drive WW II tanks

i tripped across a link to this.
if you have the time and $$$ it looks to be a cool experience.

https://www.americanheritagemuseum.org/tank-driving-experiences/

How cool is that? But $1,500 for a 1 hour introduction and 20 minutes in the saddle is a little tough.

Very cool for sure and I would like to try it but it is too costly for me.

Hi , less than a half hour up the road from me . I know this post is about tanks , but I'm glad I had the chance to fly in the B24 Witchcraft and the B17 909 while they were at Worcester Airport , before the 909 accident . Well worth every penny if you have the chance to do ANY part of the museum . my old boss was a WWII 8th Army Air Force crew chief airplane mechanic in charge of B17's and B24's . I was more impressed with the B17 , and it's more mechanical systems , less hydraulics . Both VERY tough birds. I want to drive / fly in anything related to that era and equipment . already put Tanks on my to do list . Ronnie.

Damn, I did M1 tanks for 7 years and they paid me to do it.

My employer produced the Abrams M1/M1A1/M1A2 turret electronics for Chrysler Defense, also sole supplier, I was the only employee gifted to handle the task start to finish, phenomenal volume of work for years...hope the system performed in the field as intended?.....and they paid me to do it!..lol!

I was also developing the sensor material at the same time for my employer for Chrysler's future air bag technology/production..... Ahhh the days when we actually made stuff in this country!


Mike

Worked pretty good. Of course the fire control systems on the newer vehicals are far superior. The -10 operators manual back then was in two volumes. I would imagine now with everything digital it’s probably 5 volumes. My only complaint was boresighting was often a tedious task. Know some guys back during desert Storm on M1A1s who scored hits while moving at almost 3000 meters.

Did you work at the Lima facility? My brother was a procurement NCO there in the late 80s.

Was it as uncomfortable and ruff as it looks?

Mike, that's cool as hell!

Mike I worked for the US Army Tank Automotive Command (TACOM) in the Abrams Tank Program Office. I was the PM logistics manager for the Abrams engine, Transmission, final drives and track from 1983 until 2001. I was also on the configuration control board and responsible for reviewing all engineering change proposals for logistics impact on both the hull and turret. Just wondering which contractor you worked for. There were several that built electronic components for the turret. If you don’t want to name your employer on the public forum you can email me.

Since they moved the tank corps away from Fort Knox it would now seem “natural” to allow the museum to give tank rides using a wide variety of older models over the ground where countless tanks used to train. Include Tigers, Panthers, T-34s as well as US designs.

They also ought to admit that the gold bullion formerly stored at Fort Knox Gold Depository has been split up and moved to multiple nuclear hardened underground military bunkers. This would allow tourists to tour the 1930s era vaults.

Now that growing numbers of tourists travel the “Bourbon Trail” adding Fort Knox as a stop seems a natural.

You must of known my brother. He was a Log guy.

Compared to an M60A3 night and day. All those Army recruiting vids showing the M1 jumping over ditches was not made up. They could do it.of course when operating a tracked vehicle over rough terrain at high speeds runs the risk of throwing a track. Not someone you want to do. As far as comfort the suspension on the M1 was far superior than the earlier tanks.

Just buy your own:

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1943-sherman-m4a1/

Dave

Possible, lots of folks work at TACOM. Was he working in Warren, Michigan?

$480K and no sale?

Buddy and I looked at a recently restored one in 1986 that the guy wanted $38K for. Fortunately for the free world the bank wouldn't loan us money for a tank.

Lima mostly

Went to Lima many time on tank business. One of my additional duties was logistics manager for the special armor package.

Well, just wanna say thanks for being part of the team to put out such a great piece of equipment for the troops.

Wow, Mike I never knew... but then again we never talked 'tanks'... This is a stretch, but maybe you'd know: Was there a wind-speed/direction sensor mounted on the turret? My dad was a specialized engineer contracted to DARPA a number of years ago, I'm thinking late 80's. He was tasked with developing a highly reliable and shockresistant sensor system that could instantaneously measure windspeed/direction. He couldn't tell us more than that, but I caught snippets of the development and came to suspect it was for the Abrams' fire control system. A prototype I once saw at the workshop looked like a 3" cylinder that popped up some 12-18" out (of the turret?) for a second to take the measurement, before retracting and the gun would fire. Who knows - maybe it's declassified and he can tell me about it now.
Cheers,
- Art

Yes the Abrams fire control system has a wind sensor

Wind sensor