This is looking at the interior from the open drivers compartment- the radiator is right behind the TC as he crouches in the turret (though that is a modern engine, not the original).
And this is the drivers position buttoned up, with me in it, to give an idea of the cramped interior- I'm tall enough that I could, just by tilting my head back a bit, look straight up at the top of the turret.
Title: Re: For anyone who has wondered just how small a Renault light tank is...
Post by: SlipKnt on July 20, 2015, 01:00:36 PM
YIKES!!! That is small!
:x
Title: Re: For anyone who has wondered just how small a Renault light tank is...
Post by: Ack-Ack on July 20, 2015, 01:33:38 PM
LOL! Treize69 is wearing a skirt.
Title: Re: For anyone who has wondered just how small a Renault light tank is...
Post by: Treize69 on July 20, 2015, 01:41:27 PM
It's a kilt, thank you very much. :-P
Title: Re: For anyone who has wondered just how small a Renault light tank is...
Post by: craz07 on July 20, 2015, 02:39:06 PM
who the hell would want to pilot that thing, looks more like sitting duck than tank, btw nice skirt, kind of oxymoronic if you yourself have served, so I salute you if you did and take back what i said about the skirt, but what i'm sure about is it took some brave souls to pilot those things during that awful time
Title: Re: For anyone who has wondered just how small a Renault light tank is...
Post by: pipz on July 20, 2015, 02:46:32 PM
We need that in AH!!!!!!!!!! :old:
Title: Re: For anyone who has wondered just how small a Renault light tank is...
Post by: Ripsnort on July 20, 2015, 02:46:56 PM
who the hell would want to pilot that thing, looks more like sitting duck than tank...
I would much rather be in that thing than charge on foot into machine gun fire at the Somme. French and British tanks were largely unopposed in WWI. The Germans couldn't make an effective response in time.
Title: Re: For anyone who has wondered just how small a Renault light tank is...
Post by: BuckShot on July 20, 2015, 04:29:13 PM
I would much rather be in that thing than charge on foot into machine gun fire at the Somme. French and British tanks were largely unopposed in WWI. The Germans couldn't make an effective response in time.
They just let them breakdown and then pound them with arty.
Title: Re: For anyone who has wondered just how small a Renault light tank is...
Post by: Treize69 on July 20, 2015, 05:21:05 PM
I was mainly wearing the kilt for comfort, a 95 degree day with a heat index over 100 is too damn hot. Was way more comfortable than shorts, I'll tell you that.
If you want an idea how thin the armor was on that little thing, look at the edge of the door closed horizontally in front of me in the bottom pic- that was the thickness of the steel basically all around. Was really only protection against small arms fire, even the spalling from MG rounds hitting the same spot in rapid succession could kill the two-man crew. The exposed engine also leaked exhaust fumes into the crew compartment even though it had a proper exhaust sticking out the side, not to mention the heat in a French summer. A near miss from anything bigger than a 75mm round could slice into it with shrapnel or cave in the side from concussion, or rupture fuel line on that exposed engine, setting the thing on fire and roasting the men alive. Couple that with a speed not much faster than a man can walk over broken terrain, and it's a wonder to me that they could get anyone to volunteer for the Tank Corps.
I'm Scottish too but at LEAST where the proper attire above the waist. A blues brothers T-shirt does NO Justice to our heritage! :mad:
Blues brothers is a classic heritage in IL. State law requires that you must watch the first movie at least one time per year. The second movie is rubbish and has been sent to a landfill, which is never to be spoke of again forever
Title: Re: For anyone who has wondered just how small a Renault light tank is...
Post by: Ripsnort on July 20, 2015, 10:21:01 PM
And yet tanks did some great things in WW1 near the point of attack. They used horses to exploit deep.
Of interest, the commander was the gunner and how he directed the driver was by kicking. Right shoulder, turn right, etc.
Boo
You forgot a key part of that system..."Because the French engine and the rattle of the track was TOO FOCKING LOUD" (to hear anything)
Title: Re: For anyone who has wondered just how small a Renault light tank is...
Post by: Treize69 on July 21, 2015, 08:21:37 AM
No different from any other engine of the time, Rip. Ever heard a real rotary or Hisso fire up? There's a reason most pilots and aircrews were usually pretty much deaf for a while after landing, and even cars and trucks were loud as hell considering how weak they were.
Title: Re: For anyone who has wondered just how small a Renault light tank is...
Post by: pipz on July 21, 2015, 08:35:59 AM
Where was the tank located?
Title: Re: For anyone who has wondered just how small a Renault light tank is...
Post by: Treize69 on July 21, 2015, 08:56:33 AM
That's the one in the collection at Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome, Pipz.
Title: Re: For anyone who has wondered just how small a Renault light tank is...
Post by: Rich46yo on July 21, 2015, 09:43:44 AM
We have a Stuart on display at a park here and its a wonder 3 or 4 fit inside that.
Title: Re: For anyone who has wondered just how small a Renault light tank is...
Post by: Reaper90 on July 21, 2015, 01:54:56 PM
No different from any other engine of the time, Rip. Ever heard a real rotary or Hisso fire up? There's a reason most pilots and aircrews were usually pretty much deaf for a while after landing, and even cars and trucks were loud as hell considering how weak they were.
WHAT?
Title: Re: For anyone who has wondered just how small a Renault light tank is...
Post by: guncrasher on July 21, 2015, 02:08:20 PM
This is looking at the interior from the open drivers compartment- the radiator is right behind the TC as he crouches in the turret (though that is a modern engine, not the original).
And this is the drivers position buttoned up, with me in it, to give an idea of the cramped interior- I'm tall enough that I could, just by tilting my head back a bit, look straight up at the top of the turret.
:airplane: In my world, that is called a "steel coffin"!
In your world, at the time, you'd be in a motorized wood and canvas kite with no parachute. And you'd be facing the same German machine guns as that tank. ;)
Title: Re: For anyone who has wondered just how small a Renault light tank is...
Post by: SFRT - Frenchy on July 25, 2015, 12:32:49 PM
My grand father's brother died in a French tank at the beginning of WW2. He was set on fire by a flame thrower and could not escape as the turrets were locked. :embarrassed:
Title: Re: For anyone who has wondered just how small a Renault light tank is...
Post by: Rino on July 29, 2015, 10:07:21 PM
I thought that tank looked awfully familiar, my aunt lives in Germantown only a few miles north of Rhinebeck. Watching the tank and cars drive around during the airshow was almost as much fun as the birds themselves :aok
Title: Re: For anyone who has wondered just how small a Renault light tank is...
Post by: DaveBB on July 30, 2015, 05:08:08 PM