That would be kickass, unfortunately like, 98% of the vehicles are in warehouses away from visitation areas. I think theyre freshing them up a bit? I live an hour away and go to the infantry museum whenever im in Columbus.
I’ve been participating in events at this museum for almost five years now. Since this video was filmed, we’ve acquired a number of new vehicles. Also, the vehicle I usually Crew, our running M5A1 Stuart, apparently wasn’t in the museum when you visited. It must have been at the fair with the Sherman. I hope you come back to visit again someday and with any luck I get to meet you as well, as I live about 3 hours away from the museum in Pennsylvania but still attend almost every museum event.
Yea another thumbs up. I've written, taught and studied military history my entire career and Chieftain's videos are simply terrific. Just the right level of authority and levity. Just keep them coming and I'll watch them all. If I was a little younger, I'd try your game.
My father and I went to Danbury almost exactly a month prior to Valluzo's death. He was a nice man to talk to. I did not enjoy the number of hornets buzzing around their Centurion, MBT-70, and M48, it was exceptionally bad. We spent most of our visit inside, it was a surprisingly warm day that April. But I digress. I am glad I got to meet him.
If you're ever in the New York/Long Island neck of the woods again, you should check out the American Airpower Museum in Farmingdale. It has a nice little collection of armor and aircraft, just a local favorite of mine, they also fly many of their aircraft regularly. I hear them flying over my house and I always pop out to see if I can identify them.
I recognize some of those vehicles that came directly from Littlefield's personal collection in California (like the M48) Glad to see they have a nice new home!
entropy11 Agreed. That man had one hell of a collection. Over 200 vehicles if I recall. Not sure what happened to his Panther he restored. Last I heard about it, Poland claimed it was taken illegally out of country and wanted it back. Also was an ongoing legal battle of ownership of his Panzer IV between the Collins and Paul Allen's foundations.
Thanks for the great short vid. I live in Connecticut and am saddened by the closure of the Danbury tank museum. They had a 'open turret' days where they actually let the public climb into some of the tanks. That is what the ladder is on the side of one of the armored vehicles is for. They had some great modern tanks there to, including one of the few MBT 80's that was being restored.
Danbury closed? Damn. I remember years ago my dad took me to some tank museum in Connecticut. Didn’t know the name. Bought a tank sihoulette poster. They had German Luch’s recon vehicle from the Cold War. Was that the same one?
Well, in the year or so I've been volunteering there I was always told that it belongs with the M36B1 that Doc is restoring, but I can double check when I'm there next Wednesday.
Some M36s were given the same 90mm as on the M46 as I recall, possibly post war. The Ex-Serbian M36 outside has the bore evacuator removed as well as the muzzle brake (attempt to make it look like one of the wartime ones with out by the previous owner by my understanding), but I believe it is the same gun.
Glad to see a video about this place! Didn't know about the new vehicles there. Will have to stop by and take a better look at that Sheridan they had parked out front.
Oh man, Lt. Moran your a crack up! Guys I served in a Tank unit with him, not only is he the real deal, but he was a cool as hell officer! What you see here in the video is exactly how he was with us Sgt’s and enlisted. Good video Sir! I’m using my wife’s iPad so the first name is wrong, it’s Sgt. Robert Loera
Bethpage is the home of the Grumman Ironworks. And just around the corner was Republic they were known for the P47 Thunderbolt and the P84 Thunderjet and the F105 Thud. Gotta revisit this area now that this armor museum is in the area.
The Grumman plant (F4F Wildcat, F6F Hellcat, F-14) was in Bethpage. The Republic plant (P-47 Thunderbolt, F-105) was just down the road in Farmingdale.
What's that curved plate on top of where the barrel would be on that M1 howitzer mount? Is it a weather protection to prevent the barrel to change shape under the rain? I saw one of these at the Musée de l'Artillerie Draguignan.
are there any tank museums in Canada? I live in Canada on Vancouver island and none that I know of are here, hopefully I will get a passport one day and come see the bovington tank museum.
Next time you go to Texas, you should check out the Texas Military Forces Museum. They've got an operating M4A3 (105mm) HVSS. They've also got quite a collection of tanks from WWII and the Cold War sitting outside the museum in Armor Row.
And did you see how big a "Light Tank" has gotten since world war 2? That Sheridan was almost as big as the Jackson. A little shorter, height wise, but nearly as wide and slightly longer of chassis. Hull Length 6m on the Sheridan, and 5.97m for the Jackson, Width 2.8m for the Sheridan and 3m for the Jackson. Weirder still when I read that the Sheridan only weighs in at 15 metric tons, while the Jackson tips the scales at 28.6 metric tons. That Sheridan is a big AFV. I also want to state here and now that aluminum should never be called 'armor". It isn't. HEAT and KEP projectiles (and heavy MG rounds) go right through it without slowing down. The weight savings sent the wrong message to both planners and developers, alike, leading to today's Bradley's dependence on aluminum to save weight; which endangers troops to no real advantage in logistics.
That's cause the Sheridan was made out of aluminum . It was experimental as can be ,I remember the controversy over that tank in the early eighties ,over it's cost and actual effectiveness . What killed it was when they started firing HEAT and HESH shells at it during test phase ,it would burn and badly at that ,basically becoming like a thermite bomb . It was supposed to be for the Marines and Air part of the army for paratroop drops and amphibious landings ,hence being made out of aluminum and so light. What's worse is the idea and development of the Sgt York tank personal carrier ,cost massive amounts of money to develop. That's when the Armed forces started getting looked at heavily by Congress and the people for their expenditures on equipment and where their money was being spent . Not that it stopped them from making poor decisions and wasting time and energy on doomed projects . The M16 which is now called something different,(still same caliber and gun pretty much with tweeks ) took over 40 years to make it into an effective Assault rifle for our troops when all it is ,is a tumbling .22 with a shit ton of gunpowder,(yes wrong term ,they don't use gunpowder anymore) to make it into a high velocity projectile . But nice to see somebody else noticed and has read up on a failed ,doomed ,and massively expensive project. If you think the Bradley is bad,ask real troops who have driven an MRAP ,they are terrible . I know 2 Marines who were on the test drives of it before it entered service and it got stuck all the time in a small amount of mud and had an uncanny ability to tip over with the slightest pitch or yaw or bump in the road.
420choochy my dad was a gunner on an m551 as an army scout cav in the late 70s on the Czech border. He would talk about how almost all the m551 crews smoked a shitload of hash in the tanks which use 2 part shells, one part being the powder charge. Apparently you just kinda stayed high since your life expectancy was 10mins if the shit hit the fan. He always spoke pretty highly of them unless you had one that sank in water lol.
Lots of those Dragon Wagons were bought surplus and brought to the PNW and used as carriers for yarders. Still a few around in the weeds. Lots of other WWII gear was bought and used other similar circumstances.
The M48A5 was an American tank. USA had the diesel installed and the M105 cannon installed. I used it for several years. It has a M219 30 cal. inside and 2 m60D mount on top. I spent 14 years in the 1/210th Armor. I commanded the M48A3, M60 and M60A3. I was a TC, PSG and Acting Platoon Leader.
All correct, but the M48A5 was in effect a copy of the Israeli Magach 3 conversion, as seen here. Down to the Israeli style hatch instead of the cupola
Awesome! This is a museum only a few minutes from me. Operated by the same guy that runs the American Airpower Museum at Republic Airport in Farmingdale, at least last time I checked.
Major, have you ever been to the AAF tank museum in Danville Virginia? it is a huge privately held collection. They have a complete, restored m56 scorpion, and m103, a sheridan, several Patton variants, a t72, a swedish strv74, pz 4, a number of pieces of self propelled artillery, APCs, that is just part of the armor and cannon collection. They also have a huge small arms and an even bigger uniform collection, and a very interesting owner. Oh, and they also have a large RC tank battle map. The museum is open only on weekends - I think Friday/Saturday and Sunday.... with adjustments for seasonal visitor flow.
I guess it depends on what you charge for access to film Inside the Hatch episodes. I don’t usually go anywhere just to check out a museum. I can certainly have a chat with Challenger and see what the arrangements between PzM and WG are.
My comment was stemming from a youtuber wanting to film museum ship HMCS Haida for promotional and educational purposes and being refused, however when researching for "this" reply it seems they were invited back "by" Wargaming so perhaps they've ironed the bureaucracy out. I retract my previous comment and instead submit that he'd likely have to talk to the correct people.
Chieftain you refer to the 90mm gun and mantlet being for the pershing or m46 patton. I think you will find that it is actually the gun for the M36B1 Jackson turret that was missing the gun and mantlet in the back of the museum. anyway looks like a great little museum that the y are starting up.
Those Ferrets were very popular on the collector's market when they were imported. I even had one....for about a month before selling it because I got annoyed at my lack of mechanical skills. Same reason I do not own a classic car even though I would like one, ha.
Will you do a high speed tour of the Texas Military Forces Museum in Austin, TX and/or the Museum of the American GI in College Station, TX? The Museum of the American GI has a large restoration/storage building that you can do a high speed tour of.
Too bad the Danbury museum shut down. I use to go there a lot. Ive been here too. Fun place, got a tour by a kid which is the owners son I think. The Goliath was hiding in the fenced area where you came in.
Seeing this in parades in Belgium, And reenactments in Europe is so cool. Those people show off this U.S vehicles like Hot Rods cars here in the U.S.. They go all out dressed in G.I uniforms.
That is correct. We may sell a couple pieces as needed, but we are now the owners of the full collection. We hope to build a set of repair bays behind the main building (through the set of rear garage doors behind the dragon wagon) so we can devote all of the floor space to display.
re: M36B1. Only 187 were built (apparently a "crash" effort to get some more 90mm SP guns to the ETO due to the "tank crisis" of late 1944-early 45). One would suppose that they were all discarded and scrapped (I did for many years) but apparently the US provided a number of them to Iran (back when we were buddies with the Shah). It seems that some saw combat in the Iran-Iraq war where they were captured by the Iraqis and were held as war relics. Along comes 2003 and the US takes over Iraq and our people discovered a number of interesting historical items in Iraqi depots. If I understand correctly, there is another M36B1 at Ft. Hood and I think one went to Poland. I don't know if there are others, but for there to be any surviving examples was quite surprising. Incidently, the M36B1 was the only US tank destroyer that was built with a protected MG - the bow gun in the M4A3 chassis,
Funny thing, the Bovington gang are restoring their Matilda and they have mentioned as well that the Blue colour is totally the wrong shade. I think they are making the Imperial War Museum take the rap for the original mistake which has kind of stuck through the years.
Nice virtual tour , sir .Thanks very much. I am not sure if you are aware ?The Collings Foundation has a collection of armor at their Stowe , Ma. location .A propermuseum building is in the planning stages, I understand . The CF is better known for their historic aircraft . Four of the WW II aircraft are on tour at present . They will be in Westminster , Maryland Oct. 13 thru 15 . Then to points south . see www.Collingsfoundation.org for more information .
There is another M36B1 Jackson, it's in Shiraz Iran (they actually have two right next to each other). Some were captured in Iraq in 1991 and again in 2003, the Poles got one from 2003 as a prize.
IT's a shame the place is so crowded, it's hard to get a good look at anything. But I did notice that the father-son pair was wearing NY Yankees jerseys with the numbers "2" and "7." 1927 was the year of the legendary "Murderer's Row" Yankees team, with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, in which Ruth hit 60 home runs.
That was around the back, we had done a filming event for an episode of "impractical joker's" and needed the space in the parking lot, don't know when it will be moved back to it's usual spot.
M18 Hellcat at 1:47 , where the term - shoot and scoot applied. Fastest track vehicle (anti-tank) in the world until the M1 Abrams came into service. The Hellcat was highly effective in a direct fire support role due to her 50 MPH speed, 76 MM main gun and excellent torsion bar suspension. The Hellcat proved it's mettle in the battle of the bulge, by out flanking the 2nd Panzer division, knocking out or destroying eleven German tanks with the loss of three Hellcat's. The attack of 1st Battalion and the M18 Hellcat tank destroyers of the 705th TD Battalion near Noville together destroyed at least 30 German tanks and inflicted 500 to 1,000 casualties on the attacking forces, in what amounted to a spoiling attack. The Hellcat was the most effective U.S. tank destroyer of World War II. It had a higher kill to loss ratio than any tank or tank destroyer fielded by U.S. forces in World War II with an overall kill to loss ratio of 2.4 to 1.
Cheers Mr.Moran & MoAA ..and other assisting persons & staff etc. The only thing you cannot control is the auto-generated subtitles/captions, Bethpaige (spelling) becomes 'death page' ..YT!?! wtf?!
