Chieftan 01EB70 at Duxford

[Stephen White]

Pete, really appreciate your posting the photos, as you say for a reference for others. That's also exactly my aim, adding to the reference stuff for others to use and enjoy. The banter with Mark is just that, we're both trying to bring the Armortek Chieftain to life. I at least am not being critical of IWM. As I said, not a bad effort for a museum, which is why I"ll regret the LWH closing. I worked for IWM briefly at Duxford, although on the flying side, so I do appreciate the effort they've put in.

[Kevin Hunter]

Yes, don't be put off Pete. Any and all photos published on the Armortek pages help to provide a wealth of detail information to those of us without ready access. Thankyou for yours. Likewise I find the commentary / banter / "observations" (more appropriate term than criticisms) of those with first hand knowledge interesting, fascinating and often entertaining.

I agree with you that the "living" diorama displays at Duxford are great. IMHO, they give a very different perspective to the somewhat "sterile" exhibits at other museums. I believe there is a place for both styles. Those in the know will always spot inconsistencies and their comments help us when it eventually comes to detailing our own models.

I too am fond of Duxford in its entirety - spent much time there in a previous life, not just the museums. If there is any move to save or relocate the LWH we should get behind it.

(hope I've kept my comments light enough )

Kevin

[Mark Heaps]

As Stephen said, it is banter between us and bringing the Armortek Chieftain to life.
I would say the exhibit is not bad but it could be better. I have seen worse. eg Centurion at the german tank museum had the Union flag upside down when I visited it.

The spare obturators were stowed on top of the Rotary Base Junction under the gun and definitely not in a turret stowage basket.
The Met Probe was a standard fit on Challenger 1 and Challenger 2. I do not recall seeing it fitted to Chieftain. I was trained on fixing IFCS just before Challenger 1 was introduced and the Met Probe was not part of the training. A weather report was issued over the radio and the commanders would manually enter the data into the IFCS.

OM-13 Not usual for tanks to carry it and if they did then a 1 liter can would have sufficed. 5-liter drum of 75 or 220 occasionally but then normally just when the vehicle had a fault and they were there for emergency top-ups to stay in the battle untill the fault could be fixed.

Slack tracks - correct track tension was when you could just insert a vertical clenched fist over the track at the midpoint between two of the top rollers.

Mark

[Stephen White]

Ack Mark. Re the met sensor, I wondered if I was just thinking of Challenger, so I checked a couple of sources. Dick Taylor shows a photo of the met probe fitted to Chieftain and says "very few IFCS tanks were fitted with....". Rob Griffin says that although it was part of the IFCS system design, it was not adopted by the British on grounds of cost. I suspect, as I said, that the met could be input from data received by radio and that it was of more concern to know what the wind was doing at the target end. The Gunners generally had a better handle on met anyway. Either way, I don't think I ever saw it or the IR detector fitted and I'd not expect anyone to put one on their Chieftain model.

[Pete Nash]

Stephen and Mark...

No offence taken. At least it came from people who have been there, done it, got the T shirt, VCR, DVD and Bluray! Not a Rivet counter who looks at Photos and becomes an 'expert'.

XX

[John Clarke]

God help us mortals,
I need that tee shirt
(This next bit should be in Chieftain info and banter, but the minds quite boggled at the moment )
Thought I'd add I was having a quite holiday, reading up on all the Chieftain topics and then I'm confronted with the depth of the anti slip paint on the hull, the amount of coats, damage and the spread of sand in the paint mix. And I thought it was just a ral code.
The only realistic bit on my tank will be the over spray and grease smuggies.

[John Clarke]

Found this true life picture from the great out doors, Batus maybe. Cooking up what looks like "Ferret" road kill, waste not want not .

Using some of the kit that's on the Duxford table too, hey,, the tracks are looking a bit slack. the skills I'm learning on this forum

Who lost the bazooka plate bolts then

dodger.jpg (35.31 KiB) Viewed 2975 times

And a what a super sunset or sunrise



So what is the British equivalent of "Panzer March" "Chieftains Roll out"?

[Stephen White]

Saturday Night FEBA. (That’s an “in-joke”)
You’re my funny Valentine (for WW2 tankless)
Waltzing Matilda (ditto)
Tanks for the memory
Anything by the Chieftains

There may be more......

[Chris Hall]

Roll out the barrel ?

The tracks of my tears ?

Can the Can ?

I'll get my coat .......

[Mark Heaps]

Who lost the bazooka plate bolts then

I asked that myself, standard drills was to put all bolts back in a thread or two so you knew where to find them later when you needed them ( It also prevented the threads getting blocked or damaged by anything else ). Looks like a Chieftain but coveralls, Insignia & boots is wrong for a british crew.
Possibly Kuwaiti, or another country we exported them to.

[Stephen White]

And today's winner is.....

Mr Clarke. Well spotted although your rodent recognition is awry. That's none other than a Canadian gopher, both a luxury food and a source of great amusement in times of idleness. You find a gopher warren, stake it out, number the holes and then take bets on which hole will produce the next head.

The "Kuwaiti coveralls", insignia and boots actually belong to Tpr "Dodger" Bryant of the Third Royal Tank Regiment. According to my most authoritative sources, the photo was taken in BATUS in 1989. The clues are the black denims, Brunswick Green 3RTR shoulder flashes, white name tag, tank arm badge (an RTR tradition dating from WW1 to signify a fully qualified crewman), the British AFV crewman helmet and the No 2 burner. I'm reliably told the bazooka plate bolts are in the driver's bin, where they belong.

It's been a long, hot Sunday afternoon.....

[John Clarke]

Are you sure it's not a "Siberian hamster Mr Fawlty"

As for the cause of death I merely suggested a ferret (Scout car)

[Stephen White]

Actually John, it was an Army issue frying pan. Take my hat off to Dodger, he must have been fast. He did say he made a Davy Crockett hat from the remains, which he parched with salt over the MBSGD. Said you needed at least ten to feed a crew.

Should have put a warning on these posts as they do on the BBC, you know the one "if anyone has been affected by these issues......etc" or alternatively the one which says "the following report contains scenes which some viewers might find upsetting". Too late. Damn.

[Mark Heaps]

The gopher holes also had another use.
If a portaloo was not nearby and you needed a shit desperately, why waste time digging a hole ? Just squat over the gopher hole, do what was needed, and shovel some dirt in afterwards.

You could not go behind a tree, they were very few and far between, you could go days without spotting one of them. Each tree was marked on the map and god help you if you damaged one.

Mark

[John Clarke]

Gopher_Caddyshack_Feature13.jpg (120.36 KiB) Viewed 3010 times

A pretty small target.

FGHB449-GREEN-POST.jpg (27.73 KiB) Viewed 3007 times