recymech66

The car driver talks with the pilot over a radio and advises on position etc as the wing span is huge, the wheels are collected by a pickup which travels behind the chase car. Other than that I'm not sure there's other functions.

Great for in the desert but an absolute deathtrap against IEDs.

I was based in Cyprus until last year and had the oppotunity to get a ride in the chase car that follows the U2 on take off and landing, I also spent time with the pilots in the crew room as they were getting ready for the flight. An awesome experience driving down the runway chasing the U2 at crazy speeds, I have some great video and photos but can't upload any at the moment as I'm away with work.

I can get you one but I'm in Afghan at the moment so if you don't get one in the next couple of months send me a message and I'll pop one in the post for you when I get back.

I'm still serving and can confirm they are not an issued item of kit, unfortunately. I've been in for 18 years and have never seen an issued one but as stated earlier in the thread you can buy many different types of "housewife" in many different cam patterns. I do however remember my Dad's housewife, he served in the Royal Horse Artillery in the 50's and kept it for many years and it is exactly as described earlier, I remember it being a light coloured off white possibly beige roll which when rolled up it was tied in the middle to keep the contents secure, it contained various buttons thread and needles.

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Somebody needs to tell 99% of the Army of today then as there is a lot of er, Rogering going on:D

Leopard 2 A6 on the back of a lowloader, A7 North of Hanover wonderful tank.

Yep seen, haven't got any sound on the computer I'm watching it on, I was assuming they were trying to pull it out with both vehicles as the front vehicles spinning his wheels. Seems to me that the trusty shovel would've made some difference if the wrecker wasn't up to the job.:-D

I'm not to well up on the towing arrangement on that truck but to me it looks like by attempting to pull the Disco out with the winch/tow rope quite high up has transfered the forces generated to the weakest point which in this case looks to be the mid point of the chassis, add to this the front being chained to the front vehicle has caused some damage. I can see what they were attempting to do and I've done this many times myself, attaching 2 vehicles together and using their combined pulling power to rescue a bogged vehicle. Now this should only be attempted if you know what your doing and full control should be exercised over the drivers of all 3 vehicles, ie 1 man in control of the job, as long as everybody is driving in the lowest gear possible, in low range all axles/diff locks etc in, then it should be ok. This shouldn't be attempted when trying to winch a bogged vehicle out. I would always prefer getting the winch out in most cases as it's safer, more controlled, less likely to cause any damage and easier to stop if something looks like it could go wrong.

Cyprus has the same law, 2 years for MoTs, great idea on one hand, but less great on the other, as you should see some of the wrecks driving around the Island. Dangerous.

I've also built both of these, the Chally 2 is a lovely model to build. Nice work mate.

Yes the "deadmans" anchor, extremely effective in ground that has a loose soil type, the type of anchor Cosrec has put up pics of we call a "Bulk Anchor" and dependant of the kit you bury can withstand pulls of up to 60 tons. I've had cause to dig one or 2 of these bulk anchors and are very labor intensive, but very usefull. Wish I'd had a mechanical digger on hand to help out.:cry:

Have to disagree with you there old bean, I've just recieved my MTP kit for my next tour and have to say the current personal equipment is the best I've ever been issued with. "3 shades of material in one shirt"?? I think you must have had a rough deal as the kit I've got is very good. Quite surprised at being issued with the old "crap hat" but in MTP, as discussed earlier in this thread I recall.

I can't believe these muppets tried to drag the jeep from high up on the roll cage and even worse from the side, crazy. This could have been recovered with no damage if they had simply spent a bit of time digging around the wheels and axles to release the suction effect of the mud. I reckon they could have then pulled it from the front, they have a long tow rope and with the amount of other 4x4s around there were probably more ropes available to extend the ropes to allow a pull from the front , admittedly from a slight angle off to the left (as sat in the bogged jeep). So in a nutshell, if they had got some shovels and bothered their backsides they still have 1 serviceable jeep.

Wonder if any of the crew lost their teeth? Ouch.

I know you didn't want anybody to mention one of those dreaded 'ithingys', but this is what most of the young blokes are putting in their L/R and other wagons these days. very compact and easily removed when leaving the vehicle.

I think a pair of ear defenders would be more useful in a S3

Fair point. Just to add my misses can work this little gadget with no dramas and she is a true technophobe

I have one of these (linky) I plug it into a cheap MP3 player with my music and it plays through the car radio, you just tune it into a spare frequency. You can upload your music to MP3 player and scroll through your files till you find your desired track/album then listen away. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Logic3-MIP168K-Transmitter-Car-Charger/dp/B000RT20NE/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1297453967&sr=8-16 There are cheaper ones available also.

No it's not illegal to tow artillery on public roads, as long as it has a serviceable braking and lighting system, it's treated as any other trailer, we towed our's around half the country for pre deployment training for Afghan with no problems. No crown immunity anymore, MoD has to comply with the law like everybody else.

I built the Trumpeter AS90, looks really good. Haven't built the Leopard yet it's on my "to do list".

Yes, the Tamiya kits are of excellent quality, the Trumpeter kits are a little less refined but this is reflected in the price. If you can spare the extra cash go for the Tamiya especially with the Challenger 2.

The MC will almost certainly be engraved/stamped, I have my Great Grandfathers WW1 medals and they are engraved/stamped however my Grandfathers WW2 medals aren't, as already stated maybe it's because they were dished out in vast numbers. All engraving/stamping/lazer etching is done on the outside edge of the medal, incidentley my current campaign medals started off with being stamped (GSM NI) then the later ones ie Iraq/Afghan are lazer etched. There are many reasons why some may not be stamped when they should be, and the most common is they maybe copies of the originals that were maybe lost as they were passed down.