correct ground movement hand signals

[RichardT10829]

owner, to do as he is directed. Most tank owners tend to think they know best and don't take direction well!
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Speak for yourself Adrian. I rely entirely on the commander be it ground or mounted.

I just pick my commanders very very carefully indeed.

I have seen A carrier owner get lambasted by arena staff for not watching or doing as instructed by ground commander.

And have myself had cause to somewhat "Firm" with drivers when I have undertaken commander role.


You are right though (some) owners don't listen, but my experience is those are a minority, of which I tend to steer clear of.

Hand signals wise, I was taught the following

Commander initiates direction of travel. Until notified otherwise that will be the direction of travel.

The commander will raise his / her arm fist clenched, which ever hand is raised with clenched fist, that track must be locked to allow steering input., the hand will promptly be lowered which means the brake on that track must be removed and allowed to roll.

Arms across the front of the commander in a cross signify to stop immediately.

I usually use signals indicating a bend rather than a nip / brake and some others which are familiar with my group, not official of course.

All good fun !

Oh and ground commanders ALWAYS command from the front of the vehicle NOT the rear !

[shaun]

Very true guys , we had a carrier owner on our pitch who would not listen to directions and nearly took the tent down . The serving ASM who was seeing him back was quite direct in telling him what he thought of him . Then the same guy was being seen off a lowloader and decided to do his own thing and just about went off the side of the lorry . Needless to say most of my transport guys and crews avoid him like the plague - very dangerous to think you can see more than someone commanding a Vehicke from out side the vehicle . Be careful folks .

[tankbarrell]

Originally Posted by RichardT10829

owner, to do as he is directed. Most tank owners tend to think they know best and don't take direction well!
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Speak for yourself Adrian. !

I was, and in 30 years of driving and directing tanks, I've seen a few potential disasters......

[RichardT10829]

Yeah I have no doubt you have seen it all buddy

[Lynn Eades]

And then there were semaphores. Kit for some carriers.

[Colin Alford]

Chris,

I do not know if there is a British manual that gives instructions for ground guides, but this subject in definitely covered in both the 1943 and 1944 editions of the Canadian "Regulations for Drivers of M.T. Vehicles and Universal Carriers and Motorcyclists" and also the "Regulations for Drivers of Armoured Fighting Vehicles and Self Propelled Artillery"

Attached are images of the applicable pages.

Colin

[cpetronis]

Awesome sauce Colin that's exactly what I was looking for. Thanks a lot. Now I have to start scouring ebay for my own copy.
In reading the other posts to this thread I agree with pretty much everything I've read. I can understand where a person who's made a major investment in time and money could be inclined to figure they know best and ignore ground guides. Personally, I figure that I can't see or hear anything when driving so better to rely on the man on the ground.
Funny story on that though, I was borrowing a friend's M8 Greyhound for the weekend and had an active duty army Cav officer directing me while maneuvering it back onto my lowboy. He backed me into a tree which deformed the driver side wheel skirt. http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/im...milies/doh.gif Luckily the owner was very gracious and understanding about it but I've still never gotten over that one. It's one thing to damage my own vehicle but somebody else's is like a mortal sin.
So that being said, now I try to always use 2 ground guides when backing up. A lot of people laugh at me and say I'm being over cautious but I'd rather not make the same mistake twice. Part of me is always nervous though about running over the guy in the rear even though he shouldn't be standing directly behind the vehicle. Bottom line I need to get me a bicycle. Hard to hurt anybody too badly with that.

Regards,

Chris

[rob love]

Some basic and common sense rules on ground guiding:

1: The guide does not walk backwards while bringing a vehicle towards him. He walks back 20 feet or whatever is appropriate and then guides the vehicle towards him.

2: The guide never stands between the vehicle being guided and an immovable object like a wall or another vehicle.

3: If the operator loses sight of the guide, the operator stops until he can see the guide.

4: guide in the front and if backing up you have a second guide at the rear. Again, not standing right behind the vehicle, but to the side where the front guide can see him and relay the signals.

5: When the arm is outstretched for left or right turn, the operator continues to turn his wheel/tiller bars in that direction until the arm goes down. The wheel (or in the case of the tiller bars, the vehicles orientation) then stays in that position until the guide signals to adjust the wheels or direction. Two hands held up facing each other is an indication to bring the wheels back to straight ahead position. This is said in Colin's fifth photo from the manual, but I wanted to stress it. Some drivers turn hard over as soon as the guide signals a turn, then all the way back as soon as the arm drops. It is very frustrating as a guide.