#42 – Drive a Tank

#42 - Drive a Tank

An absolutely stunning day in September, to drive a tank! I can’t think of anyone I would rather of done this with than my Dad.

He loves his history, war films, war books, and Grandma told a story of when dad was a kid he said he wanted to build a tank in the back garden. A very fond memory for them both.

Now I’ve built another great memory with Dad.

Armourgeddon is just outside of Leicestershire, 10 tanks in a field, cows all on the field, makes this look very surreal! We went for the Tank experience for 2 but you can do Tank Paint-balling Wars which sounds insane. We were so lucky with the weather, a beautifully sunny day in September.

I’ve taken this as a really great fun experience with my dad. The more you think about the soldiers who had to drive these tanks in war years ago and even today, I have the upmost respect for everyone who fought and fights to keep us safe.

As the ground was dry we were able to do the top lap and then go down this big fuck off hill to a lower field, another lap and then head back up. The first half of the drive experience you do with the hatch open, really enjoyable and you get the hang of pulling back on two levers to turn left and right. Hatch down, you really appreciate just how challenging this job is. The tiniest sight glass on where you need to drive with no real sense of how big the tank is you’re driving. Driving up the hill when you can literally only see the sky is just hilarious. One of the highlights was how far dad went left on the hill. 

Our Instructor Will was absolutely fantastic, gave us some really interesting facts for us to have a great experience. With the ideal tank driver weighing less than 12 stone and preferred height being 5’7 it’s a wonder why we struggled so much to actually move around the tank. 

Great fun, I’d highly recommend giving this a go, especially during COVID as it’s something different and good fun.