Monday 9 September 2019

Experimental Work at Factory #183, February 1941

"Report on experimental work at factory #183 for February of 1941

Work performed at workshop 500:
  1. Trials of two types of main clutches with a friction clutch for the fan. Tanks with these clutches drove for 400 km, after which trials stopped due to breakages of three pins on each. Presently, a new main clutch is being produced with an altered driving drum and a friction clutch for the fan. This type will be produced in mid-March of 1941.
  2. Trials of rigidly installed fans were performed. Positive results have not yet been achieved.
  3. Two variants of gearboxes with a reduced third gear were tested. Trials are complete and gave positive results.
  4. Trials of a gearbox with constantly meshed 2nd, 3rd, and 4th gears continue. The tank travelled for 3000 km. No gearbox defects have been observed.
  5. Two T-34 tanks are being used to test substitute materials, both in the transmission and running gear.
  6. New radios (KRSTB) were installed on two T-34 tanks and are being tested.
  7. Flamethrower trials continue. The following was discovered:
    1. The maximum range of the stream is 65 meters. In this case, there is enough fuel for 3-4 shots.
    2. A shorter stream has a range of 50 meters. In this case, one can make 8-10 shots. A special manually operated handle was used to make short streams. Pneumatic clearing of the hose was disabled.
    3. Leaking of fuel on the prototype has still not been fixed. Blueprints of a variant without these defect have been sent to production.
  8. Installation and stationary trials of A-7M heating equipment began. The heating system is based on a single pass boiler design and had a number of design defects, which led to the system not launching when installed on the tank.
Work performed at workshop 520:
  1. Blueprints for a model of a major modernized T-34 are delivered to production, the final layout is being developed, various components and assemblies are being developed.
  2. Work on minor modernizations of the T-34 tank is underway. Presently, blueprints for 31 out of 39 topics have been completed and delivered to production, 14 topics have been completed and sent to Mariupol. Blueprints for 8 topics have not yet been completed. Two of them are on the fan and track, which have not been successfully solved yet.
Composed by: GABTU Military Representative, Military Engineer 3rd Class, Baikov
Approved by: acting GABTU Regional Engineer, Captain Rusakov"

1 comment:

  1. Transmissions and heaters. Name two things a tanker does not wish to break down in a cold Russian winter.

    ReplyDelete