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Hi Bruce. Your points are well taken. The Stalwart certainly has more power
and manoeverability in water than anything relying only on wheels or tracks
for propulsion. I ran one in a rough sea once; with each wave, the front
end plunged under water so it was like sitting in an aquarium! .....or would
have been except that the rubber seals in the twin roof hatches were
perished so it was more like sitting in the shower with the cold tap on!!!
My reason for nominating it as British Brick of the Century has to do with a
more fundamental design flaw - the engine bay is completely covered by the
cargo hold! In retrofit, the Army fitted a 2 ton Atlas hydraulic crane or
what you gum chewers call a knuckle boom. This cunning piece of apparatus
loads the Stalwart with up to 6 tons of cargo. Imagine you load up and set
off across the lake and in the middle the engine stops. No problem, we'll
use the crane to hurl the cargo over the side so we can get at the engine.
Oops! Can't use the crane unless the engine is running! Glug! Glug! Glug!
No wonder that in all subsequent refits they removed the drives to the Dowty
propulsion units and changed the name from Stalwart Amphibian to Stalwart
High Mobility Vehicle.
Cheers. Mike S.
----- Original Message -----
From: AlvisStalwart6x6@aol.com
To: tankcity@globalnet.co.uk
Sent: 30 April 2000 16:08
Subject: Re: [MV] BV 206 Underwater vehicle (floundering amphibians)
In a message dated 4/30/00 3:35:28 AM, tankcity@globalnet.co.uk writes:
>Finally, to promote further controversy, having made my nomination for
>Scandinavian contender for 'Brick of the Century' - I would like to propose
>the American contender - the Gama Goat and the British offering - the
>Stalwart. No doubt you lot can think of more.
Wonderful story Mike!
I cannot attest personally to the swimming abilities of a Gama Goat,
although
I hear they are somewhat limited, the Stalwart isn't quite the floundering
truck that it might look like. Although it requires about 5 feet of water
to
float, it still has 3 feet of freeboard an only sinks down an inch or two
when you add about a dozen people.
With it's two water jets and reverse cascades it is a very maneuverable
craft
when in the water. You can turn it in it's own length as well as back it up
onto the land, in narrow places, with some practice. It's maneuverability
when using it's tires for propulsion is a bit limited but will still move at
better than 3 knots (new tires) when 4th gear is selected and full throttle
applied.
I've been told there are some that leak a prodigious amount, mine takes on
comparatively little and would hardly leak at all if I'd close a certain gap
that lets one water jet spray water aboard then turning hard in one
direction. Without much maneuvering, I'd estimate it takes on only about 10
gallons an hour and with an electric bilge pump rated to pump that in 20
seconds, I'm not too concerned.
Some people consider the windshield affording a view to the "murky depths,"
when not equipped with a swim board (surf shield), to be a real problem but
since the glass is bullet resistant you are pretty safe unless you strike a
solid object. With over 5 feet of Stalwart below the windshield, something
else is more likely to encounter a hazard first.
I think nothing of taking my Stalwart swimming for miles around one of the
local lakes with considerable boat traffic and would even consider fairly
choppy seas with a swim board in place. With the hatches open, for those of
you unfamiliar the Stalwart is entered through the roof, and a swim board
not
fitted, you can get a splash or two by a wave hitting the sloped nose and
landing in your lap. Aside from some wet pants, from external sources, the
Stalwart is a docile and relatively safe vehicle to operate in the water.
This is from my experience anyway.
Bruce
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon May 01 2000 - 05:30:07 PDT