Driving, Experience Gifts, Gifts
It’s time to get fully tracked when you go tank driving in Hampshire! This half day experience near Winchester includes lots of tanks and other classic military hardware for you to get to grips with as you spend several hours at the venue test driving some of the best war zone paraphernalia out there.
You will have the run of this huge private estate so there’s plenty of room to go rumbling around in a variety of genuine military equipment mashing up the mud with those huge caterpillar tracks. Many of the instructors at this centre are former serving soldiers so have first hand experience of these tanks and military vehicles in combat and conflict settings and will show how to get the best out of these special pieces of kit.
Your half day starts with registration and a full safety briefing. All drivers are divided into groups (usually five to one instructor) and rotate around the following activities with approximately 40 minutes spent on each activity. Over the morning or afternoon session you will drive three heavyweight vehicles and a quad bike ATV.
Chieftain Tank: The seminal British Army Main Battle Tank (MBT) that weighs in at a hefty 55tons and boasts high performance and firing power with 750bhp and a 195mm front turret gun.
Abbott SPG: This Self Propelled Gun is a fully tracked field artillery tank with a fully rotating 105mm turret. The crew of four (commander gunner loader and driver) can race across enemy lines at speeds of up to 29mph thanks to the Rolls Royce powerplant.
FV432 APC: The Armoured Personnel Carrier is essential for safely moving troops and gear around. Also known as the Trojan 3000 of these models were built until the early 1970s. A crew of two can transport up to 10 infantry and all their equipment at speeds of up to 32mp – and this APC is amphibious too!
Alvis Stormer Missile Launcher: It might look like a tank but this is actually a mobile platform for the Star Streak High Velocity Missile (HVM) system. You won’t be firing any today but you will be driving this 13.5 tonne hulk – and it’s got seven gears!
When you’re not driving on this half day tank driving experience in Hampshire you will most often be a passenger on the specially built viewing platforms on the tanks – so there’s plenty of time to take video footage and photos of these impressive machines. Your experience ends with a presentation of certificates and a look back on the day you got to realise these childhood tank driving dreams in Winchester!
Find out more and book your place today!
Driving, Experience Gifts, Gifts
We salute you on our Dads and Lads Tank Experience in Leicestershire! Of course Mums and Daughters or any combination of the above are welcome too on this mud-filled driving and shooting extravaganza – the only prerequisite is that one person aged 16 years or over drives and one is the passenger (can be an adult or a child aged at least eight).
Lads and lasses alike will love this centre located just outside Market Harborough in south Leicestershire as this special armoured vehicle driving adventure is authentic and action-packed. You will immediately get into the spirit of the day as you are kitted out in proper military overalls and army-style helmets.
You will both head out to meet the fiendish FV432 tank. This type of armoured personnel carrier although no longer on the front line is still an integral part of military operations and it’s a real coup to be able to get up close to ride in and even drive one these fully tracked tanks.
To start off you will both be passengers in the 17 tonne beast thundering along the beautiful Leicestershire countryside which is actually a former WW2 bombing range. One of the professional instructors will be at the controls so you will find out just what these FV432s are capable of on the battlefield.
You will then pull up in a strategic position ready for the second part of your experience. It’s time to get ready for battle as you will be firing the air cannon to try and obliterate the targets in the field of combat in front of you. Taking it turns to load and fire you will be working that 40mm air cannon mounted on the front turret of the tank – it’s all about the dads and lads working as a team at this point!
Once the enemy targets have been neutralised you will be safe to get back to the business of driving this metal monster. The nominated driver (who must be over 16 and is usually Dad!) will then be under the spot light as it’s your turn to get the FV432 rumbling around the track. Once you have the controls sussed you will head off on two laps of the circuit.
That all might be pretty easy (and great fun) but the Dads and Lads tank experience concludes with a bit of a tricky challenge – negotiating the same track once more but with the hatch closed! Yes this is what it’s really like commanding a tank in a war zone as you trundle over the bumps and troughs using only the periscope to navigate the way – and of course your partner will be with you as a passenger.
Find out more and book your place today!
Driving, Experience Gifts, Gifts
Get kitted up and ready for madcap military driving experiences in Leicestershire! Your mission if you choose to accept it is to trundle around the countryside near Husband’s Bosworth just south of Leicester in your pick of heavyweight and medium weight military tanks and vehicles.
At this venue there’s always a full fleet of armoured military vehicles ready and waiting to be driven. And one of them will catch your eye straight away as it’s only available at this Leicestershire venue. Meet the rather feisty Russian BRDM2 reconnaissance vehicle. The snappily named Boyevaya Razvedyvatelnaya Dozornaya Mashina (to give this BRDM2 armoured scout car it’s proper name) is fully amphibious and was a formidable patrol vehicle favoured by armies worldwide and not just in the Soviet Union that was capable of some serious artillery power.
In a similar military vein (but more used to battling against the BRDMs) the FV432 armoured personnel carrier is always a customer favourite. Starting up those huge Rolls Royce engines always gets people’s attention and you will love the aggressive driving style of this tank – and you can even reach speeds of up to 32mph. That’s seriously rockin’ for a tank!
Lots of soldiers learn to drive heavy trucks in the military and this experience gives you the chance to have a go in a Bedford MJ army truck. You used to see a lot of these trucks on the roads with a separate cab and metal-barriered rear hold that was usually covered up in a khaki coloured tarpaulin. And whilst they may not be up to much in terms of sheer speed they are resilient rugged and have impressive off road capabilities as despite the size the are 4×4.
The BV206 Hagglund (also known as the Bandvagn 206) is an essential vehicle for the arctic conditions in snow-covered Nordic countries (and Leicestershire of course!). Quite frankly they look funny as there are two parts; a driver’s cab with rear seats and a separate trailer attached. Both are articulated so the Hagglund manages to keep contact over very rough terrain yet the ground pressure is low enough it can rumble through snow without sinking. A fine piece of military engineering we’re sure you will have seen nothing like the BV206.
On the Military Driving Experience in Leicestershire you’ll get to drive two vehicles with a total time behind the wheel of around 40 minutes. On the Ultimate Experience you will drive three vehicles for a total of around 60 minutes. No matter which heavyweight military vehicles and trucks you choose you’ll love the special 1.2 mile mud-filled course at this challenging military driving site in Leicestershire.
Find out more and book your place today!
Driving, Experience Gifts, Gifts
Most of us have seen car crushing scenes in the movies or on TV and have always wanted to get behind the controls of a tank and drive it relentlessly over a car well now is your chance to make your dream a once in a lifetime reality with this Car Crush Tank Experience near Brackley in Northamptonshire.
Rev up ‘The Daddy’ of all military vehicles the Chieftain main battle tank and crush a complete car under the tracks of this 56 tonne monster as if it were an empty beer can. Then enjoy a moment of total satisfaction as you look back at the trail of shattered glass and twisted steel left behind you. Best of all because the Chieftain is so huge there’s plenty of space for friends or family to ride in the tank with you and watch your face as you deliver total destruction to an innocent saloon or hatchback.
Your day out includes a welcome and safety briefing followed by two 20 minute tank driving experience sessions to ensure you can actually hit the target when the big moment arrives. You will also enjoy a guided tour of the tank workshops enabling you to learn a little more about these amazing machines and find out just how big a tool box is required to look after them!
There is also a huge armoury on site containing a bewildering array of weapons ancient and modern. The team of ex military instructors will be only too happy to show you around and explain their uses.
Once you’ve experienced this car crush tank experience in Brackley we’re sure you’ll want to take one home with you – handy for beating rush hour traffic and better fun than being sent to a warzone to be able to have the chance to get at the controls of a tank!
Find out more and book your place today!
Driving, Experience Gifts, Gifts
How about a bit of tank driving in the wilds of Northumberland? If you’ve ever wondered where you can drive a tank around these parts the answer is right here right now near Morpeth! Roll up the sleeves and get ready to get stuck in for a frenzy of full-tracked antics at Eshott Airfield.
The guys behind this project know a thing or two when it comes to adventurous activities as they also own and run the airfield. They decided that stuff like flying high in the air in a wartime plane can be matched in extremeness by things that go along the ground. So they created this outdoor activity centre on the perimeter of the airfield for some serious terra firma fun.
That’s where the Alvis Stormer tank comes in. Also known as the FV4333 it’s practically indigenous on this sort of rugged Northumberland terrain. This is the ultimate Armoured Fighting Vehicle that easily adapts to many battlefield roles from firing Starstreak High Velocity Missiles and laying mines to acting as a field ambulance or a recovery vehicle . Having served the British Army and many other armies around the world for decades they go anywhere. From deserts and dusty roads to woodlands and treacherous terrain an Stormer will get you where you need to go in hostile environments.
Nothing hostile as you take the tank for a trundle around Eshott Airfield though just smiles as wide as the Alvis itself. It’s an utterly brilliant thing to drive and properly exciting too. It’s nothing like driving a car or any other military vehicle for that matter so forget steering wheels indicators and brakes this is all about levers and gears to control those two heavy tracks under your feet.
An instructor will be riding alongside you in the tank so they’ll be on hand to tutor you in the art of full-tracked driving. Once you’ve got the hang the basic controls that’s to saying going forwards turning left and right and (of course) stopping you’ll make a beeline for the off road course filled with lumps bumps water splashes and more.
The whole experience is sure to be a brilliant challenge for you but for this Alvis Stormer it’ll be a case of ‘just doing my job’. Isn’t it time you revved that engine and went tank driving around Northumberland’s finest purpose-built course with the guys from Eshott Airfield?
Find out more and book your place today!
