Adrian Barrell

Both need H licence, HGV not required in any tracklaying vehicle.

reckon sara stands for 'starts and runs away'....:coffee:

The oil enters a radial engine oil pump close to the centre of the engine and so there is no large amount to fill up the cylinders. The scavenge pump(s) have a greater capacity than the pressure pump and the lower cylinders have scavenge bowls on them. The problem comes from the relatively small amount of oil on the rod side of the piston leaking past the rings. Starting the engine without clearing this results in bent rods at best, blown cylinders at worst! It is normal in aircraft to hand prop a few blades to clear any oil and in radial powered tanks, a hand crank is used through the starter motor gearing to achieve the same effect. This is only really necessary if the engine has sat overnight though this would depend on individual engines. The multibank lower blocks are actually inclined by 5 degrees so there should be no oil above the piston. There was a potential problem of fuel filling a cylinder on the early engines where the carbs were mounted directly on the manifolds. There is a fuel cut off solenoid by the filter to help but the later engines moved the carbs up to the top of the engine to put them above the fuel level.

Another interesting point Andy! It brings to mind a thread running on WWIIreenacting.co.uk at the moment. It seems there is debate over that point in the living history movement.

I don't want a rant either, just after an friendly discussion. I have an opinion but I'm always ready to listen to others. You made an interesting point Andy, I never thought of Bolero as a living history event. It could be different people get different things from the same event. Obviously Beltring is so huge that's a given but it had never occurred to me it may also apply to smaller, more focussed events. All interesting stuff.

I had always thought that the term living history was coined to give a more respectable title to the reenactment activities. Is there a distinct difference? Is reenactment purely staging battles etc and living history the normal day to day of service (in this case) life?

:-D That may be so, but the rusty hulk is just the start, camping in a ditch seems to be the highlight for some! It should be all things to all men and women and we all want different things I suppose. It's certainly a big enough area of interest to cater for all needs.

I would guess Czech Republic and owned by the Army Museum.

How do you all feel about our hobby? Who thinks that reenacting and vehicle collecting/ restoring are all part of the same thing. Recent posts indicate a feeling among many that the two are linked and that is the way the hobby has developed. Others feel, myself amongst them, that they are two distinct but mutually compatable hobbies. This is not an attempt to create a them and us argument, I have no problem with either viewpoint or indeed interest but I have been surprised at some of the comments. I suppose as my vehicle collecting/restoring goes back to the early 1980s, a time when reenactors were seen by most to be playing at soldiers and indeed, many of their vehicles were obviously just another prop for the battle. I know they have moved on a great deal since then and strive to have everything right but I don't see them as MV collectors in the main. I still think it's a little odd to want to live out a weekend or whatever in a living history display and the Germans in the woods at Beltring always leave me shaking my head a little but that's just my view! Not because they portray Germans but just that they want to do it in the first place. As I have said before and indeed photos on here will show, I am quite prepared to wear an appropriate style of dress in a parade or arena but that's as far as it goes for me. I have worked with groups who take great efforts to 'do it right' and I respect them for it. Am I a dinosaur? Your thoughts please.

War and Peace show. Formally known and indeed still is to us old hands :-\ as Beltring. At the Hop Farm, Beltring in Kent later this month.

Most single dry pin track is cast steel with a high manganese content. This gives the link a work hardening property, very useful for the wearing surfaces.

You could also try a T piece between the pump and the carb with a return to the tank.

Whilst you are correct in relation to some shows Jack, I feel this is a little different. Anyone who turns up in a Green Goddess and objects to not being let in to Tankfest for free to drive round the arena is a bit naive in the least. It is a tank show and the people go to see the tanks. They may love a good battle but they do not care what colour underpants the Germans are wearing. This seems much more like the living history side trying to make the event their show with their rules. I do not feel, as some do, that living history and mv collecting are inextricably linked. I suppose like most things in life, it's getting the balance right! Like John, if I am told what I have to wear and that I will park my tank in that display etc, then I will not go. If I am asked nicely then maybe! :-D

I wonder how much it is the Tank Museum imposing the dress code and how much is the reenactors who may have been asked to help with the organising. Tankfest (and any similar event) requires a huge amount of work and if the organisers were approached by a group offering to take care of the static displays, they would likely have bitten their hands off. All conjecture I know but reading between the lines, it wouldn't surprise me. Ho hum....

I am restoring an Auster IV to fly at the moment and whilst the Lycoming may be cleaner than a Cirrus or a Gypsy, parts are getting very hard to find! There is a resurgence in Austers at the moment no doubt due to them moving from a CAA C of A to an LAA permit. Much cheaper to operate and the few restrictions are not much of an issue. As with most things, they cost more to restore than they are worth when finished.....

I understood it to be Tank Fest at the Tank Museum. The clue is in the title I feel.....! If has become a living history event, it may well go the way of others that have done the same.

Exactly. Many reenactors go to great lengths to ensure they are wearing the correct underpants but are quite happy to run round in mock up vehicles or at least vehicles pretending to be what they're not. All fine to me but it gets a bit anoying when we are told what to wear. As for the paying public deserving the best, the average member of the audience couldn't care less. I agree that a period look is the best and I tend to don a denim jacket and or beret when driving my Sherman at a show. There seems to be a bit of reenactor facsism creeping in at what are military vehicle events.

The Grant is not Kevins.

I reckon we should hold the event in Suffolk.....no such problems here! :-D

Not a stop gap, the British army used them from 1941 through till the 1950's in one form or another. By D-Day, the main model in use was the M3A3, known as the Stuart V as in the last pic with some M5A1s, Stuart VI coming in. These were used as recce tanks but some earlier M3A1s were still in use. By the end of the war, many of the Stuart Vs had lost their turrets to provide a lower sillouette.

Destroyed by Sherman.

I had assumed the hatch had shrunk in all the rain.... Seems to be ok now but I might have to fit a more powerful spring in the seat to help egress! Mind you, I seem to need one my side now too :coffee: Good to see you all again, glad you had a good time.

There wouldn't be many left if not for the fact that someone is willing to spend their money on a restoration to fly.

Slowly....