tankmaker1

Standard demo time for a Challenger 1/2 pack was 1 hour - I have seen it done but one or two corners were cut to get there! Didn't notice any wind settings on the crane(!) - standard daftness by the Cherry Pickers LAD!

Looks like a Chieftain commanders swop sight - ie the night sight?

just like a good day at Barnbow. When the Commanders turned up it meant vehicle deliveries = money! Invariably 3 commanders with trailers on one of these would be the "spare" commander .... and don't those CV12s sound sweet!

no but I did help with PDS on these. I would like one but wifey would have a duck fit so I can only sit and marvel in your work. Hopefully you have sorted out the Bowden cables ( a common PDS problem solvable only bu removal and boiling in nice warm oil I seem to remember!) If you can find a gun tank they should have the leads - having said that the guys at Duxford didn't know about them till I pointed them out.

a very jumbled document as some of us in Industry were working on FFLAV long before the dates stated. And industry didn't get that much money from MoD to be involved.(sum total nil!) VERDI happened after FFLAV had started and did not include all of the vehicle manufacturers as one was very busy tat the time building a real combat system - Challenger 2. Panther was re-configured for the UK in Newcastle not Telford so not sure where the sources used to generate the document are. Biggest problem MoD had was they wanted everything but didn't really have the money. Now they are getting a vehicle which weighs about the same as a Warrior -which wasn't the ideal option when this all started so why didn't they just update more Warriors/ build some more? As was proposed by DA Warrior turret and DA Warrior hull eons ago?

This is an Fv 4030 prototype - ie it looks like a Challenger 1 but is really a prototype. If you see a Challenger 1 with a Chieftain Turret it could just be a Khalid. Cr1 had sepcialist Challenger Training Tanks built at Leeds to sup[port driver training

[quote name=AlienFTM;197684It's also worth remembering that Challenger 1 derived from a very lucrative project to sell upgraded' date=' tropicalised Chieftains to the Shah of Iran as Shir Iran ("Lion of Persia"), which was dropped when the Shah learned he could have tanks with Chobham armour. 1200 of these were built and called Shir Iran 2, but they never made it to Iran before the Shah was overthrown, there was no way on earth that the Ayatollas were getting them and so these 1200 unsold tanks were issued to the RAC as Challenger, so that in reality Challenger 1 is an evolution of Chieftain, further blurring the line between where Chieftain stopped and Challenger started. And of course Chieftain continued to evolve separately from the Shir Iran project. Family of vehicles: Iran did have Chieftain ( some of which also ended up in Jordan courtesy of Iraq (its a long story) Chieftain with a CV12 and TN37 power pack became Khalid - and they all (except one) went to Jordan after the Ayotollas scrapped the contract for the upgraded tank fleet. Challenger 1 was the next step using the CV12/TN37 fitted "new" vehicle - which had very few common components with Chieftain (albeit it was intended to have the same Fire Control System IFCS - or as fitted to Cr1 CSS. While work had commenced for Iran it wasn't that far down the line so FV 4030 ended up with numerous prototypes (the SP variety) and these were still in use while we undertook CHIP/CAIP upgrade work for Chieftain and Challenger funded by the UK and definitely not Iran. After further development 420 Cr1 were built at Leeds - Regiment 7 vehicles (reg plat XX.KG.XX) were ordered as new build from Vickers while the rest had been ordered from RO (same place different name). Early builds did not have TOGS but these were added as they became available. Cr1 ended up with 3 Marks - but post Gulf War 1 the mix and match approach means its difficult to see what started where. The Chieftain ( which looks very good) is a "StillBrew" vehicle - ie with Armour developed by John Brewer on behalf of the then MGO General Still.

Gents the SP vehicles were "soft" as far as the ones I "owned" for a while. If the current owner looks for the vehicle ID plate(Its a BIG brass plate on the hull on the Loaders side of the vehicle looking gun forward) it will say what vehicle it really is. Be wary that for Gulf War 1 the Army bodged a lot of vehicles to get them to Mark 3 standard so Hulls and Turrets were swapped with gay abandon. 34KA64 was left alone as the first SSGCE fitted vehicle but my personal vehicle 35KA87 disappeared Gulf bound complete with CHIP/CAIP mods! (And I never got it back for trial completion!)

Looking good with the GUE out you will need plenty of amps to turn the L60 over - here should be some jump leads in the drivers compartment which may help.

Yep the Harriers are gone but the Army are moving in already. Strangely enough there were some really nice buildings at Vickers Leeds specifically to do what we are now sending vehicles to Germany to do - cocooned storage!. Of course the idea of UK companies being able to do such a thing was incomprehensible to the MoD at the time - so Leeds closed...... the sheds are still there (just!)

Hi folks drawn to this great forum through the recent Challenger 1 thread - especially as I spent 14 happy years at Barnbow managing Chieftain, Challenger 1 and Challenger 2 work. Personally I would love to have the time and money to have bought the Cr1 but one day who knows. If I can be of help I have my memories and a number of ex Barnbow warriors who might be able to help with diverse subjects including Khalid, Fox and CET Keep up the good work out there Tank Maker

Hi all if the new owner looks on the left hand side wall there should be a big brass plate - its should built by ROF Barnbow (these had been bought before the Leeds move from ROF to RO PLC to Vickers) and I think it is vehicle build number 247 from Leeds - a 5th Regiment Mark 3 Mind you that's if the ABRO left the plate on and if they didn't switch the hull with another one. The pack would be interesting - CV 12 aren't as difficult to obtain as the TN 37 will be ( same engine used in other vehicles including railway shunters albeit without the twin turbocharges.) It would be nice to see this vehicle running again as its factory is no more.