The Tupolev A-3 Aerosledge is an all-metal amphibious aerosledge, designed to transport passengers and light freight in remote areas of the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. Officially known as the A-3 ''"Hope"'' (''"Nadezhda"'' in Russian), it uses a single pusher
propeller
A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...
mounted behind the enclosed cabin to propel the craft over snow or water.
[McLeavy, Roy, (1982). "Jane's Surface Skimmers", London, England: Jane's Publishing Company Limited, pp 65–67. ]
Survivors
* A 1978 A-3, registered ''N007'' (possibly the only one imported to the U.S.), was offered at a
Barrett-Jackson
Barrett-Jackson is an American collector car auction company headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. It was founded by Scottsdale business partners Tom Barrett and Russ Jackson. They initially launched a car show, Fiesta de los Autos Elegantes, in 1 ...
auction in 2007. The craft had a non-standard nine-cylinder engine, and two counter-rotating propellers. This A-3 was sold at Barrett-Jackson's 2015 Scottsdale auction for $220,000 and again at the 2020 edition of the same auction for $143,000.
See also
*
Aerosani
*
Airboat
An airboat (also known as a planeboat, swamp boat, bayou boat, or fanboat) is a flat-bottomed watercraft propelled by an aircraft-type propeller and powered by either an aircraft or automotive engine. It is commonly used for fishing, hunting, r ...
*
KRISTI snowcat
Notes
References
* McLeavy, Roy, (1982) "Jane's Surface Skimmers", London, England: Jane's Publishing Company Limited, pp 65–67.
* Walter Lorch, (1977) "Geschichte des Verkehrs auf Schnee und Eis" Orell Düssli Verkag Zürich, page 143.
External links
{{commons category, Tupolev A-3
N007 Tupolev, aerosled with ground effect 'The remarkable part boat, part sled, part ground-effect Tupelov(sic) aerosled'''gizmag.com''/''newatlas.com''
''Aerosani-amfibiya AS-2'' a modern amphibious recreational vehicle from aircraft manufacturer Tupolev (Russian language)
(Hungarian -tr. MUSEUM OF FLIGHT Szolnok: Tupolev A-3 "Aerosan" amphibian) a page of the
Museum of Hungarian Aviation in
Szolnok
Szolnok (; also known by #Name and etymology, alternative names) is the county seat of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county in central Hungary. A city with county rights, it is located on the banks of the Tisza river, in the heart of the Great Hungarian ...
, with some pictures of the aerosledges, showing them in
Budaörs
Budaörs (; ; , or ; ) is a town in Pest County, Budapest metropolitan area, Hungary.
Location
A suburb of Budapest, the town lies among the Buda and Csiki hills and the Tétény plateau in the Budaörs-basin. The dramatic ''Törökugrató' ...
, and in their new location
Kamov AEROSLED K30(VINTAGE SLEDS IN RUSSIA)
Snowmobiles
Soviet inventions
Tupolev
Soviet Air Force
Rescue equipment