[RichardT10829]

Well 04/11/11...... a date that will live in infamy ! i took my test and passed with zero faults (minors).

before i begin i really must stress my gratitude to Shaun Hindle of the Battlefront Museum for his time and tuition...and vehicle for my test.

I arrived on the Thursday evening and we went out to meet some wonderful people, one was his father, and the other was an inspirational character called Richard.... Richard unfortunately has a matter of months left to live, being in the final stages of lung cancer... however to see him, his zest for life and fun you would never know he was on limited time.....and what an engineer he is too !

0930 on the friday Shaun and I met up at the museum and after a number of cups of tea and talks about our grandparents (who served together in the same platoon during WW2.. Shauns grandad was the REME mech for the section and my grandad was one of the carrier drivers)..... Shaun introduced me to the vehicle i would sit my test in.

Upon walking up to the Scorpion it just hits home how perfect a vehicle it is...it looks good, it sounds good..its British ! Shaun lifted the engine deck and there sat a brand new power pack which he had put in earlier in the week for me.... he showed me how to check fluids, adjust tracks, and do pre fire checks before turning the key...so to speak.

after an hour or so steady tuition on how to drive use the gears and practice pivot points, and being commanded by non on-board personnel Shaun let me have a play.

The examiner turned up and was a cracking bloke, and after another cup of tea we cracked on with the test.... so for those in the Norwich test area you can expect the following from a test)

1) read a number plate from a minimum of 20 meters.
2) show knowlege of how to perform safety checks ie components loose fittings tracks, lights, indicators, fluids and service

3) pull away safely demonstrating awareness of surroundings
4) complete a circuit in one direction using indicators mirrors etc
5) complete a circuit in the opposite direction using indicators mirrors etc
(our circuit included a T junction and Shaun placed items in the road which had to be negotiated including a bottle neck (to represent two parked cars opposite each other)
6) turn in the road using the vehicles tracks (Neutral turn)
7) emergency stop
8) complex sequence... pull forward turn left....reverse into gap...pull forward turn left....reverse into parking spot. (simple hard standing)

after this you get a number of signs to identify and a number of theory questions including speed limits for tracked vehicle (20mph with resiliant material on the tracks and wheels and with suspension...5mph without).... what to do if a queue of traffic forms behind you....use of amber beacons.

and that was pretty much the test. it does NOT have to take place on a road however if you dont do it on the road and make up a basic mickey mouse circuit they will make it hard for you.... this is why Shaun made our circuit technical as we could (to a degree)

my test lasted around 20 - 30 mins

i would add pics but my laptop is playing up.