mcspool

Smithy, See http://airborne-herdenkingen.nl/en/ for an up-to-date programme. HTH, Hanno

recymech66, Thanks for the tips. I´m going to give it a try and see how it works out. I never crawl under a vehicle that is on a jack only, I always use axle stands, even when changing a wheel. Thanks, Hanno

Hi all, Some years ago I bought an old 8-ton hydraulic bottle jack. Now the time has come I need to use it, I found out of course it needs a service/repair. The piston goes up and down when operating the handle, but when left for a while it sinks. There is hardly any fluid left in the bottle. How to repair it to working order? Just fill 'er up with hydraulic fluid and hope that's it? It does not seem there is a way to dismantle it. Thanks in advance, Hanno

From Wikipedia: QUOTE Immediately preceding World War II, Ford developed an aircraft engine similar to that of the Rolls Royce/Merlin and Allison engines of that era. It was a 60 degree V-12, all aluminum (block & heads), dual over cam, 4 valve engine. The intention of this design was to help Ford break into the anticipated large market for fighter engines. This engine was built to typical aircraft standards: It was a light, high performance and highly reliable engine. Everything was safety wired or staked with close attention to detail on every part. Available information suggests that this design performed well. However, this engine never went into production as an aircraft engine due to the US Navy's decision to only use radial engines for its aircraft, and the Army's contractual commitments to existing engine manufacturers. With the approach of war, increasing orders for the Sherman tanks were causing supply issues with the existing engine. The US Army decided they needed to source an engine supplier. So Ford removed 4 cylinders from the design and it went into production as a V-8. UNQUOTE

Hi Radek, Do you know of the K2 30-cwt GS truck in Holland? Ref. http://www.mapleleafup.org/forums/showthread.php?t=7167 Hanno

Neil, I am no expert on the subject, just going by what I read here and there, like on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMP-1: Reading http://www.janes.com/articles/Janes-Armour-and-Artillery/Pbv-501-armoured-personnel-carrier-Sweden.html it is clear one needs more than a stunning paint job to convert to Swedish Pansarbandvagn 501 standard. However attractive the modern camouflage schemes may be, my favourite APC remains the Ram Kangaroo! Cheers, Hanno

If I had one of those, I´d repaint it in the Swedish M90 camouflage scheme - absolutely stunning! And for those who did not know: yes, Sweden had the BMP-1 in service as well: http://www.haaland.info/sweden/ifv/index.html H.

Looks like a Finnish paint scheme: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Finnish_BMP1_Parola_1-crop.jpg H.

Not quite - see http://www.milvehtechfound.com/letter.html: In other words, they got some money to tide them over while other sources of funding could be found. The question of ownership is not solved address in this letter though - it looks like the family still owns the vehicles, and the MVTF are only operating and maintaining the collection. So the family can still sell the vehicles if they want/need to. Sad, but that is what happens most of the times when the man who set up a collection passes away. - Hanno

"Thanks to global warming the War & Peace Show is now taking applications from boat owners! Moor your sub at one of our fully catered yetties for easy access to the display fields." - Hanno P.S.: thanks for sharing the pictures!

Another contender for The Great HMVF British HMV Restoration Project? Hint: it is an extremely rare variant of a highly succesful Vickers-Armstrong export product and is preserved in Thailand. - Hanno

I agree, with so many years since WW2 and some vehicles on the show scene for decades, it is interesting to see what some vehicles looked like in the early preservation days or even post-war civvy working days. H.

Really?!? http://miliblog.co.uk/wp-content/gallery/british-ww2-lightweights/bedford-mwd-15cwt-gs-meh-224.jpg What about a "now" picture? H.

1920, if I recall correctly. It was definitely built shortly after WW1. H.

I *think* it was Mercedes Benz. I snapped these pics with my mobile phone on the way out. If I go there another time I will also take a picture of the plaque with details. . . H.

Only Ford produced a straight back body for the FGT. Low numbers built, not likely used during WW2 and extremely rare. Only survivors in Argentina as fas as we know: http://www.imagecontrol.com.au/oldcmp/vasquez_1.html#Anchor-49575 H.

Ken, The Chevrolet CGT Field Artillery Tractor (FAT) is the most common of Canadian built FAT´s. The Ford FGT is much rarer. Most common is only relative, as the total number of surviving CGT runs into several dozens, with about a dozen running (probably more if you really start counting). Most survivors have the characteristic rear body missing. After the war, it was of no use to civilian operators so was often cut down or removed all together. Mechanical parts supply is good, it was based on the Chevrolet components of the day for which parts can still be found today. Bodywise you will have to rely on scavenging other wrecks or make it up yourself, it is basically angle iron and flat plate. Check http://www.mapleleafup.org/forums/ for more info. HTH, Hanno

If you like tanks and if you are in the area, do make sure you free up at least a full day to visit the museum. At least you will get to see the static vehicles, if you are lucky they have one of the shows where they demonstrate the running vehicles. For the other members of the family the area around Saumur offers plenty of interesting things to see and do, from castles to wineries. Check http://museedesblindes.fr/spip.php?rubrique24 for more info. H.

I came across http://miliblog.co.uk, a "sort of on-line museum and database" website run by a certain Mr. Simon Sage, who has been in the HMV scene quite long appararently. While we have seen many pictures of surviving MW´s on this forum, Mr. Sage provides a nice overview of pictures of Bedford MW´s taken at shows over the years at http://miliblog.co.uk/?cat=44 I hope they are all still around! Check for other vehicle types too, hundreds of pictures on this site. - Hanno

IIRC, the plaque stated it was built c.1920, and was in use until the mid-1950s! H.

Cobra King has arrived at the Patton museum. See http://www.armorfortheages.com/Volunteers/Projects/CobraKingProject/CobraKingProjectPage.htm for progress on the restoration. The record about its discovery has been set straight. - Hanno

On display at the Mercedes-Benz headquarters in Utrecht, The Netherlands.

If you are not too tall and like post-war British armour, the Ferret is an excellent choice. Don´t bother with any sort of engine swaps, it will not be worth the hassle. It seems there are quite a number of ex-Canadian Army Ferrets floating around the US, see http://bcoy1cpb.pacdat.net/for_sale.htm I would look to find one of those before reverting to shipping one from the UK or mainland Europe. Hope this helps and get back home safe! Hanno

Indeed, this Sherman has been fitted with a the GM 6046, the twin power pack version of the 6-71. As this type of engine is still in production, the owner has fitted modern injectors, which give a better fuel burn and thus power. H.

Execpt for the fact that 10.50-20 was replaced during WW2 by 11.00-20, long, long before the Michelin XC came on the market. . . H.