In the Chieftain, as the commander and on the move, if we were expecting contact I should be closed down. However, there are always compromises... how does this work? Normally, before the move I would be in a hull down position, scanning the ground ahead and looking where to move to for my next bound. Once selected, I'd inform the driver where I wanted him to go, and with a good driver he could select the best covered route but also give the crew the smoothest ride if possible. If I had an inexperienced driver I would guide him myself... that said, I'd still be scanning for targets, listening out on two radio nets, (command and squadron) plus answering up if required. The gunner should be tracking the turret left and right and covering our arcs of fire... in an emergency with the gun stabilisation system he could fire on the move if required. I'd also be ready to take control of the gun and override the gunner to lay him onto a target that he had not seen. As to being a bumpy ride, well, sometimes... it all depends on the terrain and the drivers ability. Once arriving at our chosen position I'd make sure the driver has us hull down, I'd establish my 1000m line using the MkI eyeball, inform the gunner of that and give him his arcs to cover, make sure the loader has the nature of ammunition required ready and the co axial MG is loaded and inform the Troop Leader I'm in position and ready to cover his sections move...
Oh, and most importantly, get the loader to check that the BV (boiling vessel) is full up and get a brew on
lol... Chieftains, 432's, Larkspur radio equipment, SLR's, SMG's and GPMG's... remember it all well! I did my first signals course using Larkspur, but later on we changed to Clansman. I loved the Chieftain, at that time it's gunnery system could defeat any tank in the world... however, automotively it had problems. They were a bugger to keep on the road, and breakdowns were common
But I had the opportunity to drive a Chieftain when on a training det to RAFG in the mid-seventies. Great fun, though I think it was an old training tank, used to drive RH circuits round the barracks. To turn left, you just had to put pressure on the LH steering lever. To turn right, you had to pull the RH lever aaaall the way back..
Some 10+ years later, by then a sqn ldr at RAF Brawdy in SW Wales, I got to drive a Leopard II on the Castlemartin range. Wholly different experience, one steered with what looked like a multi-engined ac’s yoke fitted upside down. My daughters “upstairs” (then 8 and 6) loved it!
Cheers Mike
*for those from the “other” air forces, the RAF gave us an all-round military education - in my fortunate case including not only driving tanks but also time at sea in the old Ark Royal (R09) :))
Thanks Trooper, that is an awesome incite to a bound and cover prep and move. S! Did any of the Chieftains for sale peek your interest? Ooops I forgot to include the link in my last post, here you go Sir. Chieftain Tanks for sale I can hear it now, "Honey I'm home, I bought a new ride, come check it out. Your better half,"What did you do? That's a tank, I'm not riding in a tank! You take that back this instant! What were you thinking? A tank, sheesch! Remind me why I married again???
S!Blade<><
You would be better off investing in an ex-Iraqi Army Type 69......there might be 5 gold bars hidden in one of the fuel tanks as these restorers found.
I go the HOTAS programmed, and most of the shimmering knocked down to a reasonable level, but the severe flickering of the buildings, particularly when viewed through the binoculars or gunsight, is driving me crazy.
(The flickering buildings, even when nothing is moving, are easily visible in fullscreen mode available through Youtube)
I go the HOTAS programmed, and most of the shimmering knocked down to a reasonable level, but the severe flickering of the buildings, particularly when viewed through the binoculars or gunsight, is driving me crazy.
(The flickering buildings, even when nothing is moving, are easily visible in fullscreen mode available through Youtube)
I’m only gaming in VR so being in a typical Box sterile environment I do not have a problem, as my view is limited by the being in the tank view. One thing that’s is keeping me away from the whole BoX series is the graphical artifacts when using VR, like jaggies/shimmer/flickering. Guess you are playing on the monitor, but I can tell you when using VR its a big issue. So now being 2 years later when you did publish the YT, is this TC still badly optimized to the graphical artifacts?