new battleship construction before 1937, Fukuda's plans were submitted for approval. Initially meant to be 68,000-ton behemoths, the design of the Yamato-class followed the Japanese philosophy of creating ships that were bigger and superior to those likely to be produced by other nations.

For the ships' primary armament, 18.1" (460 mm) guns were selected as it was believed that no US ship with similar guns would be capable of transiting the Panama Canal. Originally conceived as a class of five ships, only two Yamatos were completed as battleships. With the approval of Fukuda's design, plans quietly moved forward to expand and specially prepare a drydock at the Kure Naval Dockyards for construction of the first ship. Veiled in secrecy, Yamato was laid down on November 4, 1937.

In order to prevent foreign nations from learning the actual size of the ship, Yamato's design and cost were compartmentalized with few knowing the true scope of the project. In order to accommodate the massive 18.1" guns, Yamato featured an extremely wide beam which made the ship very stable even in high seas. Though the ship's hull design, which featured a bulbous bow and a semi-transom stern, was tested extensively, Yamato was unable to achieve speeds higher than 27 knots making it unable to keep up with most Japanese cruisers and aircraft carriers.

This slow speed was largely due to the vessel being underpowered. In addition, this issue led to high levels of fuel consumption as the boilers struggled to produce enough power. Launched with no fanfare on August 8, 1940, Yamato was completed and commissioned on December 16, 1941, shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Entering service, Yamato, and later its sister Musashi, became the largest and most powerful battleship ever built.
Operational History:

Two months after its commissioning, Yamato became the flagship of the Japanese Combined Fleet led by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. That May, Yamato sailed as part of Yamamoto's Main Body in support of the attack on Midway. Following the Japanese defeat at the Battle of Midway, the battleship moved to the anchorage at Truk Atoll arriving in August 1942. The ship remained at Truk for much of the next year largely due to its slow speed. In May 1943, Yamato sailed to Kure and had its secondary armament altered and new Type-22 search radars added.

Returning to Truk that December, Yamato was damaged by a torpedo from USS Skate en route. After repairs were completed in April 1944, Yamato joined the fleet during the Battle of the Philippine Sea that June. In October, Yamato fired its main guns for the first time in battle during the Japanese defeat at Leyte Gulf. Though hit by two bombs, the battleship aided in sinking an escort carrier and several destroyers off Samar. The following month, Yamato returned to Japan to have its anti-aircraft armament further enhanced.

After this upgrade was completed, Yamato was attacked by US aircraft with little effect while sailing in the Inland Sea on March 19, 1945. With the Allied invasion of Okinawa on April 1, 1945, Japanese planners devised Operation Ten-Go. Essentially a suicide mission, they intended to have Yamato sail south and attack the Allied invasion fleet before beaching itself on Okinawa as a massive gun battery. Once the ship was destroyed, the crew was to join the island's defenders.

Departing Japan on April 6, 1945, Yamato's officers understood that it was to be the vessel's last voyage. As a result, they permitted the crew to indulge in saki that evening. Sailing with an escort of eight destroyers and one light cruiser, Yamato possessed no air cover to protect it as it approached Okinawa. Spotted by Allied submarines as it exited the Inland Sea, Yamato's position was fixed by US aircraft the next morning.

Attacking in three waves, US dive bombers pummeled the battleship with bombs and rockets while torpedo bombers assaulted Yamato's port side. Battered and listing, the order to abandon ship was given around 2:00 PM. As Yamato began to capsize, a massive explosion tore through the after part of the ship as fires reached the stern magazines. Of the ship's crew of 2,778, only 280 were rescued. The US Navy lost ten aircraft and twelve airmen in the attack.

Pic of the Yamato after a bomb hits the ammunition in the front magazine

Modelpicture of the wreck after discovering it in 1982.
It lies 290 kilometres southeast of Kyushu under 340 metres of water in two main pieces, as you can see in the picture below.

The V3 - The "England-Canon"

The V stands for "Vergeltungswaffe" engl. something like "Repayment-weapon"

After Conquering France Hitler don't want to invade Britain, because he wants to fullfill his plans for conquering the east.
He also knew that the Russian army grew from day to day and that it will come to a conflict between Russia and Germany in the near future.
So he wanted to demoralize the Britons by bombing the shit out of them to force them to a peace-treaty.
But after loosing the "Airbattle for England" he needs a new weapon which is able to target London.The search for an alternative reminds Hitler of the old railguns from the first World War, with which the Germans bombed Paris. But the range of the best railgung of that time was about ~70 kilometers. But London was something like 160 kilometers away from Calais. So, he needs a new sort of gun.

Picture of the profile

In 1943, German engineer August Cönders, of Röchling Stahlwerk AG, proposed an electrically initiated multiple-charge weapon. Thanks to the success of Cönders's other projects, including the "Röchling shell", major figures in the Nazi establishment took notice of him, most importantly Albert Speer, the Minister of Munitions.
Cönders was ordered to produce a prototype of the Hochdruckpumpe and duly constructed one in 20 mm calibre, which proved satisfactory. At this point, Adolf Hitler, who had been following the project with interest, took a hand and decided that a battery of 50 full-size guns would be sited in northern France for bombarding London.
Cönders had constructed a full-calibre gun at the Hillersleben proving ground near Magdeburg, but by the end of 1943 he had encountered severe problems both in putting the gun's basic principle into operation and in producing a feasible design for the shells it was to fire. Even when everything worked, the muzzle velocity was just over 1,000 metres per second (3,300 ft/s), which was nowhere near what had been promised. Nonetheless, plans were proposed to build a single full-size gun with a 150 metres (490 ft) barrel at Misdroy on the Baltic island of Wolin, near Peenemünde, while construction at the Mimoyecques site in France (which had already been attacked by the USAAF and the RAF) went ahead. By March 1944, with no good news from Misdroy, the Heereswaffenamt (Weapon Procurement Office) took control of the project, and Cönders became one of the engineers working on the three chief problems: projectile design, obturation, and ignition of the secondary charges.
Six different companies, including Krupp and Skoda, produced satisfactory designs for projectiles. Obturation problems were solved by placing a sealing piston between the projectile and the initial propellant charge, which in turn prevented the flash from the charge from getting ahead of the projectile and solved the problem of controlling the initiation of the secondary charges. By the end of May 1944, there were four designs for the 150-mm finned projectile, one manufactured by Fasterstoff (designed by Füstenberg), and three others by Röchling (Cönders), Bochumer (Verein-Haack), and Witkowitz (Athem).
Trials were held at Misdroy from May 20–24, 1944 with ranges of up to 88 km being attained. On July 4, 1944, the Misdroy gun was test-fired with 8 rounds (one of the 1.8 meter long shells travelled 93 km). The gun burst during the testing, putting an end to the tests.

photo of remains of V-3 in Zalesie

(Testing Area)

The gun used multiple propellant charges placed along the barrel's length and timed to fire as soon as the projectile passed them, to provide an additional boost. Because of their greater suitability and ease of use, solid-fuel rocket boosters were used instead of explosive charges. These were arranged in symmetrical pairs along the length of the barrel, angled to project their thrust against the base of the projectile as it passed. This layout spawned the German codename Tausendfüßler ("millipede"). Unlike conventional rifled weapons of the day, the smooth-bore gun fired a fin-stabilized shell, dependent upon aerodynamic rather than gyroscopic forces to prevent tumbling, which resulted in a lower drag coefficient.

Some short stuff about knives

here is a short informative Post about Knives for you
I hope you enjoy it.
I'm fully back after my examn has finished on thursday this week.
My next post will be about the winner of the vote ---->

Update on March the 13th

Hey all,
sorry for didn't updateing my blog since last wednesday.
I was really busy in studying for my examn next week.

And also thanks for more than 250 followers!
I'm really happy about this :')

I hope, I can post some new stuff as soon as possible.

btw don't forgett the vote on the right side ------------------->

War Tank on One Wheel

Look what crazy thing I found.
The Idea is, that one man, armed with a machine gun, fastly can drive through a battlefield.
Back in the WW I this little machine would have been very frightend battlemachine.
The picture shows an English Wheel tank. The Germans also invented some Wheeltanks, but this tanks were only prototypes, because they would have been not wery effectiv in a a battlefield withe the new "real" tanks (like the British "Mark tanks" or the German "A7V")

War Tank on One Wheel OPERATED BY ONE MAN
Suddenly, through the drifting smoke of a hard-fought battle, rush weird, one-man fighting tanks. They have the appearance of disk wheels and roll like hoops across the battlefield. Pouring out machine-gun fire, they leap over trenches, vaulting across on strange steel crutches to pursue the disorganized enemy.
Such is the startling vision foreseen by a New York inventor. He has just obtained a patent upon a unicycle-type tank which he believes will revolutionize battlefield tactics.

Housed inside the armored body, the operator will steer the single main wheel by means of two small auxiliary wheels at the rear. A turn of the handlebar lifts one stabilizing wheel and lowers the other, shifting the balance of the machine and turning it to one side or the other. An internal gear mechanism, operated by a motor inside the body, drives the wheel ahead at remarkable speed.
By a simple process of inverting the streamlined pants on the stabilizing wheels, so they form balancing floats, and attaching propelling fins to the main wheel, the tank can be turned into an amphibian capable of plunging into a stream and rolling to the other side.
One of the oddest features of the revolutionary machine is formed by the steel-tube crutches that project ahead on either side like medieval lances. As the tank rushes upon a trench or obstruction, the operator will drop the tubes so they dig into the earth and the whole machine will vault through the air to the other side. An open-type form of the vehicle, which is shown on our cover, has also been devised by the inventor. Without the armored body or the crutches, it is designed for highway use.
In various parts of the world, recently, engineers have been reviving the idea of the unicycle. Attracted by the economy and compactness of a one-wheeled vehicle, they have been attacking anew the problems of balance and propulsion which have been the stumbling blocks in the path of the inventors.
In England, an Italian inventor has just demonstrated a single-passenger unicycle in which he claims to have reached speeds of 100 miles an hour and to have made 280 miles on a gallon of gasoline. In the near future, he plans to bring the machine to the United States and demonstrate its adaptability to American highways. Perfected after more than ten years of experiment, this odd machine rests solely upon one huge pneumatic tire encircling the driver, and dispenses entirely with exterior steering apparatus. The metal rim within the tire supports the frame and driver’s seat and is rotated by a motor of one and three-fourths horsepower. To guide the vehicle to left or right, a steering wheel tilts the central frame with respect to the wheel, shifting the driver’s weight and thus steering the hoop. Models of various sizes are contemplated, the diameter of the hoop being suited to the height of the driver, so that a tall man, according to the inventor, would use a larger unicycle than a short man.

The russian "Tsar Tank" - prototype of WW1

The german "Go 229" also named Horton HO IX 229

length:   7,47 m

wing spread:   16.76 m

height:   2.81 m

crew:   1

engine:   2 Jumo 004 B-2 engine with 900kp

max. speed:   ~1000 Km/h

operating distance:   ~1900 km

 

The Go 229 jet aircraft was the first operational flying wing airplane equipped with jet engines. In the history of aviation, it deserves a special place, along with the Me 262 and the Me 163. But the Go 229 is certainly the one that looked the more out-of-this-world.

The German started researching the flying wing aircraft concept in the Twenties. This idea had been explored by Alexander Lippisch, and was further developped by the Horten brothers.
At the end of the Thirties, a few prototypes of the aircraft had been built, with "pusher" propeller engines. The first flights were made in 1937. The beginning of the war served as a catalyst, accelerating the design.

In December, 1944, the German were still working on this strange aicraft, aiming at manufacturing a fighter-bomber equipped with Jumo jet engines. The end of the war in Europe prevented the Nazi from using the airplane against Allied targets.

 
Had it been used to attack the United Kingdom (which at the time was getting early warnings of invading aircraft thanks to the recently invented radar), the Go 229 jet aircraft would have been totally invisible to the radar waves. The German engineers knew it and so they can be considered as the inventors of the stealth aircraft concept, which would later on be developped by the Americans.

Reached the 100 Followers mark

Today, I got over 100 Followers!

Thanks to every single of you
keep posting and following  ;)

next aim: 200 Followers

The HK G11

Caliber: 4.7 mm caseless
Action: Gas operated, rotating breech
Overall length: 750 mm
Barrel length: 540 mm
Weigth: 3.6 kg empty
Magazine capacity: 50 or 45 rds

Rate of fire: ~2000 rounds/min. (3-rounds burst)

The German government decided at the end of the 1960's to replace the G3.

The initial studies lead to the idea of the small-caliber, rapid-fire rifle that fires caseless ammunition. To ensure sufficient stopping/killing power for small-caliber bullets used, the rifle should had have the three-round bursts capability and high capacity magazine.

Early prototypes featured one 50 rounds polymer magazine, while latest versions featured 45 rounds magazines - one in the loaded position within the movable housing and two spare magazines on the top of the rifle, asides from the loaded magazine.

 The rifle features unique cylinder breech/chamber system that rotates 90 degrees. The cartridges in the magazine are located above the barrel, bullets down. Prior to each shot, first cartridge is pushed down from magazine into chamber and then breech/chamber rotates 90 degrees to align the cartridge with the barrel (see pic).

The firing cycle process is roughly:

-As the cocking handle on the side is rotated clockwise by the weapon operator

-A round is dropped into the revolving chamber vertically (a loading piston assists this process).

-The chamber rotates 90° until it is lined up with the barrel. This completes the chambering of the round and cocking of the firing pin.

-When the trigger is pulled, a firing pin ignites the primer, which then ignites a powder booster charge that pushes the bullet into the barrel. The solid block of propellant is broken up to increase the ignition surface area and ignites, accelerating the bullet out of the barrel.

 -As the projectile is accelerating up the barrel, recoil forces drive the barrel, magazine, chamber and operating mechanism rearwards within the weapon, dissipating energy for single shot and fully automatic modes but allowing burst mode to deliver three projectiles downrange before buffering occurs.

 -Gas tapped off from the barrel rotates the chamber and actuates the loading mechanism then rotating the chamber back to the vertical original position until it is lined up with the feed mechanism and the process repeats.

The caseless ammunition in its early appearance was designed as a block of the propellant, coated with flammable laquer, with bullet and primer "glued on" the propellant. Final ammunition design DM11, that appeared in the mid-1980s, featured "telescopic" design, when bullet was fully enclosed in the block of the propellant. The cartridge propelled the bullet that weights 3.25 gramms, to the 930-960 meters per second.

Early prototypes were prone to the ammunition cook-offs during the sustained fire, but later Dynamit Nobel solved this issue.

In the late 1980s the Bundeswehr (West German Army) began the field tests of the pre-production G11s. After the initial tests, some improvements were devised, such as removable optical sight, mounting of two spare magazines on the rifle, and bayonet/bipod mount under the muzzle.

The modified variant, called G11K2, was tested in 1989, scoring at least 50% better combat accuracy when compared to G3 rifle. Initial batch of some 1000 G11K2s was received by Bundeswehr in 1990 or so, but due to some reasons the whole programme was cancelled by German Government. Main reasons of this cancellation were, in my opinion, the lack of fundings after the re-union of the West and East Germanies, and the general NATO policy for unification of the ammunition and even magazines for the assault rifles.

The slightly modified G11 was also tested in the USA under the ACR (Advanced Cobat Rifle) programme, in 1990. The ACR programme was not intended to result in adoption of the new rifle for the US Army, just to test new technologies and designs, and the G11 proved itself as a very accurate, comfortable to handle and fire, and reliable weapon.

And a little Video