I have just cross posted with David D.
The "flail beam" he refers to is just a casing that encases the flail drive chain that takes the drive from the input shaft flange at the back of the tank transmission to the outside of the RH upper hull. There are no gears involved until the gearbox on the end of the flail drum., just chain drives and the universal jointed shaft on the RH boom. The case has not moved away from the side of the hull. That flange is just the join between the two sections of the case to allow it to be assembled into the hull. The gap between the case and the oversized hole in the hull is because the hole is quite crudely hand cut by oxy-acetylene torch in the side of a complete tank, not in a proper factory setting so was cut oversize to allow some latitude in accuracy. The gap is protected by the armoured box on the outside.
Once a projectile has penetrated the outer hull, it could be going in almost any direction so do not infer anything from where it goes next or the internal damage.
David
|