EKA_Wrecker

You are correct Sir! I incorrectly labeled the C-130 in my previous post as the backup for fat albert. That C-130 came from the NYANG 106th Rescue Wing based out east in Westhampton. They are part of a water rescue demonstration down at the beach during the airshow. Fat Albert was down for maintenance so the backup Hercules was used. They certainly put it through its paces. Before he comes in for a landing he puts it into a steep dive with full flaps and pulls up at the last second and glides it right in :eek::shocked: I somewhat captured this in the sequence of pics below.

Hi, Glad you enjoyed. mike65 said: "...Just one thing the Blue Angels use the F18 Hornet The Thunderbirds use the F16 Fighting Falcon." Maybe you just skimmed over the text in a hurry :nut: haha, re-read my previous post. Sun comes out after morning rain, visiting Mustang and Helldiver crank up: Helldiver stretching it's wings: More flying; Zero, Corsair/F18 formation pass, and alien spaceship (F-22) If you've never seen an F-22 demonstration flight in person its quite a sight. Its thrust vectoring allows it to do things not normal to other fighters: Snowbirds, prepping L-39 Helldiver & P-40:

Hi, Your welcome glad you enjoyed. I get a chill everytime the B-25 is on the brakes with the throttle up ready to roll. It reminds me of the Doolittle Raid. Yes volunteering there gets you a spot extra close to the action. It's actually a pretty small museum, space is at a premium. Its always a balance between aircraft, static displays, ground vehicles etc. Most displays are mounted on casters or wheels so room can be made. We are always shifting things from different hangars and storage. We're not allowed to have "air-shows" at the museum or airport so fast and low passes, formation flights, and banks and turns are the order of the day to keep the FAA happy. Its a good balance due to the busy nature of the airport. The tower controllers do a pretty good job of keeping things moving. Here are some pics from the beginning of the summer. The flight line and ramps get very crowded with visiting aircraft that are participating in the Jones Beach Airshow. The big performer of the show (they alternate each year) is either the U.S. Navy Blue Angels with their F-18s, and C-130 or the U.S.A.F. Thunderbirds with their F-16s. Other active-duty aircraft demonstration teams also take part. Even the F-22 came for a visit. This year the Canadian Snow Birds Demo Team came down with their small (but very loud, haha) trainers. I've never seen such close formation flying before. They even landed in three plane groups, echelon formation. The group of AT6 Texans you see below are based right at Republic and are known as the Sky-typers. The sound of all those two bladed props swirling through the air is great. Extra special this year was the arrival of the only flying Curtiss SB2C Helldiver flown from the Confederate Air Force in Texas. Its only a little smaller than the Grumman Avenger. Thursday early morning prep and local TV News shoot: Friday, weather inhibiting air show rehearsals, ferrying the M936 over and the Blue Angels across the field: Snow birds (all 10or 11 of em') taxiing out for Saturday morning practice, Yankee Lady B-17: Blue Angles backup C-130 and Helldiver: Sky-Typers and Zero replica from movie Tora-Tora-Tora being pushed in for the night: Some flying at dusk makes for some great pics: I'll post more pics from this event next week

Here ya' go. These Jige (French?) wreckers don't have toolboxes shrouding the rear outrigger assembly. You can easily see how this system works. It would be neat to incorporate this idea to older military wreckers with manual outriggers however the retracted height would need to be raised to increase ground clearance and departure angle for offroad.

Hi, I think this is what your talking about. (see attached pics) This design combines an outrigger with a fold down winching spade. "Piggyback" hyd. cylinders actuate the multiple stage horizontal portion of the outriggers. When I first saw this style of rear outrigger years ago I couldn't wrap my head around how it worked with that angled support tube. :confused: How could it be fixed at the bottom and not at the top and still provide support? Well its attached at top and bottom but most wrecker bodies and tool boxes shroud the rear vertical outrigger tubes so I could never figure it out... until I downloaded a commercial wrecker parts manual. :coffee: and then it clicked. :idea: The vertical tube has a slit cut into it just wider than the support tube. A reinforced "collar" wraps around the bottom of the tube to keep it from twisting/failing. Its such a simple concept but when it's well hidden it seems like a chinese puzzle.

Hi, Thanks for your thoughts. That last video link showing the concrete truck being swung "around the corner" certainly shows that the Foden is a very stable platform! Impressive. I could do without that background music however :nut: haha.

Hi, I thought you warbird fans would enjoy some pics from over here in the U.S. I volunteer at a local Air Museum and we have two big weekends a year (Memorial Day and Labor Day) where most or all of the museum's aircraft take flight and several visiting aircraft participate as well. This year the Collings Foundation visited with their B-24 "Witchcraft", B-17 "Nine-O-Nine", and as a stand-in for the ME-262 having maintenance issues they sent down their A-1D Skyraider which was just as awesome to see and experience. Also a rare sight was their visiting early model P-51C with dual seats & controls. What makes this museum unique is that it is based at Republic airport where DeSeversky, Fairchild, Ranger Engines, Republic Aviation (and even Grumman for a couple of its early years) designed and built some iconic aircraft such as: P-47 Thunderbolt, F-105 Thunderchief, A-10 Warthog etc. Sadly most of the factory buildings have been torn down about 15yrs. ago but three original 1920s-30s hangars still remain along with the original control tower. Today it's a very busy regional general aviation airport and in NY state only JFK and LaGuardia are busier. Most museums display static aircraft. This one has flying displays allowing pretty close access to visitors. The only aircraft that doesn't fly yet is the PBY Catalina that's getting its wing re-done due to decades of corrosion from the "wet-wing" tanks. Visitors can climb the old control tower for a great view. Flights can be taken on the Waco biplane, AT6, or C-47 "D-Day experience flight." Recently we've been acquiring more land based vehicles like wheeled and tracked armor & artillery etc. so I along with several others volunteer to operate the many pieces in convoy on the ramp in between flight ops to entertain the crowd. The Museum is made up of all volunteers so its an impressive feat to undertake these special events. The land based operational displays are able to attend events and activities outside the Museum to help with education, awareness and advertisement etc. Memorial Day weekend flight ops are even greater as the museum hosts visiting aircraft for a local air show down at Jones Beach. (I can post those in a seperate thread if you're interested) Each aircraft has its own unique history, if you have any questions feel free to ask. Not shown or flying this weekend was the TBM-Avenger, P-51D, and F4U-Corsair. Flown but not shown (I forgot to take pics) were the B-17, L-39 Czech jet, the AT6 texans, Waco biplane, and C-47. Enjoy the pics! Overall view of activity: Early Morning Preps: Fixing the Skyraider's oil line (I think it was a stuck bypass check valve which blew a line) Witchcraft sitting pretty: The new Oshkosh rescue truck out for a spin: The B-25 making a pass, taxiing in and filling up on liquid dinosaur: The visiting P-51C "Betty Jane": The skyraider taxiing out for its run-up followed by the rest for some formation passes: Moving the F-105 and Prowler outside:

Hi, Thank you guys for clearing that up! It makes sense now. So when you guys say "hernia bar" you mean the attachment bar thats pinned to the rear pin-board (see pic below) and when you say NATO hitch in American... you mean pintle hitch :cool2: . When we say hernia bar we mean: heavy tank towbar. I'm really liking all of the innovative features on the Foden EKA wrecker. Redundant hyd. controls, bogie blocking, proper equipment stowage, underlift, hyd. outriggers, fold down bunk in the cab etc. - Does anyone have a pic of the cab interior showing this fold down bunk? - Has anyone experienced instability or tipping motion when using the crane boom under significant load at the rear quarters of the truck? (slewed 45° from centerline) Is the lack of rear side outriggers an issue? The front outriggers appear to have a very wide spread to make up for it. Thank you again for everyones info/knowledge.

Hi, I recently acquired a User's Handbook for the Foden Wrecker and have been reading through it a few times :readbook: to absorb the material. Unlike U.S. manuals, the listing/description of the wrecker's associated recovery equipment is somewhat vague. Some equipment is shown laid out however most of the assocated recovery equipment is shown stowed away in their respective tool boxes and can't been seen due to the bad pictures. While looking at some photos I noticed a piece of "kit" that wasn't shown in any illustrations etc. in the User's Handbook. I have attached some photos with the item in question circled. It can be obviously seen in one photo that this "item" is used as a mechanical lock for the rear winching spades during transport. It appears that there are others uses intended for this item as it has the two pin hole pattern that matches the rear pin-board for the underlift and detachable pintle hitch. What else is this item used for? Thanks for your help, this is a great thread!

Hi, I understand about the pilfering CosRec, the same thing happens over here. It's very rare to get a wrecker (or any truck) with all its BII. I'll ask the above question (and future questions) in the wrecker/transporter forum, maybe more members will see it there and it seems a more appropriate place. Thanks again for your input. I'm still waiting on those Ops manuals, I can't wait to sink my teeth into them :readbook: there probably sitting over here at a terminal... See you guys over in the wrecker forum! :wave:

Hi, Thank you for those answers as to the operation of the underlift. From my photo collection it seems that despite not having a tilt function, the EKA underlift does pretty good for its application. As you say, they saved some weight and complexity by not having more cylinders/controls etc. for a tilt option when most of the time they would be utilizing the front shackle/lift points of various Mil. trucks. I saw the modification of the Foden's underlift boom you undertook... excellent job! :thumbsup: I'm debating in my head what's better; a hydraulic towbar like on the EKA MAN/HEMTT & MTVR wrecker or.... an underlift. Some operators say that an underlift gets in the way but it can also be used like an old fashioned towbar and is more versatile. Just thinking out loud... ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Okay. One more question about the Foden EKA Wrecker body/equipment if you and everyone else don't mind. See attached photos below. What is this piece of equipment called and what is it used for? :confused: (besides being a mechanical securement of the winching spades during travel as seen in one photo) I see that it has the same two-pin securement as the pintle hitch attachment that goes on the lower "tailboard." What are it's other uses? Thanks again.

Hi, The truck in the picture from Malta is an M62 John. The M62 was the first U.S. Military post war wrecker to utilize a fully hydraulic crane, departing from the older Holmes and GarWood designs. It uses the Austin-Western crane assembly found on many small off-highway construction cranes during the same era. The hydraulic tank is mounted between the framerails. The M543 was the next design model and used a GarWood designed hydraulic crane platform. The M816 came after the M543. Both the M543 and the M816 (and even the M936) used the same GarWood crane having the hydraulic tank mounted on the passenger side of the mast. Both cranes have the same extended boom length (18 feet) and load rating (10 tons) and elevate to approx. 45°however, there are design differences in the boom, turntable and how the hoist winch is mounted. The A-W crane has a large single hyd. cyl. for boom elevation where the GarWood has two smaller cyls. The M246 and later M819 tractor-wreckers both used A-W cranes having a 6ft. manual telescopic extension fitted inside the boom making for a max. extended length of 26ft. I've operated both styles of crane and I like the A-W better; the turntable gearing is enclosed and not open to the weather/dust/dirt. The slewing and control is nice and tight. The M936 I occaisionally operate is a fairly new truck being barely used and there is plenty of "slop" in the turntable gearing. Due to the hoist winch mounted behind you (and the pivot point) and the large single elevation cyl. mounted under the boom instead of on the sides like the G-W you have a little more visibility of your work area. I always thought it was silly that the hoist winch on the G-W is mounted in front of the boom elevation pivot point and in front of the elevation cylinders. That's 4-500lbs. of unnecessary weight that it's having to lift. Mounted behind the lift and pivot point like on the A-W, the hoist winch acts as a counterweight. I'm sure its not a big deal but I thought I'd point it out. I also don't like the idea of the GarWood crane having 40+ gallons of hyd. fluid sitting that high up and exposed for no reason. Hopefully I've answered some of your questions.

Hi, Upon re-reading that .pdf I realized that its missing half the pages (37 instead of the full 70+) :blush: So my observations and previous statement might not be so accurate. I did just purchase two User Handbooks for the Scammell Crusader and Foden Wrecker so it's a start. Thank you for the offer of your insight Cosrec, as I see from my initial reading through the forum that you have extensive experience on the subject to say the least. I don't know what it is about the Foden and Scammell; it just seems from an American Standpoint that they are much closer to an ideal field/road wrecker than their US counterpart at that time period (1970s/80s.) The standard US wreckers carry the same recovery bodies from the 50s to this day with minor modifications (M936 comes to mind.) Only recently has the US TACOM looked at adopting some "commercial" design ideas. The Oshkosh MTVR Wrecker is one example. Wrestling with manual outriggers, hauling heavy recovery gear to and from uncovered storage areas 4.5' in the air, and having to install scotch anchors manually for winching is what made me look at other countries for some design ideas. I guess my first question about the Foden's EKA gear would be about the underlift. I see that is "dead" meaning the crane booms hydraulic cylinders is used to lift the underlift to a desired height and secured/supported with large pins. I like the idea of the pins as they are a simple and secure method of retaining height/position instead of relying on the hydraulic cylinder's and holding valves. Now the question(s)... 1.) Is the underlift boom designed to have any angular adjustment under load or is it only lowered against the steel "stops"? 2.) Related to the first... Have you ever encountered a scenario in which you wanted the boom to remain parallel to the ground during a lift tow? (for example when overall vehicle height is a problem) 3.) What is the distance approx. from retracted to extended of the underlift? I only ask these initially as they don't jump out at me. I don't want to pester with a million questions that can be easily answered by research/observation. Thanks for your time/knowledge.

Hi, Thanks Brown Cow, someday I'll get "down-under." I recall seeing pics of Mack DM/RM 6x6s being used in the services down there. Do they still use them? Over here a front drive-axle Mack is pretty rare and you only see them on some concrete transit and snow removal chassis. After reading :coffee: the Scammell Crusader Wrecker User Handbook (pamphlet is more like it ) it struck me how vague and short the information was compared to a US Ops Manual. I must be spoiled rotten by US manuals. I guess you guys assume that anyone that is going to operate a medium/heavy wrecker in the services already has some prior experience in the field. The US Army etc. on the other hand, assumes that the person reading the manual has absolutely no experience in what they are studying so they contain extensive detailed descriptions/diagrams/pictures about a vehicle's/equipment's systems and operations :readbook: . I'm going to dive deeper for parts/service manuals and I realize that I'm probably going to have to purchase them in hardcopy. Okay here's some more pics... So here we are double parked in Midtown Manhattan on Veteran's Day last year for a pitstop before heading down near the Flatiron Building to the parade marshalling area. It proves that you can indeed fit a Ferret and an M20 on my trailer with inches to spare. Here's a lift tow with the Tractor-Wrecker: I'm hauling a friends Mack with the Deuce:

Hi, Thank you everyone for the welcome. And thank you Cosrec for that link to the Scammell Crusader Ops Manual! I did manage to find that Volvo EKA evaluation .pdf and thats about it. Great stuff. Its funny how each country is strict with certain things and not others (in this case release of information.) Okay... Here's my Deuce, just a plain old M35A2 bone stock W/O Winch. It may not look pretty body/paint wise but mechanically I keep it running like a top. I've put many miles on it over the years carrying out various tasks whether they be for work or pleasure. A great truck. Here it is going 45mph through a mud puddle. Looks like an Aberdeen Proving Ground Test, haha. ...and here it is on firewood detail... The M923 carries on when the loads are too much for even the little Deuce to handle. Yeah it's an automatic tranny but it still has the old chassis and drivetrain of the 800 series (except the tranny.) It doesn't have any of that electronics or computer garbage or troublesome CTIS like the A2. The best aspect of the 939 series over the older 5-tons is the return to a full air brake system. It's nice and quiet in the cab on roadtrips and roomy too. I do curse the dropside bed as latching the tailgate isn't a one-second operation like putting the hook in the slot like on the Deuce. If there's a load in the bed it wants to push the side walls out and the chain and cargo top bungee get tangled when you're cranking the "wingnut." Oh well. Once you have a wrecker you don't know how you lived without one, haha. The M819 is great. The longer wheelbase makes it safer and more capable for lift-towing ops than the M816/543/62. The longer boom is much appreciated too. The lack of a rear drag winch is a bit of a bummer but I make do with the front unit. I also like that it doesn't have an automatic idle adjustment when using the crane. I don't like the engine racing away when your conducting delicate lifting ops. The Cummins can be at idle and lift 10k lb.+ load without a drop in engine rpm. I've never utilized the 5th wheel yet as I don't have the maneuvering room for such a trailer in the yard, haha.