Re: REALITY CHECK TIME!

At 7:57 PM -0500 7/19/02, Scott Siebold wrote:
>The hatch is built into the ramp and the track was built in the late 
>1950's and early 1960's  when
>reasonable safety did not extend to dummy proofing a hatch door. I 
>will also say that in use with the
>US and German Armies I never did see the hatch open on any M113 when 
>the ramp went down.
>The driver had to turn around to release the ramp lock and  a quick 
>glance at the
>ramp was  natural. What I was more worried about was dropping the 
>ramp on someone which was
>more likely with the dead vision area behind the track.

One of the interesting things from the Aussie guys over on the ferret 
list is that the Aussie  assault troopers would debuss from the M113 
before the ramp was even down and would be to ground before it 
touched the ground. Additionally, when the ramp was opening they'd 
pull themselves over the edge and slide down the ramp into the 
vehicle to minimize the vehicle's time in the area and sitting 
stationary when they were being picked up. Conversely troops that 
were _just_ getting a ride, would wait for it to open all the way and 
close all the way.

-- 
--
Ryan Gill	       rmgill@SPAMmindspring.com
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'60 Daimler Ferret '42 Daimler Dingo '42 Humber MkIV (1/3)