Finest and Most Influential Tanks of WWII

Just a hunch, but I would guess that the manual adjustment pertained to long range shooting. So if that is the case then laying the gun on the target could be either done with the hydraulics alone or a combination depending on range? I honestly can easily imagine that it would be a royal pain to get a good sight picture on a long range target without a computer while just using WWII era hydraulics/optics. If your aiming out over 1000 meters and you just nudge the controls, how much does that move your sight picture as opposed to a manual fine tuning adjustment?

 

Proeliator-
It was my intention to end my activity in this thread but since you've addressed me directly I did not want to be rude and ignore you. I do not dismiss the video, as I mentioned before the video had me convinced that you were right until I saw the photos posted by mkenny. To my eye these photos show only inches of room between the gun mechanism and the gunners eye, barely enough room for his head and headphones. If he was able to fit his head with phones in proper placement in this space it would be, by my estimation, by twisting his head awkwardly. As I stated I believe one of the photos presented show the brow pad canted, perhaps for this very reason. We have gone on about the headphones in this discussion of the ergonomics of the Panther without ever mentioning the rest of the gunners body. I am an average sized man and my shoulders extend 8" beyond the side of my head. How would the gunner fit his body next to the gun carriage let alone his headphones? I know he need not be sitting back sipping cocktails but crew comfort and a natural position are a big part of crew comfort for the sake of less fatigue and better performance...no?

I don't think any of us can attest to the conditions the video was made under. Certainly this was a staged filming for the purposes of a training film, not actual combat. Could he press his head to the side of the gun carriage for the sake of the filming? Yes, so could a gunner in combat. Does this make for an ergonomically advantageous position for the sight...I don't think so. Is everything changed that is not perfect? I doubt it.

I have no interest in doubting your experiences nor doubt what you say you hear from "modern day crews." I don't know what Panther you rode in (we have obviously "seen" different models in this discussion), what your frame of mind was when you rode in it, if you were concerned about such matters and whether your opinion would be impartial. Personally I would be drunk with the excitement of such an experience and I don't know if I would objectively be evaluating the layout of the tank. If I recall correctly from a video I saw on Panther restoration the folks doing this spent an obscene amount of money restoring these tanks. I should have such money to play with and if I did what are the chances I would, after signing so many checks to pay for my toy, confess that it was truly full of faults. I don't know what they do during their demonstrations but I'm guessing that it isn't actual combat, which is what matters for this discussion.

I don't imagine we will agree on anything discussed in this thread, except maybe that.

 

I imagine turrets are dangerous places. There are probably numerous incidents where men were injured by a recoiling gun in a turret. The monacle does look close to the breach. I wonder how close the recoil would be if, say, the gunners right eye was injured and he had to sight with his left eye. Close enough for a shave and a haircut?

 

There is a metal shield between the moving parts and the gunner. They can not make contact.

 

The Panther on the German side, the T-34/85 on the Soviet side and the M-26 Pershing on the Western Allied side

 

The Pershing? How does that fit in?

 

pershings were in service in the european theatre from february 1945 onwards

 

How does it fit in to a thread of finest or most influential? I've read a lot of history on armor in the ETO including Hunnicutt's Pershing and I don't understand how it would fit in the thread?

 

you win on that arguement