Tanks

galactus

Is there anywhere where its possible to drive a tank in Ireland?

Interceptor

Any BMW dealers....

'c

mike65

I suggest the M50.

Mike.

Big Nelly

mike65 wrote:

I suggest the M50.

Mike.

Ever hear the Matt Molloy call on FM104 where he rings a bloke in UK to buy a tank so he can blow up the toll station on the M50....tellign the english guy to watch out on Sky News to see how his product was doing.......f**king hillarious!!

Ann Elk

Up Mary Harney's Chuff - though you may need backup

bazz26

Louis Walsh has one in black. It's called a Hummer I think.

Silvera

There are a few people in the Military Vehicle Club of Ireland who own tanks - not sure if you can use them on the roads tho ?!

I recall seeing a programme on a German channel about tank enthusiasts.
It showed a collector in the UK driving his tank around the streets of London ....incl past Buckingham Palace ! :eek:
(The film was made a few years ago, may be different now because of the terrorist threats).

IIRC, he said something about his Scorpion Tank (same as Irish Army Tanks) having padded tracks so no damage to the roads.
It showed his house with two more tanks parked outside - one in the garden, and one on the side of the street !


On a related matter, I recall talking to a guy at the Dromod Museum in Leitrim, while I was viewing an armoured car there.
He said the local Army commander told the owner to change the colour to UN white as it was a N.I-sourced vehicle (Humber Pig).
The reason ? ........Because it would scare the locals who might think it was a British Army vehicle driving around Leitrim ! !

Strange but true !

Silvera

Ah !
Now I see what you mean ! ........you want to have a 'day out' driving a Tank - Yes?

The place in Wicklow that does the 'Paintball Days' have a couple of Tanks about the place. Don't knw if you can drive them or if they are just for show ?!
Might be worth a phone call.

saobh_ie

If you have your own, I'd imagine you could drive it any where you want. I mean, its a tank, what are people going to do? =]

I think the argos book or something has something like that in it, one of the day things, ballon ride, race at mondello, 4x4 course, paintballing, drive a tank etc...

Your probaly better off going to wales or somewhere though if you can find a place, cooler tanks, less money, better sites, probaly.

I think...

impr0v

you're welcome.

unkel

Interceptor wrote:

Any BMW dealers....

Hehe, an X5 is not quite a tank though. Back in the day a fellow sergeant (tank commander) assured me that his Leo2 would do 150km/h with the speed limiter disabled (war times only)

That wasn't in Ireland though. Are there any tanks here at all? The defense forces only seem to have personnel. And a few Nissan Patrol cars. Not even a fighter jet :eek:

stratos

Join the army ?

Silvera

unkel wrote:

That wasn't in Ireland though. Are there any tanks here at all? The defense forces only seem to have personnel. And a few Nissan Patrol cars. Not even a fighter jet :eek:

The Defence Forces' Cavalary Squadron currently operate 12 x Scorpion CVR(T) tanks .....and have posessed tanks since the 1940's.

The Air Corps don't currently operate fighter jets (govt won't cough up the cash! ).

However, the 8 x Pilatus PC-9M's they took delivery of last year can be armed and used for light strike ops.

(The Army Ranger Wing also operate 'SAS-type' Ford F350 lhd patrol jeeps (see pic below))

Irish Air Corps Pilatus PC-9M ......

unkel

Thanks for the info, Silvera

Silvera wrote:

However, the 8 x Pilatus PC-9M's they took delivery of last year can be armed and used for light strike ops

LOL and there was me thinking they were light stuntplanes

I work very near Baldonnel and they are always performing loops, formation flights and what not. That is them right?

Silvera wrote:

The Defence Forces' Cavalary Squadron currently operate 12 x Scorpion CVR(T) tanks

I wouldn't quite call them tanks, my car is more powerful than that

Well at least it is good to see our tax money is not wasted on unnecessary military equipment

Silvera

unkel wrote:

Thanks for the info, Silvera



LOL and there was me thinking they were light stuntplanes

I work very near Baldonnel and they are always performing loops, formation flights and what not. That is them right?



I wouldn't quite call them tanks, my car is more powerful than that

Well at least it is good to see our tax money is not wasted on unnecessary military equipment

- Yes the planes you see over Baldonnel are the PC-9's.
("Formation, Loops, etc" is standard military pilot training).

- Ah, but can your 'tank' fire a shell ....... or has it a heavy machine gun mounted on top ?!

- No, but our tax money is being wasted on unnecesary computer systems and electronic voting machines ! :mad:


Another PC-9 pic (attending a Belgian Military Trainer meet/fly in) .......

unkel

Silvera wrote:

- Ah, but can your 'tank' fire a shell ....... or has it a heavy machine gun mounted on top ?!

If only I were a car modder, I might just about mount a .50 through the moonroof

The 'tank' in the Irish Cavalery is just a 'Tracked light reconnaissance vehicle' though. 76mm range 1000m is not too much craic either. Do the ones used here have a couple of MAGs on them too like the specs here? That used to be my personal weapon for a while. Most of the time it was an automatic assault FAL rifle. Obviously 7.62mm has grown to be my favourite caliber

Silvera

unkel wrote:

The 'tank' in the Irish Cavalery is just a 'Tracked light reconnaissance vehicle' though. 76mm range 1000m is not too much craic either. Do the ones used here have a couple of MAGs on them too

The Scorpions used by the DF are tanks to most folks - albeit small tanks

Don't know exact type of MAG's used (...ask me Air Corps questions ) but have seen pics of them in use on The Glen of Imaal ranges.

Have you seen the restored Comet and Lansverk tanks in The Curragh camp ?
(One Comet is used as a 'gate guardian, as is the Lansverk. But there is also a Comet in full motoring condition - I saw it 'in action' at a Cav Corps parade a few years ago)

Here's a couple of pics ........

BrianD3

A few years ago Top Gear did a piece on driving and buying tanks in the UK. I believe the most popular tanks for enthusiasts were the Scorpion and the Abbot self propelled gun.

In a different Top Gear they showed enthusiasts driving big ex-military trucks like Scammell Explorers and werid amphibian trucks around an old quarry. Looked like great fun

There was also an incident that Silvera referred to where a guy painted his Scorpion tank pink (:eek:) and drove around the streets of london as some sport of protest. I think I may have all of the above programmes on tape *somewhere* will try and dig them out to have a look.