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Dontos · Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 8:44 pm Post subject: Re: Patton Museum Chieftain pics?

- TrevorLarkum

Thanks for that - I served on Challengers but did some time on Chieftains (e.g. in Canada) so I have a soft spot for both old girls.

QuickQuiz: which one is most comfortable for the crews, and why?

A guess would be the Challenger, with its interior electric hotwater 'pot' crew can heat rations, and at 4:00pm each day have 'teas and biskits'.....( Is that close?)

Regards
Don

Neil_Baumgardner · Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 3:19 pm Post subject: Re: Patton Museum Chieftain pics?

- TrevorLarkum

Neil, I visited Fort Knox in the 80s and spent about a week there. I got on well with the staff, and spent a lot of time going through their records, particularly for acquisitions (I've been lucky to do that at a few other collections too, like Bovington).

That number is therefore likely to have come from their paperwork, though I would have to check my notes to confirm its source (and they will likely remain boxed in the attic until I work on putting PTiUSA online).

Trevor, also, any idea what the Aberdeen Chieftain VRN is?

Ironically, I have dug through the inactive Ordnance Museum files fairly thoroughly. The active files not so much (except for the basic log entries)... I should spend a day or so in the future doing that, although I doubt the Chieftain VRN is in there...

Neil

TrevorLarkum · Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 4:06 pm Post subject: Re: Patton Museum Chieftain pics?

- Dontos

A guess would be the Challenger, with its interior electric hotwater 'pot' crew can heat rations, and at 4:00pm each day have 'teas and biskits'.....( Is that close?)

No, both tanks have a BV (boiling vessel). In fact, I'm sure it's the first design requirement for any British tank!
I was reminiscing about sleeping arrangements. When I first went on exercise on Chieftains we would sleep on the back decks with the turret traversed rear and a tarpaulin over the gun barrel fixed at the sides. With the dying heat from the engine it was very snug.
Later serving on Challengers everything had got more 'serious' and you had to reverse into hides with guns forward 'ready for action'. In those circumstances the Challenger wins out because it has a turret big enough and flat enough that you can sleep across the top of the turret.

JimWeb · Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 5:35 pm Post subject: Re: Patton Museum Chieftain pics?

- Dontos

A guess would be the Challenger, with its interior electric hotwater 'pot' crew can heat rations, and at 4:00pm each day have 'teas and biskits'.....( Is that close?)

4:00pm? how uncivilised - a real english gentlman would not have afternoon tea any later than 3:30pm..

The most comfortable tank I ever slept on engine-deck-wise was the early centurion hull vehicles - lots of flat smooth plates! The BV on the centurion was a hazard though and burns were frequent!

Also sleeping on the back decks of a Ferret as well... now there was an occupation fraught with hazard - if your driver snored you frequently found yourself snore-blasted off the decks onto the ground as space was definately at a premium. We were BV-less then as they had finally decided that particular model of BV was a hazard to health and safety and had withdrawn them.

TrevorLarkum · Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 6:46 pm Post subject: Re: Patton Museum Chieftain pics?

- Neil_Baumgardner

Trevor, also, any idea what the Aberdeen Chieftain VRN is?

Ironically, I have dug through the inactive Ordnance Museum files fairly thoroughly. The active files not so much (except for the basic log entries)... I should spend a day or so in the future doing that, although I doubt the Chieftain VRN is in there...

Neil

I don't have so much to offer this time:

Chieftains

I guess their paperwork was a bit 'thinner' than Fort Knox had.

Dontos · Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 3:49 am Post subject: Re: Patton Museum Chieftain pics?

- JimWeb

- Dontos

A guess would be the Challenger, with its interior electric hotwater 'pot' crew can heat rations, and at 4:00pm each day have 'teas and biskits'.....( Is that close?)

4:00pm? how uncivilised - a real english gentlman would not have afternoon tea any later than 3:30pm..

The most comfortable tank I ever slept on engine-deck-wise was the early centurion hull vehicles - lots of flat smooth plates! The BV on the centurion was a hazard though and burns were frequent!

Also sleeping on the back decks of a Ferret as well... now there was an occupation fraught with hazard - if your driver snored you frequently found yourself snore-blasted off the decks onto the ground as space was definately at a premium. We were BV-less then as they had finally decided that particular model of BV was a hazard to health and safety and had withdrawn them.

Jim

I had a Plt Sgt who had the loudest snore, was prohibited by Bn Cmdr from sleeping on exterior of tank, if we were 'tactical'.

As for 'snore-blast', try 'sleep rolling' off the turret sponson box ( on Abrams ) while zipped up in sleeping bag. The 'free fall' is always followed by the small dust cloud of 'landing' and then the 'oooffff' seemingly always followed by a wimpering moan of the individual, rudely awakened by impact. Of course there is the 'inch-worm' effect, which seems to follow, when the guilty party struggles to unzip amid the shock of impact. Mr. Green

Been there, done that ...( a few times.....)
Don

Neil_Baumgardner · Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 6:20 pm Post subject: Re: Patton Museum Chieftain pics?

BTW, the latest edition of Classic Military Vehicle has a teaser for the next issue - which apparently includes an article on a long lost Chieftain prototype found at some "remote" MoD facility. From the painted marking on the fender, it appears to be prototype W3. No idea if the VRN would be, if it has one.

Thats actually one small failing in Bob Griffin's otherwise great book (IMHO) - his list of VRNs in the back doesnt include the prototypes (I was able to find at least a few had VRNs just from looking at pictures) or special trials vehicles sent overseas, etc... Just a nitpick in an otherwise great book though....

Neil

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