Cab 12 roof weakness

[Keith Webb]

Originally posted by Philliphastings
On the subject of branches catching the windscreen as the vehicle passes, from my own experience driving a cab 13 in close scrubby country, the branches had a habit of catching in the angle at the base of the cab 13 windscreen and top of the front sheet metal where the pressure would build up then catapault the branch down the sider of the vehicle and often whack the driver on the side of the head along the way.

Incidentally I have heard speculation as to why the windscreen angle was reversed in the cab 13. it is my understanding that this was done to reduce the reflection and thus aid camouflage from the air and on the ground, and also to provide an optically 'flat' view of the road ahead of the vehicle...

I can relate to the being whacked in the side of the head!
You are right about the reverse slope windscreens. You may have noticed 4 footman loops across the roof of some blitzes... according to Mike Cecil these are for securing canvas sheaths for the windscreens whilst driving with them open. Whilst I have never seen one in the 'canvas', I have found a photograph with a truck which appears to have them in place.


This pic is on one of my pages
The other design element of the sloping front shell was to prevent snow and slush (the sort of stuff we rarely see here in Oz) piling up.