If some time ago the author said that he would have to “reinvent the wheel”, he would take it as a joke. However, the skepticism has vanished after discovering a magazine with a model of “vetrohod”, made by Alexander Twins. The model had air and propellers sitting on the inclined shaft, and moved strictly against the wind under the action… of the wind!
It seemed tempting to do on this single principle vetrohod: two Bicycle wheels, if the spokes in pairs to paste over thick fabric, could serve as a multi-blade wind turbine, the rotating propeller via a chain drive.
But what to do when there is no wind? You can turn the wheels pedals! Then the wheels turn into propellers, and the propeller as in the previous case, is used lo its intended purpose. However, this transmission was quite difficult and promised big losses.