Therapy
- Thread starter Glen
- Start date
Yeah, been here 5 years now and every single snow we have had was precluded by a 1/2 inch of ice. About 8-9 years ago here there was a really nasty ice storm, power lines & trees down through out the entire area. Power where I am was out for two straight weeks. Tales of that storm was the motivation for installing a back up generator.
Ian
Notorious member
We are preparing for the one thing worse than snow and cold, freezing rain. Expected to get a light coating of ice followed by an inch or two of white stuff. All that and sub zero temps and wind.
Hey Ian, wanna come visit?
Yes, but not right now! Your drafty basement is leaking enough cold air to Texas that I might have to fire up the wood stove this weekend.
I don't miss NW Fort Worth area in the winter. We'd get three or four days where the temp never got above freezing, but it would be dry....until a light mist of rain would pass through and put 1/8" of ice on everything. After taping toolbox liner foam to the soles of your boots, you could walk on it, and push a 1-ton truck across a parking lot with one finger.
Ian
Notorious member
Imagine my surprise, after hiking 13 miles to summit Emory Peak in late November to catch the sunset, my companion and I were greeted by a huge cloud of mosquitoes. We were the only warm-blooded things up there and to this day can't figure out what so many of them were doing at that altitude. View was worth it, though.
Pistolero
Well-Known Member
I'm pretty sure shooting the main gun is NOT included, that WOULD be a hoot. The wife
started this "drive ........" Christmas gift thing years ago and it has been a lot of fun.
I can take a couple of friends along on the tank drive, and of course the wife is one, and
I have a good friend who is really into WW2 history, and armor, so he is also invited. He
got me a book by an officer in charge of half a battalion landing at Omaha on D-day, and
including the next few months of fighting. Looking forward to that book.
If you can ever manage the trip, a few days around Normandy, especially with a skilled local
guide, are really interesting and you learn to appreciate what those young men did a lot
more.
Bill
The wifestarted this "drive ........" Christmas gift thing years ago and it has been a lot of fun.
I can take a couple of friends along on the tank drive, and of course the wife is one, and
I have a good friend who is really into WW2 history, and armor, so he is also invited. He
got me a book by an officer in charge of half a battalion landing at Omaha on D-day, and
including the next few months of fighting. Looking forward to that book.
If you can ever manage the trip, a few days around Normandy, especially with a skilled local
guide, are really interesting and you learn to appreciate what those young men did a lot
more.
Bill
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oscarflytyer
Well-Known Member
Driven an M1. Would LOVE to drive a Sherman. And a King Tiger! And an Elephant Gun! Jealous!
Pistolero
Well-Known Member
Heck, I'm jealous of driving an M1.
What sort of controls do the M1 have? I have been reading on the Sherman, and you have
a foot clutch and fairly normal gearshift, and then two steering levers. Pull right lever to turn
right, left lever to turn left. Pull harder to turn tighter. Seems pretty straightforward, but different.
I run a stander zero turn mower with two levers, controlling variable displacement hydro pumps, took a
bit to get used to, but now can run fast and accurately when mowing. It will be interesting to see
how it is to drive, for sure. Many different driveline designs, with different techniques and capabilities
for turning and pivoting, or not pivoting. The Sherman cannot pivot (run one track one direction and
one in the other), many German tanks could.
Hmm. King Tiger, commonly used, but incorrect name. Not much chance that anyone will ever drive
one of those again. More correctly Royal Tiger, or accurately, Sd Kfz 182 Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf B.
There are TWO (!) Royal Tiger (correct translation of the German name) also called Tiger II in the British "The
Tank Museum" (saw them a couple of years ago) and a running Tiger I. I doubt that the Royal Tiger runs, most in the
museum do not. That the Tiger I runs and is driven with some regularity (it was used in the somewhat ahistorical, and
tactically foolish movie "Fury"). The story of that tank is amazing, for another time. Tiger IIs are seriously overrated, IMO.
Massively underpowered and unreliable, about 12 mph top speed. Few made, no real impact on the war.
They also have an example of the Jagdtiger, or Hunting Tiger in English, even bigger, heavier, essentially invulnerable
to any frontal shots, but also essentially unable to move, it would break down or run out of fuel before it moved very
far at all. Completely impractical, not quite, but almost a stationary pillbox with a big gun.
Bill
What sort of controls do the M1 have? I have been reading on the Sherman, and you have
a foot clutch and fairly normal gearshift, and then two steering levers. Pull right lever to turn
right, left lever to turn left. Pull harder to turn tighter. Seems pretty straightforward, but different.
I run a stander zero turn mower with two levers, controlling variable displacement hydro pumps, took a
bit to get used to, but now can run fast and accurately when mowing. It will be interesting to see
how it is to drive, for sure. Many different driveline designs, with different techniques and capabilities
for turning and pivoting, or not pivoting. The Sherman cannot pivot (run one track one direction and
one in the other), many German tanks could.
Hmm. King Tiger, commonly used, but incorrect name. Not much chance that anyone will ever drive
one of those again. More correctly Royal Tiger, or accurately, Sd Kfz 182 Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf B.
There are TWO (!) Royal Tiger (correct translation of the German name) also called Tiger II in the British "The
Tank Museum" (saw them a couple of years ago) and a running Tiger I. I doubt that the Royal Tiger runs, most in the
museum do not. That the Tiger I runs and is driven with some regularity (it was used in the somewhat ahistorical, and
tactically foolish movie "Fury"). The story of that tank is amazing, for another time. Tiger IIs are seriously overrated, IMO.
Massively underpowered and unreliable, about 12 mph top speed. Few made, no real impact on the war.
They also have an example of the Jagdtiger, or Hunting Tiger in English, even bigger, heavier, essentially invulnerable
to any frontal shots, but also essentially unable to move, it would break down or run out of fuel before it moved very
far at all. Completely impractical, not quite, but almost a stationary pillbox with a big gun.
Bill
oscarflytyer
Well-Known Member
M1 is a turbine, and has motorcycle handles. You have to stand on the brake and spin the turbine up and then ease off the brake to get a slow graceful start. Otherwise it will leap when the turbine gets spun up. Two neatest things I have seen with an M1: a full throttle to full brake, fwd and reverse, on a pad. Does a sort of wheelie and then skids the plates when you hit the brakes. Other was about a 30 mph run over washboard and the main gun stayed on point and on target and put three rounds thru the same hole.
Pistolero
Well-Known Member
Ontos.....never heard of it. I rode in a AMTRAC a couple of times. Wear the helmet and
flak jacket, for SURE. There are hard, sharp corners inside and the suspension is rudimentary
to worse.
Will look up Ontos.
Oscar, a friend who was an armor officer said an M1 could "almost leap into the air, really".
This must be what he was talking about.
Bill
flak jacket, for SURE. There are hard, sharp corners inside and the suspension is rudimentary
to worse.
Will look up Ontos.
Oscar, a friend who was an armor officer said an M1 could "almost leap into the air, really".
This must be what he was talking about.
Bill