2023 Jagdpanther new build Part 9
Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2024 6:07 pm
A SALUTARY LESSON OR AN EXAMPLE OF ABJECT STUPIDITY...
Hello all and firstly may I wish everyone who reads my scribblings a somewhat belated happy New Year!
My updates have been silent for some time now as we've moved house and I've taken up new employment. However, the JP is still progressing and will be totally finished in the next few months. But just prior to packing up the house and moving the whole shooting match 120 miles further south in France, I was in our large lounge with the JP where I'd just completed some tweaks to the track tension and tidied up the internal wiring.
Figuring a quick test drive around the lounge to be in order, the beast was fired up, driven around the settee then back into the main living space which was about 12 metres in length. All was going well as she rumbled past me kneeling on the floor so, as it neared the large glazed patio doors, I throttled back to a standstill then engaged reverse to neatly park adjacent to our large stone fireplace. Increasing the throttle setting and she suddenly shot backwards seemingly at full throttle and careered into the hearth stonework.
This stopped her in her tracks, so to speak, but the motors were still turning at full throttle and the tracks skidding furiously on the polished tile floor. No response to any input from the transmitter and I had to very quickly scramble over, open the loading hatch and hit the battery kill switch. Major panic ensued from the other settee where wife, dog and 3 cats had been sitting. An out of control tank, Maybach engine sound at max and the television set almost knocked over during its brief flight did assembled company's nerves no good at all!!
But what had caused this disaster? It very quickly became evident when I lifted the roof of the fighting compartment and discovered that I'd forgotten to run the receiver's aerial lead outside of the hull. Therefore, at very close range, she got a signal through the front glacis plate which was still waiting for the mantlet and gun to be installed. But as soon as she was stern on, no signal would penetrate the thick hull and thus it reverted into failsafe mode which should have shut everything down. But it didn't.
Checking my programmable transmitter, I discovered that I'd made a major boo boo. The failsafe function (designed to allow one to select a sequence of events should there be a loss of signal or imminent shutdown owing to very low receiver battery power) had been set to stop the vehicle but I must have been in a hurry or distracted (can the wife be blamed for this? Probably not ...) and thus the failsafe throttle setting had been set to 100% rather than 0%. Oops!!!
I can imagine what many of you will be thinking - what a t**t, not having the aerial wired to the tank's antenna or even trailing over the superstructure. But hey-ho, we live and learn. Thankfully, the tank struck the fireplace at a slight angle and the point of impact was the front towing shackle - just missing the mudguard. So just chipped paint and a chunk knocked out of the hearth surround (glued it back in place with epoxy tinted beige to match the stonework). Phew.
So, a lesson to be learned. Always carry out pre-flight checks and don't operate these vehicles in a confined space as their power is quite incredible.
More to follow as the finishing touches take shape. Now, where's that Valium...
Hello all and firstly may I wish everyone who reads my scribblings a somewhat belated happy New Year!
My updates have been silent for some time now as we've moved house and I've taken up new employment. However, the JP is still progressing and will be totally finished in the next few months. But just prior to packing up the house and moving the whole shooting match 120 miles further south in France, I was in our large lounge with the JP where I'd just completed some tweaks to the track tension and tidied up the internal wiring.
Figuring a quick test drive around the lounge to be in order, the beast was fired up, driven around the settee then back into the main living space which was about 12 metres in length. All was going well as she rumbled past me kneeling on the floor so, as it neared the large glazed patio doors, I throttled back to a standstill then engaged reverse to neatly park adjacent to our large stone fireplace. Increasing the throttle setting and she suddenly shot backwards seemingly at full throttle and careered into the hearth stonework.
This stopped her in her tracks, so to speak, but the motors were still turning at full throttle and the tracks skidding furiously on the polished tile floor. No response to any input from the transmitter and I had to very quickly scramble over, open the loading hatch and hit the battery kill switch. Major panic ensued from the other settee where wife, dog and 3 cats had been sitting. An out of control tank, Maybach engine sound at max and the television set almost knocked over during its brief flight did assembled company's nerves no good at all!!
But what had caused this disaster? It very quickly became evident when I lifted the roof of the fighting compartment and discovered that I'd forgotten to run the receiver's aerial lead outside of the hull. Therefore, at very close range, she got a signal through the front glacis plate which was still waiting for the mantlet and gun to be installed. But as soon as she was stern on, no signal would penetrate the thick hull and thus it reverted into failsafe mode which should have shut everything down. But it didn't.
Checking my programmable transmitter, I discovered that I'd made a major boo boo. The failsafe function (designed to allow one to select a sequence of events should there be a loss of signal or imminent shutdown owing to very low receiver battery power) had been set to stop the vehicle but I must have been in a hurry or distracted (can the wife be blamed for this? Probably not ...) and thus the failsafe throttle setting had been set to 100% rather than 0%. Oops!!!
I can imagine what many of you will be thinking - what a t**t, not having the aerial wired to the tank's antenna or even trailing over the superstructure. But hey-ho, we live and learn. Thankfully, the tank struck the fireplace at a slight angle and the point of impact was the front towing shackle - just missing the mudguard. So just chipped paint and a chunk knocked out of the hearth surround (glued it back in place with epoxy tinted beige to match the stonework). Phew.
So, a lesson to be learned. Always carry out pre-flight checks and don't operate these vehicles in a confined space as their power is quite incredible.
More to follow as the finishing touches take shape. Now, where's that Valium...
