History of Sledges

Prince Potemkin gave a holiday in honor of the Empress Catherine II in the Tauride Palace. Of course, the prince's attire did not differ modestly, especially a hat that shone with diamonds. This hat had only one drawback - to wear it on the head because of the severity it was impossible. And one of the adjutants carried it in the hands of the nobleman. Potemkin's hat is not the only one of its kind."Monomakh's Hat" weighs almost a kilogram. The crown of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich - the "cap Astrakhan" - is twice heavier. The chronicler narrates that on May 10, 1665, the weak king's health, sitting on the throne, fainted: the head did not remove the weight of the cap. Under the hats were decorated and other outfits.

And now we try to imagine the departure of the king in one of the summer days of the XV-XVI centuries. The Emperor enters the porch. Sparkling jewels clothes. Here he sits in the. .. sleigh, and the royal departure sets out. In a sleigh in the summer? Exactly. Solemn departures of kings and patriarchs until the XVII century were sanny. Something like Potemkin's hat - not very comfortable, but majestic.

Not only the kings went in a sleigh in the summer. In off-road conditions in the Far North, in South Siberia, the sledge was often replaced with a cart in the summer. Of course, the sleigh is much older than the wheeled vehicle. After all, the wheel had yet to be invented. And then he tied the two front ends of the poles to a dog, a horse or a bull, and the rear ones dragged along the ground. Such sleighs are called drag-and-drop. These simple means of transportation serve a person even now. And during the Great Patriotic War, scrapers made from all sorts of materials - plywood, iron, brushwood, soldiers' tents, used to supply the advanced units and remove the wounded from the battlefield.

Let's ask ourselves a question: why is it best to move on straight skids on ice and snow? Under the skids, if their material is well selected and processed, a thin layer of ice or snow melts from friction, resulting in slip resistance, and very significantly. Our ancestors hardly thought about friction, but they felt its effect through experience and observation. And a sleigh appeared on skids. Most often, the "engine" was a horse.

What kind of sled was not created for the history of mankind! Toboggan is a sleigh without runners. Narts - sledge with skids. There were even dwellings on sledges - "nartyany chum".A light frame was mounted on runners, and on top was covered with skins and canvas. In such a dwelling, windows were made, and the stove was installed inside.

At the beginning of the century, attempts were made to create a sled with a mechanical engine. The first design of such a sleigh was invented by the Russian engineer A. S. Kuzin in 1908.His model, equipped with an aircraft engine that rotated the screw installed in the pipe, developed a speed of up to 70 kilometers per hour. Since that time, a lot of various aerosleigh designs have appeared, over which well-known scientists and designers worked. This is not accidental, because in the northern regions of our country, aerosleighs are very necessary. In the 60s, the creator of the famous passenger aircraft Tu-104, Tu-144 AN Tupolev invented a sleigh amphibian for 6 people. In such a sleigh it is not terrible to ride on ice: if it breaks, the sleigh will swim. They are able to overcome marshes and thickets, and can open up to 75 kilometers per hour in open water areas.

Since ancient times, the sleigh has been the favorite means of entertainment for both children and adults. In the XVIII century, a sleigh with a sail was popular, and they made trips through ice lakes. The sleigh of the "goddess of the Celestial Empire", as the Chinese emperor called himself, was closed, and eight servants, shod with shoes with long nails on their soles, were dragging them.

We all remember the lines from childhood:

These poems were written by the poet I. 3. Surikov more than a hundred years ago. Since that time, many new innovations have appeared in the children's sled.

All sleds have two main parts: skids and a seat, rigidly fastened together. It seems difficult to invent something new. But here there was an idea to make this connection not rigid, and elastic. The arc jumper connects the skids with the seat - it is made of sheet steel. The steel is elastic, and the joint works like a spring. Riding on such sledges is much more pleasant. In addition, it is only necessary to stand up, like a sledge. .. jump.

Invented and sleigh with a steering. Their turn can be controlled by pushing forward the left, then the right slope( before that, going down the mountain, the sleigh could be turned only by braking the foot).

Sleds on skis, or skis with a seat, a brake and a rudder, is the well-known snowball "Chuk and Huck", a modern hybrid of skis and sledges. Instead of skis he has skis, not two, but three: the front, controlled by the rudder, and two lateral ones, at the ends of which - foot brakes that help maneuver during descent. Snowballs quickly gained popularity around the world. Skating on them is not only pleasant, but also useful - you can learn to manage a moving "vehicle" at an early age.

And here are absolutely new children's sleds "yumbo", invented in Germany. They are an inflatable cushion made of a durable but very light synthetic material. Sleds are stable and easily slip on any snow. These "pneumatic" soften the blows during a quick ride and collisions with any objects. And most importantly - protect small riders from hypothermia. When folded, the sled is easily placed with the pump in a small bag.

Well and how to move and on snow, and on snowless sites? For this, on normal sleds, you need to install rollers or small wheels on the back. When moving, runners and rollers slide over the snow, and when there is no snow, it is necessary to lift the front part of the sledges on the rope, and they will roll on the rollers. Such sleds are especially convenient in cities.

The popularity of the sled is so great that they are included in the program of the Winter Olympic Games. The high speed developed on a sleigh requires from athletes high art in management, as well as courage, courage and resourcefulness.

Do you know?

What are the types of sports sledges?

Skeleton - for single driving and bobsleigh - multi-luge.