Pity the luckless driver of this Russian 2S3 Akatsiya 152mm. self-propelled howitzer. He makes several attempts to load it before the final one (which is fairly spectacular, thereby earning him an instant Doofus award).
Remembering my own military service, I can’t help but wonder how many push-ups he’ll have to do to pay for that . . .
Peter
At least he was smart enough to pull himself inside the hull as it rolled over.
Is Russian Army, Comrade Blogger. Driver was probably taken behind vehicle depot and shot.
I can't help but wonder how many push-ups he'll have to do to pay for that . . .
Well however many there were they should have been split between him and his ground guide, who seemed to be no help at all
I agree with Tim. I've drove tracks back in my military days and in situations like that, the driver is very dependent on the ground guide. I doubt the driver could see where his tracks were.
Tim D,
Roger that! Watching this thing I just kept thinking, "This ground guide is an idiot!"
Also wondered if there is something wrong with the vehicle – perhaps a screwed up transmission or something. A tracked vehicle should not have difficulty climbing that ramp at a reasonable speed.
His main problem seems to be a poorly running engine. Stalls repeatedly. No idle, and no power just above idle. That's why he was moving so fast, and so abruptly.
Interesting that the guide was told to get as high and forward as possible. This would indicate that this unit has a history of loading problems. I was shocked at how fast it launched onto the transporter. It should creep onto it, fairly gently, to avoid beating everything to pieces.
Where the hell are the NCO's or officer that should be supervising this?
It's possible that alcohol had an influence on this, to some extent. Watched any of the road videos in Russia? Half the drivers must be drunk, judging by the stupidity exhibited.
Loading Russian tracked vehicles onto flat beds is a lot trickier than it looks.
The steel tread is damn slippery on steel beds, and the steering on those things is done with levers that lock up one track.
The guys who can do it well get a running start at the ramps, then coast up into position as it's almost impossible to "drive" one onto a low boy as the doofus of the day demonstrated.