Re;AML90s and Landrover 110s...

[GoneToTheCanner]

Hi all
I've just finished reading Karl Martin's book about Army vehicles and several items within surprised me.With regard to the AML90s, he stated that the 90 is normally only fired with the gun in line with the hull, because the recoil can jolt the car back a couple of feet, whilst attempting to squash the gunner with the breech and that the crew have to remove headlamps before firing, because the backblast will smash them!? Is that for real? An AFV that is more of a threat to itself than the target!! Also, he said that 70 Landrover 110s were scrapped after only three years service because a diesel refit programme failed because of bad gearbox ratios?! Does that mean that 70 vehicles and all the funds spent on same were wasted!!?? Now that is a gross waste, if ever I heard it. Any comments?
regards
GttC

[Goldie fish]

Land rover 110s were also prone to corrosion in the chassis, which is not Galvanised, unlike the 90.

[Bosco]

Typical army

[Ex-soldier]

I think the picture speaks for itself!!

[hptmurphy]

Eh ! no that has been rvised the 90 gun can be fired at any angle...the breech block moves vertically(chock) as per the bofors L40/60...and the recoil in the car is very limited...if the gunner is squashed its because he is trying to kiss the comanders arse.

as regarding the 110 landrovers...if the army had bought the military spec..instead of trying to convert..the 110s would still be in service.....

there is a second edition of karl martins book due....funny that you should post as i was re reading for the 100th time...if it was a bible I 'd be a jehovahs witness...

[mutter nutter]

there is a second edition of karl martins book due....funny that you should post as i was re reading for the 100th time...if it was a bible I 'd be a jehovahs witness...

any idea when it's due HPT?

[GoneToTheCanner]

Hi Goldie
That comment about the 110s corresponds to what a garage man I know told me about the civvie 110s he services. He said that a lot of the farmers he dealt with, had bought the 110s when they came out first, thinking they'd be as good as the old Mk3s. It seems LandRover simply retained a lot of the bad qualities of the old models, such as indifferent build quality, poor sealing and generally bad wiring and didn't listen to customer complaints. A lot of those people went away from the land Rover and bought Japanese and have never looked back....the KM book is very good and I find myself dipping into it regularly.... One vehicle I didn't see in it was the Sanglas motorcycyle, which was used in large amounts.... A lot of KM's comments regarding the actual utility of vehicles are very pertinent and still relevant. Some of the decision-making with regard to maintaining and financing vehicles is bewildering.Also, the ingenuity of the Base Workshops in keeping vehicles going, long after they should have been retired, is amazing and sad, at the same time. The mandarins of the Department of Finance have a lot to answer for....can someone tell me why there are so many truck types? With Iveco,MAN, Mercedes, Leyland DAF all sharing space in the truck fleet, it must be a nightmare for spares provisioning.
regards
GttC

[Bosco]

Backhanders????

[DeV]

I saw the AML 90 fire, its main armament, with its turret at a 90 degree angle to the chassis around 2000.

[Goldie fish]

Hi Goldie
With Iveco,MAN, Mercedes, Leyland DAF all sharing space in the truck fleet, it must be a nightmare for spares provisioning.
regards
GttC

Don't forget Scania.

[Ex-soldier]

Dev ....I think the photo shows exactly that and if you look carefully in the middle of the smoke you may even see the shell. I guess the photo didn't speak for itself.....hmmmm

[hptmurphy]

It was feared that the damage to the car would be serious in the past if the gun was fired in transverse mode and as a result the gun was only fired facing forward during training..thats changed now...given that it is avery low velocity round..a low shutter speed could posibbly capture the round en route.

I'm not sure of the date of volume two but he joined us in the Glen in july to take some photos and mentioned it.

Given that the first volume only apeared two years after it first got a mention..don't hold your breath

[GoneToTheCanner]

Hi all
KM didn't mention the Air Corp's old American-made Rapid Intervention Vehicle. A Dodge or a GMC,I think.It was said to be unreliable and it's best claim to fame was it's plunge thru a fence to get to the scene of the crash of a Polish Wilga aircraft at one of the Air Shows.
What was the story with the Timoneys? Were they any good? Are they still in service? I always thought of the unprotected exhaust on them as daft.
regards
GttC

[DeV]

Dev ....I think the photo shows exactly that and if you look carefully in the middle of the smoke you may even see the shell. I guess the photo didn't speak for itself.....hmmmm

I was just reinforcing the point.

[DeV]

What was the story with the Timoneys? Were they any good? Are they still in service? I always thought of the unprotected exhaust on them as daft.
regards
GttC

A good number of them are in a fenced compound in a "DF establishment", along with a lot of other old armour. Think they are going to be used as targets.