22.10.2008, 16:05
idonno - Basically, yes. The majority of the time is spent getting the nose of the round pointed the same direction as the muzzle. But once it's on the loading tray you just slap it in and get out of the way.
Billfish - I bet that the bouncing on an aircraft would probably be about the same as a tank moving cross country. And yes the aircraft is a cramped space, but tanks aren't usually too roomy, and the aircraft loader doesn't have ammo-bunker doors to deal with.
At 30 seconds in here you'll see the 105 crew load a few rounds. Now, this is a three man crew and the guy with the shell is sorta lap-loading so it's going quicker. However due to the angle of the mount here it looks like the spent case has to be pulled out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbP89YAVblg
Compare that to a single guy with 120mm rounds in a tank:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns5NJVa_XKo
A good view of the stowage racks in this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJeJYKeHD84
Billfish - I bet that the bouncing on an aircraft would probably be about the same as a tank moving cross country. And yes the aircraft is a cramped space, but tanks aren't usually too roomy, and the aircraft loader doesn't have ammo-bunker doors to deal with.
At 30 seconds in here you'll see the 105 crew load a few rounds. Now, this is a three man crew and the guy with the shell is sorta lap-loading so it's going quicker. However due to the angle of the mount here it looks like the spent case has to be pulled out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbP89YAVblg
Compare that to a single guy with 120mm rounds in a tank:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns5NJVa_XKo
A good view of the stowage racks in this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJeJYKeHD84