Chieftain info and banter

[Mark Heaps]

The long-bin from Chieftain was extensively re-roled by the REME and fitted to other vehicles.
The fuel taps also were, I reckon only about 5% of those we demanded were actually used to replace faulty ones, the other 95% were fitted to other vehicles or even to the Chieftains, but being used for a completely different purpose.

[Stephen White]

Yes, accompanied by the phrase “It’s a big firm......”. Of course the most spectacular write-off saga of all time was the Donnington fire in 1988. Central Ordnance Depot Donnington was one of the two major MoD storage areas. One complete building was pretty much gutted. After that, a loss was always explained away by” it went up in the Donnington Fire”. There is also a widely quoted and apocryphal story of a 432 armoured personnel carrier which caught fire. It was said that the commanding officer demanded to see a pile of all the items claimed to have been lost. He then set a challenge to get the pike into the vehicle.... although commanding officers had limited powers of write-off, significant items had to go up the chain of command. A famous party at Schloss Bredebeck in Germany resulted in the loss of several assault boats which had been decked out to re-enact Trafalgar. Unfortunately the Sappers who were responsible for the fireworks, were too enthusiastic and they caught fire and melted. The divisional commander was invited to write them off. He really had to, since he was at the party. Nothing to do with Chieftain; but.....

[Adrian Harris]

You know the cuts are biting when the British Army is reduced to using pikes again

Adrian.

[martin pitcairn]

I Love this thread, I look forward to every new posting. keep it up guys. it's very interesting.

Martin

[Stephen White]

Good Chieftain video here from TankFest 2017:

What do you reckon, Mark? Gun kit is on but the gun looks as though it's got creep in elevation? Stab isn't working as advertised. The Tank Museum could do with a good ECE. Loader needs a haircut. Must be a cavalry young officer. Blonde too.....The bloke in the commander's seat looks as though he's got ants in his pants, hopping up and down like a yoyo.

[Mark Heaps]

Hi Stephen,
Gun kit on but not creep in elevation, it is not stabilised at all. The gunner has control of the gun and is trying to simulate STAB as best he can.
Mark

[Mark Heaps]

The Donnington fire was used by the civilians to justify anything they could not supply although they should have had it.

The biggest write-off to justify losses by units must have been the Atlantic Conveyor during the Falklands conflict. I think someone once totalled up the total tonnage that "went down" with it and it was not surprising that it sank, it was "carrying " three times what it was capable of.

Occasionally things were available that officialy were not.
QRLs on firing camp at Grafenwöhr, no LRUs available ( Line Replaceable Units ), tank availability down to 50-60% and falling. Sqn Tiffies then started reporting 90% availability and climbing. When the CO asked where the LRUs were coming from as there were none available, the Tiffies requested him not to ask, it was better that he did not know.

No illegal activity took place. QRLs had been told not to demand LRU´s as there were none available. I was just down the road with the IFCS / TOGS hotrig and the battle-pack which was at 100%. I had not been informed not to issue. My standing instructions were to issue like for like and then regenerate the items.

[John Clarke]

Great clip Stephen,
I like way the tracks run so cleanly from the start, the way the sun reflects and glints off the grey metal links. Not some over painted rusty relic from a range, or an old static exhibit in musty museum.
Great sound too. Not too much smoke either, though we didn't see her cold startup.
I don't know if will be offered stabilization, but it'll be a doddle if not.
Running large model submarines, pitch controllers come cheap with fine or course level control and even override.
With so many new mods coming with this model its exciting to see what coming next.

[John Clarke]

It's nothing to do with the army banter, but being a bottom feeder at my company I'll always point out the "do you know who am" manager, first the company logo on my chest. Stating we work for the same company and would he like some medical treatment for his dementia.

I'll usually get the parts I need that safe guards production, the companies profits and ultimately our (his too) wages.
And if he wishes to take it further they can explain the loss of production.

Never fails
One team, 100% commitment, zero accidents

By the way lads I'm still having trouble with the leaving the "fallen guy's" from a previous topic

[John Clarke]

One team, 100% commitment, zero accidents

This line is deplayed on a huge sign as you walk in to the factory.

It never fails to make me smile "Safety third"

[Mark Heaps]

By the way lads I'm still having trouble with the leaving the "fallen guy's" from a previous topic

I´m presuming from something I have posted.
The americans had the attitude, leave no one behind under any circumstances, and suffered unneeded casualties because of it.

British attitude was rely on your mates, they would cover you as long as they safely could, and they would come back for you when it was safe to do so.
I know everyone I served with would have risked their lives for mine but they would have acted intelligently. First rule of first aid, do not become a casualty yourself.

[Mark Heaps]

Back to this photo from Pete Nash´s thread

DSC_0175.JPG (84.54 KiB) Viewed 3741 times

What it also shows are the "bump strips" fitted around the rear decks. They were black rubber but painted over to match the camouflage scheme on the vehicle.
If the traverse and elevation limit switches were set up correctly and everything working correctly, the gun barrel would not impact them or the gun crutch.
They were there for if something went wrong with any system on the battlefield and ensured that the gun barrel would have hit rubber rather than metal.

[Stephen White]

These are the “resilient rails” in Army speak.

[Mark Heaps]

These are the “resilient rails” in Army speak.

Yes, Stephen, you are quite correct in that Resilient rails was the correct designation as per the parts list. In my experience, bump strips was the suaddy term for the items. I do remember one occasion on exercise when a very young officer reported that the elevation limit switches had to be adjusted as the barrel had struck the resilient rails. The fitter section and the tank crew just looked at him with puzzled faces and asked him to describe the fault.
After he had done so, everyone responded with the question "Why did you not say, the barrel had hit the bump strips ? "

[Mark Heaps]

Track pads - The rubber pads on the tracks were there purely to prevent or limit damage to the roads.
In peace-time they had to be monitored continuosly and replaced if worn out or severely damaged, in war-time they were an unneccessary and discardable item.
If exercising on a training area, they would not be replaced during the exercise, but the SQMS would have a stock ready for the end, for the tanks to fit before going out on the roads.