Linesman Iltis

[JD Baillie]

John, et all,

The 'jumper' went the way of the M37 3/4 ton and hasn't been seen since '78. No more A frames, no place to cool beverages outside the passenger's window, no more long convoys where nothing was said because the noise in the cab at 55mph was too loud to permit normal speech, no more driving cross country without fear of infantry trenches, fallen trees, unfallen trees (those that were still trying to grow that is) and no more walking beside the truck, doing tie-backs and pulling slack as the truck carried on by itself in bull-low! - sigh -

The 'new' way to support a pole in the ground is with a 12" angle iron stake with a pipe welded to the top. The 'new' poles also have a steel/aluminum fitting on each end, one male & one female to allow the end of one to insert into the other. What with the guys, tensioners, little fitted plates and those goofy stakes (which couldn't support a pole on their own) it would take twice as long to do an overhead crossing than with the old heavier poles with jumper to make a self supporting stand (hole in ground) and a few well place knots in some rope or hemp bits or WD1 to support the poles.

The really cool thing about the Iltis CLAK was its orange whoopie light and spot light. Several Ilti together made a good show after dark.

JD