The New And Improved Unofficial R65 Forum V2
Technical Discussion => Ride Reports and Event Reviews => Topic started by: montmil on April 27, 2008, 09:07:08 AM
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The weekend of the "Great R65 Score", my son, grandson and I visited Camp Mabry, in Austin, Texas, for the annual Muster Day. Lots of military hardware on display and open for both big and little kids to explore. Great weather. Both current and restored Army hardware viewed at this pre-WWII and immaculate Texas Army National Guard post.
There was a large contingent of WWII reenactment activities on site. Was kinda odd standing in line to buy my grandson a snocone... waiting behind a German infantryman in full "battle rattle".
Here's the most interesting vehicle I saw all day... The plastic outhouses kinda date the photo :-/
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi196.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Faa1%2Fmontmil%2FBMW%2520R65%2FP4190018.jpg&hash=5713220c2cda04076eff7e21b366507de973df83)
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi196.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Faa1%2Fmontmil%2FBMW%2520R65%2FP4190017.jpg&hash=7e501bb85dd73bf7cd6a3cce723fa353e21d8dc2)
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I've seen that 'vehicle' a few times in WWII documentaries, it was used to tow fighter aircraft around the flight line.
The German name for this is, Kettenkraftrad designated SdKfz.2, made by NSU, it had a 1.5 liter water cooled inline 4 cylinder engine.
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I've also seen the machines in various programs on The History Channel... or as my wife calls it, The World War Two Network. This particular SdKfz.2 was tooling around Camp Mabry all day. Definitely has BMW motorcycle reliability.
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I always wondered how those things could turn with so much lateral resistance from the long caterpillar treads - it seemed like the
telescopic fort front end was unnecessary if it had a basic steering mechanism like a tank or bulldozer with differential steering.
Very cool to see this old hardware in working condition !