Richard Farrant

Hi Mark, With my long legs it can be a problem, some operators plan the seats with more room, I believe. I have done the Australia return trip seven times now, all on 747. Regarding that incident, when we got back to our seats, I told the others about what happened, I think a few anxious people overheard me :-D. On the return trip, my workmate, who flies microlights, was commenting on how much the wing deflects after taking off and the woman next to me was about to have a fit, I had to tell him to shut up :rofl:

I do recollect from my years of working on them whilst in service, that a lot of their parts were marked with Maudsley inspectors stamp. The fact that Maudsley built a lorry named Militant, for the army during WW2 and were part of AEC, think the group was called ACV......could it be that they were a combined effort between AEC and Maudsley?

Adrian, I wonder if 11GVD was located in the ME or Gulf area? At a guess it might be 11 Gulf Vehicle Depot ....

My first flight was an interesting one and did something on it, that is unlikely to happen again in this day and age. It was a Boeing 747, I was with a small party going to take part in an event, QANTAS were a sponsor, so we had the treatment. Part way through the flight, in the evening we were taken up to the flight deck, when my turn came, I was told to sit quietly behind the Captain, there was a "slight problem". This was the fact that a GulfAir flight was on the same height as us and heading towards us! You could see his lights in front and I was shown the radar screen. A quick decision was made and we banked hard to port and descended to a safe altitude.....this was over Tehran. Being my first flight, it did not worry me as seeing the crew handle the situation gave you confidence.

Hence why I have foam rubber in the seat cushions :-D..........it helps me keep a charge! Best of luck with your OY

With all these modern gizmos, glad my work is on repairable classics, not the throw away vehicles of today.

OK Gonzo :rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

Lee, I've been looking for that, what were you doing with it? just noticed the Queen's soap bar in the pic. We used to get issued with one of these once a fortnight, could not get a lather and no way would it remove dirt of your hands

Thats right, flatting down prior to painting. :-D

Degsy.....I did not say what I used it for :rofl: note to self; be careful what you post CW or Degsy will find something to fire back at you

Next time the fuel pump is off, will convert it to one with a hand primer, have put up with it for 20 years, so might not bother :confused: Yes, still got rolls of Bronco, for the use of :pfrt: Non original parts include silicone HT leads and foam filled seat cushions, everything else is much as it was when it crawled up the beach on D-Day :coffee:

Like the Pioneer tank transporter at Beltring many moons ago, carrying a BMP1 tracked APC. I seem to recollect the tracks were welded to the trailer (chained down as well of course). Does anyone else remember this? He could have picked a more authentic load though :-(

The LAAT is not in my Chev manual, is the winch any different to the FAT? The chassis is more likely Chev than ford as the front engine bearer seems to show the two mounting bolt holes in the centre.

Hi Graham, Any battery higher than a 643 / 644 would short out under the drivers seat :shake::shake:, on my wagon, but thank for the info, will bear in mind for other vehicles. I used to use New Holland batts a lot, as Haynes are nearby, but the last I had from them was a Case IH, ( changed dealership) probably the same with different label :confused:

Robert, The Firepower Museum in Woolwich is not far away, just on south side of the river. It is the Royal Artillery collection with something from all eras, but I am sure it will interest you.

For once Tony, I agree with you :-D. I have always used a 644 tractor battery on my QL, think it is 90 amp/hour. No problem charging, has plenty of reserve, as Bedfords do not have fuel pump primers, it is sometimes neccessary to crank them over a bit to get the petrol up if it has been standing.

I looked in a CMP Chev manual and it could be, as front engine bearer is similar to Chev. Winch is not the same as shown in the manual, may have been added later. Transfer box looks Chev as does rear axle with removable diff as a unit. Another telling feature is the brackets on front end of chassis rails, same as CMP. The thing that bugs me is the "platform" for what looks like the steering box, not sure if that is CMP :confused:.

The winch location is as you say, too far back, does look a bit QL in the chassis, but winch is not Turner or Wild as on QLB. The rear axle looks like diff is missing, if so , then not a RL or QL axle, also steering box mount does not tie in.

This has me foxed. It looks typical Bedford construction, not a QL, pretty sure not RL. There appears to be steering box mounting that would make it right hand drive. The winch is not familiar, I thought it might be Canadian CMP Chevrolet, but does not match up. I have a feeling the winch might not be original for the chassis. Is the diff missing from the rear axle? Any more photos?

Clive, I am not going to answer this, you will tell me off :-(

Beg your pardon, quite right......it is some years ago since being involved with DROPS, etc.

Ah, but......I wanted an early night :tup::

Neither did the Diamond T980/981 and they were used in N.Africa desert

I think the answer to all this lies in the War Office thinking at that time. The Rolls Royce B range of engines was to have been the standardised power unit, with front line vehicles being petrol presumably. The Martian fitted this of course as did the Scammell Explorer, being petrol, no Martian recoveries at this time. The AEC, Thonycroft, Albion 10 ton ranges may have been intended as support vehicles........ There was a 6x6 Militant gun tractor, FV11002 classed as Medium/Heavy AA.

All the Militant based Coles cranes I worked on were 6x6 and yes they would have to get up the front at times as their main role was bridging and it would be impossible to avoid soft ground if that was where the bridge was to be built.