Big Al

Well done mike what was the training and test like? Big Al

I can confirm that FV438 is the swingfire one and I know One is being restored by John Person from this forum how do I know this, I have been giving him a hand! :-) we are going to put a new engine pack in it over the next few weeks an oil pipe broke and dumbed all its oil at beltring :-( Big Al

I would say it would of be a SMG but I am not sure The stollys were used mainly by R A units to supply the FV 433 Abbot 105 SPG. Big Al

Its on free view as well just watch the one about the panther its on again tonight at 2200hrs Tomorrow its about the sherman at 1000,1600 and 2200hrs. Big Al

Rick Tankfest theme for 2007 is All American Armour on the 23-24 June 2007 details on the Tank museum web site http://www.tankmuseum.co.uk/home.html should be a good weekend see you there. Al

jack answers to you summery 1, yes you can drive a tracked vehicle on the road with your car licence with a class H licence holder supervising with you and "L" plates displayed, A full car licence is a provisional licence for this class just like it is for an LGV PSA etc classes. 2, Take the H class with the correct training is the way to go. 3, If you can allways have a commander with you, They can see more than you ! a must in tight areas depending on what you are driving MBT,Scorpion etc the vision from the driving positions is very different. 4, Rubber pads reduce the risk of damage to the road surface as john says in his post " steel tracks are VERY slippy on wet roads so you have to take it very slow to avoid losing all steering and braking." I have been with john on the road in his and it can be scary when you try to stop it just keeps sliding like in a car on sheet ice. One of the things you get when driving any armoured vehicle on the road is respect from most of the road users. Al

I was going to get my eyes tested ! Its only snowing on the screen currently does this mean Santa is going to make an appearance next ! Al

To add my bit to this tread I have No problem with re-enactors displays allot of them are very good and educational to the public,How ever I do have a problem with the wearing of the medals that were not awarded to them, I myself spent 6 months in northen Ireland in the late 70,s and earend the right to wear my NI medal some off the lads that I served with cannot because sadly they are not with us anymore!!!!!! Most days now we hear of losses in the current actions that our forces are involved with so I ask you is it OK for an re-enactor to wear gulf1 and 2 medals in his display that he purchased, or the person's who like to dress up and walk around with the medals on show. I don't Think so If you have the right to wear them wear them with pride,If you don't leave them in a display cabinet. Al

I'll be there, Spood and Mrs Spood should be there has well if Mrs spood gets out of bed in time! a spood! :roll: Al

If you could take any part from any MV to make your dream MV what would you use and why? IE Body, Running gear,Gear box,Engine,Stering,controls etc from any decade . Al

I think there is some instructions how to do it on this forum

Have you a photo off it?

Thats a good one :goodidea:, I also check new posts every day :thankyou: for your hard work.

Hi Berni I myself and John Pearson from this forum and his son should be there as well,we are friends of the Tank Museum and it is a work shop weekend this weekend, we will be servicing the museums valentine may see you for a drink on Saturday night if all go's to plan. Cheers Big Al

Nice to see your militant doing what it was made for. It's had a new coat of paint! it was not that colour at war wheels :-) Looks good Big Al

Thanks Spood and Mrs Spood for the weekend fed well and watered well inside and out! Lets hope 2007 is an hot one, I hope you are dry now, you can rest now and have fun in France, see you soon for a party :beer: :thankyou: Big Al

There is alot of green things moving around the roads that may have somthing to do with it :roll: is there somthing going on :beer:

Did anyone go the TANKFEST on sunday 25/06/06? We had a total of 49+ running museum vehicles, MVT, Army and reactors, It was wet on sunday but that did not stop us, every 15 min's there were vehicles in the arena. Tiger 1 was running ( I was lucky and had a ride in the comanders seat on a test drive) Tiger 2 was static display. There were Tanks from the 1930's to the present day all running. John Pearson from this forum his son and myself spent most of the week getting Matilda II and crusader III up and running. We had some problems with them but got them running OK for the sunday. All tanks and vehicles returned to the workshops under there own power at the end of the day a welcome sight to all the volunteers and workshop staff who have spent a lot of time getting these rare tanks running for Tankfest. It was an privilege to be part of it, cannot wait for the next one there is talk that it may be has soon has 2007. Thank's john. Big Al :-) :-) :-) :-)

Just seen the front page it looks great thanks for the hard work you have done. The calander is a good but whats happen to Tankfest it not on there 24-25 june Bovington Tank museum also another date 19-20 Aug War Wheels Parkhall show ground Oswestry Shropshire. Big Al

Yep I will be there helping out with John Big Al

Has john says I will be there with john working and drinking looking forward to it , we are hoping to be there on the monday john informed you the Mk V and Mk IV may be running this is to be confimed and maybe a surprize late entry, a john :wink: looking forward to meeting you there. :wink: Do I get a beer as well? Big Al

John is right were can you work on these rare tanks the Matilda II and Crusader III should be running in Tankfest 25/06/06 and the M13/40 if John and crew gets it running and there may be a surprize late entry! I went down with john last weekend to help with the work thats need to be done to keep these and more running a most enjoyable weekend. Due to the distance we stayed over night to make the best use of the time we had, but john has done it all in one day in the past :!: We hope you can come to Tankfest 2006 it will have every British MBT's from 1940's to the present day plus more see you there.

Thankyou john you have answerd some of the questions I was going to ask next weekend at Bovy about the WW1 tanks driving tasks see you then :!: Alec

I did to

Thanks john for your answer I will bring some coal dust and water for the weekend to TRY!