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Matthew Barnett and I, along with Conner Hill, journeyed to the Military Vehicle Technology Foundation
[link]http://www.milvehtechfound.com/[/link]
I know Matthew Cicero went to a large museum in Germany, but this private collection is the largest in the United States. These military vehicles cover the full spectrum of time from 1913 to early 1980's.
The docent (guide) who took us on the 2.5 hour tour also works on the vehicles in the restoration process. I found Jason to be quite knowledgeable about the vehicles, their history, and the little bits and pieces that make an exhibition like this so amazing.
When we first walked in we were presented with an a fully restored Mark V Panther Tank that could do everything but shoot it's gun. (All of the vehicles have to be demilitirized.) The collection includes tanks from many countries right down to a Scud B launcher and Russian Long Range Mobile Radar.
My favorite vehicles were the Maltilda, Panther V, ISU 2 and 3, KV, Meatchopper Quad 50 halftrack, and a Russian Quad AA.
Awesome stuff. It's a nice private tour done by the crew that's restoring the vehicles. They've got about 50 rounds of various tank munitions, dozens small arms of interest, training turrets to climb into (assuming you can fit), it's a very touchy feely kind of place, and 'everything runs'.
So maybe just maybe you'll get to hear a Panther V in real life. It's close enough to do a day trip on a weekend.
Hey, I'll close by saying I saw something on the Panther V that I hadn't seen in ASLRB. “Zemmit” (sp), a concoction of cement, glue, and sawdust plastered neatly on the outside of the Panther V armor and set into small ridgelines. It's purpose was to prevent ATMM's from sticking to the tank in battles on the defensive eastern front.
BryanHere's a video of the Panther V pulling out of the garage at the facility. The guy in the red shirt and glasses is Josh who was the docent on our tour of the facility.
[link]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KauAxwx-MpU[/link]
Bryan
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