In a message dated Mon, 17 Dec 2001 7:13:44 AM Eastern Standard Time, "Mike S" <tankcity@globalnet.co.uk> writes:
> Late following up this thread as usual. The man's original query was how
> many pads he should allow for when ordering a new vehicle set.
> The curious thing here is that almost *any* make of tank from no matter what
> country and no matter what size seems to require approx 65 to 68 links per
> side. I have never understood why this constant always seems to apply.
Although the French are generally credited with the invention of the tank, it was originally equipped with short sections of rigid rail. The rail was laid out and picked up again behind the vehicle. BTW, the word "tank" is short for the French expression for "intermittent locomotive". It proved cumbersome, and a way was sought to make the rail flexible so it could be joined at the ends. It was the Poles who finally invented the tank track. It was a project of the RPCOSFLTATV, or Royal Polish College of Study for Lighter Than Air Track Vehicles. In the Polish number system, it should be mentioned that any number greater than 68 is merely notated on blueprints as "morethan68", or MTS. While the vehicle may well have 88 segments per track, the highest number noted will always be 68. In fact, the legendary Herbanskyvynskoslowski Main Battle Tank of 1921 had two hundred sixty eight track segments, and would have been more successful, had it not been for the thirty thousand track pins, connectors, links, and nut
s required for each track. Since there is no direct Polish translation for "cotter pin", it required a convoy follower truck loaded with spare nuts and connectors to keep it running. If the truck crew stopped for the inevitable rest stop or bawdy house visit, the tank could always be found a few hundred yards away, mired fast in a great pile of loose hardware and road junk.
The constant of 68 derives from Waselewski's Second Corollary of Bendability. You construct a track with increasing numbers of segments until it operates without getting thrown off as it rounds the drive sprocket. You then add one segment to either side, depending on your location relative to the equator. This is always "morethan68", a phenomenon first observed by Waselweski.
Very early tanks had rubber tracks made from cast off mine conveyor belting. The edges were perfed the same as printer paper, and everything worked well UNTIL the inevitable paper jam occurred. From this era, we get the phrase "Hewlett-Packard!!", which is a German curseword for when your 60 ton tank goes off the edge of the road into a ravine after a paper jam. The scenario of a wet slick rubber track sliding on gooey greasy clay, on a 60 degree side slope, propelled on by 60 tons of scrap iron and explosives, gave a whole new meaning to the word "slippery". Movable turrets were soon developed so that the descending gunner and unfortunate crew could exchange greetings with the tank commander as they slid down the slope with the tank while the commander watched.
Jack, always glad to help
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