NKL-16/41 AEROSANI

Scale 1:35 - Styrene

Aerosans were light plywood sleighs, driven by aircraft engines. The NKL-16 was a troop and cargo carrier version.

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION

The NKL-16/41 was the wartime version of the NKL-16, developed at the OKB-41 Design Bureau, which had been evacuated from Moscow to Kirov in the autumn of 1941 and the majority of the vehicles were built in plant No41 in Kirov.

The fully enclosed cabin was constructed from 4mm plywood sheets.They were painted in matt white (gloss white varnish on untreated wood).

BRAKES

The braking system consisted of metal ‘teeth’ that were extended into the snow through openings on the skis.

STEERING

Steering was achieved through a conventional steering wheel, linked by a pantograph control system to all four skis.

ENGINE AND FUEL

It was powered by a Shvetsov M-11 aircraft engine (the same used on Polikarpov U-2). The distinctive bulbous, aluminum fuel tank, was attached to the front of the vehicles with metal straps, a feature that proved particularly vulnerable in combat.