Adam Elsdon

If i drive south for 3-4 hours i am still in Scotland! Here we go, just AA Route planned it: 627.6 miles 11 hr 22 min and thats in a car! in the Humber Pig if it went continuously, no problems (yeh right!) averaged 30 MPH and had the fuel, it would take nearly 22 hours, using 69.73 Gallons of fuel (At an optimistic 9 MPG) or 317.27 ltrs and a sleep deprived driver whacked out on two crates of Red Bull and thats just one way!! Strangely i dont think my Pig will be featuring at W&P anytime soon!

Unfortunately staging protests, such as the 2000 Petrol Protest, will only get you in legal deep doo doo, i.e. motorway go slows, and blockading refineries. The government then argues that the taxes are going into projects for the public, such as schools, hospitals and making things greener, and if you are protesting, then you are an individual with a self interest, and not representative of the majority, anyway the oil companies are to blame if the global price of oil goes up, and that has nothing to do with Government control etc. How you come up with a credible stand, that doesnt break the plethora of laws or make you look like a greedy self centered destroyer of the environment, is a tough one.

Yeh Yeh whatever! :cool2:

Now is it just me, or is it a Beltring frenzy for at least a couple of months before and after the event, so this is for everyone who cant make it, couldnt be arsed, skint, geographically live nowhere near Kent, or your vehicle is in component form in a collection of crates in the garage! You may even fall into a few of these categories! Stand up, be proud and make yourself known here :yay:

This post is like been given a torch, and finding out it has no batteries!:-D

I like the comments, apparently it would be impossible to blow over onto one wheel while it was on the ground, so the suggestion from the Jersey flying club was it was flying/landing :shocked: I'd seriously consider another form of transport into Jersey if that is the standard of flying activity!

I remember when i was a lad, watching the Vulcan landing at Sunderland Airport, (Formerly RAF Usworth) sometime in the early eighties, and not long after the Falklands, this went to the North East Air Museum and it became quite a draw for the museum for quite a while, i remember seeing them running up the APU and powering the aircraft systems on one visit. I stopped by a couple of years ago, and it has deteriorated somewhat, which i thought was a shame, but then if it was in flying condition it really would be frustrating, as the airfield was bought by Nissan and turned into a car factory!

I havent had much time recently to play with the Humber, however went out and took the "Pipe air Inlet" (No.9 in the diagram)off at the servo end, and gave it a blow through to make sure it wasnt blocked etc, seems fine, runs up to a banjo connection between the Air filter and the carburettor, giving a very light vacuum when the engine is revved up, as expected, so no problem there. I think bleeding the brake servo and brakes while engine is running so the servo comes into play, may get any remaining air out of it, but im not sure that would be causing the problem? im still going with the "Valve Piston" (No.4 in the diagram) not backing off, whether its because there is air in it, or it's sticky i dont know, i do know the diaphragm was good. Are the seals for these servos still available? i found a source of seals for the slave cylinder on e-bay, which i fitted, but the originals werent bad in the first place, however the small Valve Piston seal remains elusive.

When i was out in Sarajevo with the UN, our bug out plan from UNPROFOR HQ in the event it all went horribly wrong, involved two Danish operated M113's, we Exercised continuity of operation, and would pile into the M113's with the Danish boys, who had .50 Cals as top cover. One of the sites we used for operating was also the base for the British Cymbeline troop, they had the Cymbeline Radar, which located the bad guys mortar and artillery positions, and that was mounted on the FV432. So there you have it, a rambling involving both vehicles! Actually thinking about it, it was a pretty weird setup, Brits operating Clansman and COTS radios which we fitted into an American built APC operated by the Danish for the UN. That would make for an interesting MV show vehicle, it would give the originality freaks a melt down! COTS = Commercial Off The Shelf. As for the original question, I quite liked the M113, mainly because it was alot better than a Land Rover, given the conditions :cool2:.

Having some problems with the brakes, it has been doing it for a while now, and seems to have got worse since i have rebuilt the master cylinder and servo. The brakes on all four wheels stay on, the brake pedal is hard and the brake lights are on, it seems that the brake servo is remaining pressurised up. When i rebuilt the servo, the small piston operating the air valve in vacuum chamber at the top of the servo with the diapraghm, was sticky, this was throughly cleaned and the small rubber diaphragm checked for leaks and that checked out ok, the main large cylinder had new seals fitted etc, and the big diaphragm seal was good, just required a clean. Can somebody confirm where each of the vacuum hoses come from on the engine and go to on the servo, there was a fairly hideous hose bodge which i have sorted out, but it hasnt improved things too much. Any ideas? the only thing i didnt change was the tiny seal on the piston in the air valve part of the servo, but it wasnt bad, and it got a good coating of brake rubber grease prior to re-assembly........

Depends on your take of what is original, a fully restored vehicle isnt original, even if used and looks patinated, as parts and materials used during the restoration are different, a true original vehicle would be one that has left the factory and never been used, and not used by a military unit, because once they got their hands on it, it was becoming less and less original by the day. A fairly accurate representation of how they were in use, is the best way to describe most vehicles. Im not against seeing Ex Military trucks in civilian colours at MV shows either, as they probably have had a longer life working in civvy hands and are interesting in their own right, a friend has an 1944 Albion CX22S which was converted by a garage into a wrecker and was instrumental in its present survival, otherwise it would of been scrapped years ago. It is a very recognisable "Local" celebrity of a vehicle, as it has been with that garage since just after the war, everybody knows it, so painting it green would just make it another military truck. Vehicles that have been put together, and bear no resemblence to an original military or civilian used item are ok, i have no problem with them, so long as they arent passed off as original, complete with unit markings etc, why cant they just have them as a fun vehicle in their own right, im sure a Dune buggy or similar is just as fun painted yellow as it is NATO Green.

The show i done had about a dozen vehicles going around a track at any one time, we done 2 laps and came in for passenger change over and back out again. The vehicles were temporarily signed over to the museum for the afternoon, therefore we came under their insurance, im pretty sure a big show like W & P has a bigger cover policy! add a few marshalls a drivers safety brief, and bobs your relative! If you want to see happy kids, give them a ride in an interesting vehicle!

"Woof woof.....thats my other dog impression!" Just come back to this thread, and Jack you hit the nail on the head (Page 7 if anyone wants to read the full version). Be honest, who hasn't been to a show, and there are vehicles with cordons around them, with "Do not touch" on them, or Re-enactors taking it all too seriously and are not approachable. Yes there are arguments for it, particularly valuable vehicles, but if the owner or responsible person is on hand, there is no reason why the public should be shunned, it is after all a show. The most enjoyable times ive had at shows, apart from the obvious inter MV social banter/drink festival , is driving around with joe public in the back of the Pig, or painting kids faces with cam cream, sticking a helmet and webbing on them, and letting mum & dad take pictures of their kids on my vehicle. What i found on a Kids "Ride on" charity show that i was asked to take the Pig too, Mum or in particular Dad would ask if he could come with the kids "To make sure they were alright" and landed up asking more questions than little johnny! and not once did i have any Negative feedback about the Pig, or why i would want to own such a thing etc. If you get asked why you do it, tell them you are still a big kid, and its more interesting than Golf!! If you really want to justify it in a way to make a difference, do it for a charity. Maybe we all need to change the attitude to what we do at shows, if you engage with people, they then understand what you and your interest is about, and get them onboard with you, they then leave happy and thats what its all about, happy punters and happy MV owners. Maybe we need a different type of show, almost an exhibition for the public, still have static type displays and have rides on vehicles, kids involved with re-enactors with small fictional battles (I have seen this done with Romans, it was brilliant!) hands on weapons displays (like the Army do) make it a bit more fun, it is do-able and safe with a bit of thought, and if you need the worthiness factor, make it a charity event for example "Help for Heroes".

David, as i said "Re-enactors" have no direct association with the events they are portraying, you however would definitely fall under "living history", because you have been there and done it, you in effect are the living history, not the kit, which i think is the important distinction, the fact you also like vehicles and other equipment doesnt change that position in my view. Another interesting point is the "Respect" issue, personally it makes me slightly uncomfortable, i dont expect anybody to respect me as an ex serviceman, i signed on the dotted line and took the Queens shilling and am fortunate to have done my service with a great bunch of mates, and come out of it in one piece, even though some Serbs tried otherwise! I do think it is important that the fallen are "Remembered", and not just the direct combat fatalities, but also all those who have died while training or out on operation through accidents, or received terrible injury,they have all paid the price and their families have endured more than could ever be reasonably asked of them. I am certain most other Veterans dont want respect or individual recognition for themselves, just an appreciation of what they were doing and rememberance for their lost mates regardless of the period or theatre they served in. Alternatively stick to playing with your Military over engineered marvel of a vehicle, while wearing an oily Batman T-shirt and torn jeans, it wont stop me from speaking to you and sharing an interest in Military Vehicles of any flavour! infact the vehicle can be in a similar shape, two of my mates have vehicles in civvy colours, it doesnt detract from the vehicle engineering and how it operates, which for me is the interesting bit.

I am an ex forces Veteran (The government sent me a badge, so it must be true!), then i got the Pig, does that make me "Living History" with an old vehicle, or a military vehicle owner that is living history, i'm certainly no re-enactor. Infact it raises the question the definition "Living History" to me that is a Veteran, like the old Burma Star boys i was with on Armed Forces Day who were also representing the Chindits who were no longer with them, telling me about their time in Burma, that is real living history. People with no previous association to the event they are portraying, dressing up in period costume acting out a particular event, are still to my mind "Re-enactors" i.e. like Sealed Knot or actors in a film, and as accurate as they are, it is still only an act, so whether they are running around in US Airborne gear, or Jackbooted Nazis, it makes no difference to me they are joe public with a hobby, .....so long as they arent trying to pass themselves off as the real deal, or trying to tell a Veteran how it was.

Only a Humber Pig, that became one of the British Army's longest serving vehicles, in one of its longest conflicts, there are an awful lot of ex squaddies out there who have seen plenty of action in a Pig. Loggydriver hit the nail on the head for me: You also have people like me who have served in the forces and like to keep the "feeling" alive by dressing up in green kit and owning a few vehicles and who go to shows at weekends more for the social side than anything else. I bung on my old tankies coveralls D.I. the pig, drive in convoy to the shows and set up my basha and get the brews on and talk/get hands on with the greasy bits of vehicles, if it looks like a proper military camp, thats because i use the same kit as i used when i was in service, if it looks like "Living History" then so be it, however i am not a fan of trying to live somebody elses war, that i had nothing to do with. But it has a place, although some "Living History" types seem to get a bit too misty eyed about what they are doing, doing it for the veterans etc which i personally find a bit creepy!

Only a Humber Pig, that became one of the British Army's longest serving vehicles, in one of its longest conflicts, there are an awful lot of ex squaddies out there who have seen plenty of action in a Pig. Loggydriver hit the nail on the head for me: You also have people like me who have served in the forces and like to keep the "feeling" alive by dressing up in green kit and owning a few vehicles and who go to shows at weekends more for the social side than anything else. I bung on my old tankies coveralls D.I. the pig, drive in convoy to the shows and set up my basha and get the brews on and talk/get hands on with the greasy bits of vehicles, if it looks like a proper military camp, thats because i use the same kit as i used when i was in service, if it looks like "Living History" then so be it, however i am not a fan of trying to live somebody elses war, that i had nothing to do with. But it has a place, although some "Living History" types seem to get a bit too misty eyed about what they are doing, doing it for the veterans etc which i personally find a bit creepy!

:rofl: Id forgotten all about that! we also had Circuit engineering variation on radio teletype of "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dogs back" which was a test of all the alphabetical characters, but generally got bastardized into "The quick brown fox savaged the lazy dog" or some such. ZBZ5 which was used as an abreviation of I am receiving you loud and clear (on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 been poor) started getting used in allsorts of comms as "Zebedee says 5".

Give the shaft that goes into the transfer box a clean with emery cloth then grease it, then tap it in carefully and work it about a bit should do the trick.

Hope you get on well with her, nice to see two AFS trucks from the same period on here (Crocs Bedford blog been the other!).

The rear body hasnt fell off yet then! :-D

Nice one! :-D

Summer weighting NBC cannisters, naughty! Our unit had a policy that everybody including the Rodneys wore the full works, and trained in it, that way they knew how hard going it was and how far to push the troops, particularly in the heat.....which was nice! and woe betide anyone found with something breaking the respirators seal!

Its got good tyres!, if it drives, its all cosmetics!!

Noticed that its not been investigated....yet, but i would of thought the self important H&S brigade will have a field day, the implications of a big jet out of control isnt going to help aviation enthusiasts that ground run aircraft. :-(