Lauren Child

Those look like the same wheels, but this was riding on them instead of pushing them out front. It must have been hellish to steer. It's no wonder it didn't make it into production. Thanks for the info guys :tup::

I don't think it does have Aviation Spirit stamped onto it. It's been a long time though, so I'll have to look it out when I head back to my dad's place. My brother was mad on steam trains so we went to a lot of transport and steam fairs when I was younger. I picked it up intending to paint it up nicely, but I bit off a bit more than I could chew, and didnt quite have the oomph for paint stripping in those days. It's sat in the shed/garage ever since. Funnily enough I was pondering doing something with it just the other day. Now I just have to find it....

I also have a can like this. It's a Shell can, and has the Shell logo with wings on the front. I bought it as an old aviation gas can but heard later that it was probably just a normal petrol can.

That sounds like the thing - the wheels were huge.

This was definitely a Sherman hull/turret with 4 wheels fitted. The wheels were huge (about as tall as the Sherman) and grooved. They were fitted where the drive sprockets and rear idlers would normally be, but the axles must have been extended down as they still fitted under the recess for the tracks, giving a huge ground clearance.

Ah well, if you're not paying then it may be just as well to let them get on with it so it gets done as fast as possible. I have hit problems with ring mains before, so I can comiserate Now I'll shut up with the techie stuff and get back to vehicles

I've just been watching the Sherman episode of "Killer Tanks" on the discovery channel. Just before the end there was a picture shown of a Sherman with no tracks and four huge wheels fitted. Unfortunately they didn't say what it was or why it was done. Can any of you shed some light? It looked like a peculiar beast.

Neil. That sounds peculiar as I thought there should be a sticker to say two different wiring standards were in use with the CU. I'd be tempted to ring the IET (used to be IEE) and check that this is a correct interpretation of the regs. The number is 01438 765599 for wiring regulations technical queries. While I'm not an electrician, I do have to use the wiring regs as part of some specifications. I've had some bad experiences with electricians having misinterpreted the regs, so if it sounds wrong its usually worth checking with the source. That said a kitchen has special requirements (if I understand correctly), and I've never had to install any comms kit in a kitchen, so this may just be outside of my experience. Worth checking as it sounds like an expensive job, and I cant think of any technical reason why two CU's would be needed.

Not really war films, but I'm a bit of a sci-fi nut and one of my friends knew the chap who was camera technician on Aliens. The APC in that is actually an aircraft tug borrowed from Heathrow airport. It wasn't going to have a gun until they saw the action of the hook that goes around the front landing gear, and wrote in the scene where the gun folds around the back to fit into the building. There's a similar looking one on Witham Specialist Vehicles at the moment. Also the power loader (the thing that's a bit like a robot meets a forklift) was made entirely out of balsa wood so that it could be moved around by Sigourney Weaver who stood inside. It only looks heavy in the film because of the sound effects that were added later. The gun supports that the marines with heavy weapons use are actually steadycam harnesses borrowed from film crew's stores. Oh, and the girl who played Vasquez really was that butch

Good lord this has brought back memories. I'd been trying to find out which museum this was for years. I visited when I was younger, as we happenned past it when out for a sunday drive (and I got very excited when we saw signposts for it). There used to be a huge cylinder outside that was some kind of old radar or radio beacon. They also had a number of simulator rides that were very memorable. They were built by the veterans who ran the museum and I had great fun chatting to them about how they were made. This was probably one of the moments that got me into engineering. There were three simulators. One was a spitfire cockpit on a rig that went around when you tilted the joystick. One was the front of a lancaster bomber that you could fly bombardier in. An aerial photo was on rollers beneath the dome, so you could look through the bomb sight and release when on target. The last was a helicopter that had been made from steel tubing. It was on pneumatics and had full mobility so you could take off, land, and bank left and right. Niether my father or brother remember it, but seeing the photo's I'm sure thas was the place. I've been wanting to re-visit for *ages* Thank you Jessie! :yay::yay::yay:

Here's a question for you guys. What is there to see/do during the weekdays ahead of the weekend? I'm double booked on the weekend, but I'm thinking about heading down for the week before, and coming back on Saturday afternoon. If I do get down there, will there be much there or does it all come out just for the Saturday/Sunday.

It's specially formulated to stick to boots. I nearly lost both when we waded out to drain the water off after the last bunch of storms a few weeks ago. I swear one day we'll lose the chieftain in the boggy part, or we'll get in to find half of a 432 sticking out of the water trap. It wouldn't be the first time as I'm told that when the land warfare hall was built they found a buried american truck. Having had the job of chipping dried mud off the 432's I can commiserate with your jet washer experience. I've also had the experience of clearing out the mud traps in front of the workshop, only to find that I'd lost my purse at the end of the day. After much panic at the thought of wading back in we found it upstairs.:sweat:

They are a great bunch of folks to work with. I'm learning a lot from working with them, both engineering and history, which puts a lot into context. It's a great way to spend your Sunday (if anyone out there fancies volunteering?)

It's a shame we all missed each other at the show, but you did manage to capture me on camera. Hopefully you'll recognise me next time.

It's a Ford Model T Huck Starter, for starting early aircraft. Take a look here to see how it was used -

I hope you brushed your hair. This was Tank Overhaul filming, so you could be appearing on the Discovery channel next year

Great photos!

The submarine crew's ears were ringing for weeks.

more pics!

some of my pics

Alas I managed to miss the forum folk there as well, but when I got out from behind the scenes I was rather busy eyeing up Dodge's .

Thanks to all that came - we had a grand day, and it was nice to see such a good turnout when fuel prices are so high. I'll post some photo's when I've had a chance for a bath and a cup of tea

King Dick do some big sockets. I've just bought some from an online retailer called Lawson-HIS. The bonus is they still do big sockets in whitworth sizes, which seem to have been dropped by most companies.

I've just found this link which seems relevent. It's a list of Wireless sets with photos. http://home.wxs.nl/~meuls003/wireless/wireless.html

Yup it's down in Kent where the War and Peace show is held.