End of an era ...
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End of an era ...
In the last few moments the final Land Rover Defender rolled of the production line at Solihull 
BBC Land Rover Defender
So I guess it won't be too long before another British icon will disappear from what's left of our RAF, RN and Army airfields for ever. Very sad as I'll bet many will have possibly first learnt to drive on a Service Land Rover let alone taken their Airfield Driving Test in one.
What will SATCO's do in the future for transport (let alone house their Bird Scaring Kit) ? ... the Station Bike might be even more in demand
Presumably some PFI contract will appear to provide airfield vehicles under some kind of lease arrangement at some point ... Making the Ford F100 Pick-Up or the Toyota Flatbed possible 'favourites'
The Service 'Landy' ... Gone but not forgotten ...
Image Credit : Unknown : Series 1 Service Land Rover 50's
BBC Land Rover Defender
So I guess it won't be too long before another British icon will disappear from what's left of our RAF, RN and Army airfields for ever. Very sad as I'll bet many will have possibly first learnt to drive on a Service Land Rover let alone taken their Airfield Driving Test in one.
What will SATCO's do in the future for transport (let alone house their Bird Scaring Kit) ? ... the Station Bike might be even more in demand
Presumably some PFI contract will appear to provide airfield vehicles under some kind of lease arrangement at some point ... Making the Ford F100 Pick-Up or the Toyota Flatbed possible 'favourites'
The Service 'Landy' ... Gone but not forgotten ...
Image Credit : Unknown : Series 1 Service Land Rover 50's
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*Ideal replacement ?......................the Willys Jeep ! (you can lean down to pick up the crud off the runway).
When did a SATCO ever leave his nice, warm office ?
What will SATCO's do in the future for transport ?
Last edited by Danny42C; 29th Jan 2016 at 15:28. Reason: Addn.
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Many thanks ACW ... Which may mean their 'exit stage left' might be a little bit swifter given residual vales etc.
Danny ... You better don your Steel Bowler given the number of ex SATCO's on here
Danny ... You better don your Steel Bowler given the number of ex SATCO's on here
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I did a cross country freebie with Toyota some years back on the off road course at Silverstone, the usual stuff through mud and deep wading, We were using the top of the range new Landcruisers and Toyota had provided instructors who travelled the world demonstrating the skills etc, in a quiet moment we got chatting and I asked him to list his top buys and why..
They were
Landrover, simple, reliable, break down anywhere and you can normally fix it or source parts and get it repaired, be it in the the deepest darkest parts of Africa to the southern Americas.
Toyota Land Cruiser, similar reasoning except harder to get fixed / sorted due to reliance on a lot of electronics.
Mercedes G Wagon, as above but 10 times more expensive to repair.
BMW X Series... as above but worse, he also said at the time everything was computer controlled and if the 4 wheel drive failed it would select 1 wheel drive to get you home! which was pretty much useless when you are buried up to your axles in mud.
They were
Landrover, simple, reliable, break down anywhere and you can normally fix it or source parts and get it repaired, be it in the the deepest darkest parts of Africa to the southern Americas.
Toyota Land Cruiser, similar reasoning except harder to get fixed / sorted due to reliance on a lot of electronics.
Mercedes G Wagon, as above but 10 times more expensive to repair.
BMW X Series... as above but worse, he also said at the time everything was computer controlled and if the 4 wheel drive failed it would select 1 wheel drive to get you home! which was pretty much useless when you are buried up to your axles in mud.
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Originally Posted by Danny42C
When did a SATCO ever leave his nice, warm office ?
Anyway, a SATCO can't have too many Defenders! Although I did do a swap with the Fire Section at Waddington, letting them have one of our SWB Landys in exchange for their J2 [?] van, as it was easier for the WRAF to use when laying out the night-flying lighting and had enough floor space to remove the need to haul a trailer-full of Glim Lamps around the airfield.
"Rover 2" at Stanley was our "Alternate Approach" FFR LWB Landy, fitted for and equipped with DRDF and UHF r/t, which would go and hide in a cleft in the rocks [which explain the home-brewed colour scheme] and plug in to assorted aerials to do the job.
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Horrible things, one of the most uncomfortable vehicles I have ever driven.
A very cramped drivers position made even worse when they brought in the Defender and put a door trim on it, you had to have the window open and elbow out just to get comfy.
FFR version, once all the gear was loaded, radios, masts etc etc there was no room for the crew!
Then there was the heater that worked better as a fridge.
Remember the front wheel wobble that came in between 20 to 40mph and stopped all attempts at steering?
Tyres that told every one you were on the way.
Overpriced junk that kept on selling because the Govt kept on buying it to keep the industry going.
FWIW, the 'G' Wagons, we had at AFCENT (1992-4) while slightly more comfortable were so underpowered they made the 110 look like a overpowered muscle machine...
A very cramped drivers position made even worse when they brought in the Defender and put a door trim on it, you had to have the window open and elbow out just to get comfy.
FFR version, once all the gear was loaded, radios, masts etc etc there was no room for the crew!
Then there was the heater that worked better as a fridge.
Remember the front wheel wobble that came in between 20 to 40mph and stopped all attempts at steering?
Tyres that told every one you were on the way.
Overpriced junk that kept on selling because the Govt kept on buying it to keep the industry going.
FWIW, the 'G' Wagons, we had at AFCENT (1992-4) while slightly more comfortable were so underpowered they made the 110 look like a overpowered muscle machine...
Last edited by Always a Sapper; 31st Jan 2016 at 12:20.
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My worst experience in a Land Rover was when travelling from Scampton to Waddo for a sim detail in this brand new vehicle. My co-pilot was admiring all the marvellous new buttons not seen before in one when he said "I wonder what's this one for...". Within a few moments we were surrounded by police all looking very menacing. Apparently it was the vehicle used to collect the wages for the civvies at Scampton and that button was an alarm in case they were robbed!!
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Someone mention Land Rovers at Stanley?
Vehicle of choice for the duty driver; very handy for the Friday night post happy hour 'joint forces' drive to the chip shop in town, and really came to her own every evening when driving over the peat tracks to refuel the generator for the mast lights. Best of all, you could easily throw in all the mail bags full of all the replies from either penpals or clips from the papers/magazines that were sent of on behalf of others
Still remember the reg for my 'home for many a German exercise', the Gazelle Flt CP, '21GX78'. Never let us down
Vehicle of choice for the duty driver; very handy for the Friday night post happy hour 'joint forces' drive to the chip shop in town, and really came to her own every evening when driving over the peat tracks to refuel the generator for the mast lights. Best of all, you could easily throw in all the mail bags full of all the replies from either penpals or clips from the papers/magazines that were sent of on behalf of others
Still remember the reg for my 'home for many a German exercise', the Gazelle Flt CP, '21GX78'. Never let us down
Purveyor of Egg Liqueur to Lucifer
The guy from LandRover on The One Show implied there was a "new" Defender on the drawing board. Anyone any clues?
2018 Land Rover Defender May Not Resemble Defender Concepts ? News ? Car and Driver | Car and Driver Blog
New Land Rover Defender DC100 concept revealed | News | Auto Express
Tough old beasts. This one just did not want to die !
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Passed my driving test in Jan 84 just before I was posted to Belize. Once my licence got sent out, my formative driving experience was in Landys in Belize, with some nice off road stuff. The visibility was poor in them, and to this day I always remove my seat belt to reverse any car, as it was impossible to move to see in the landy with the seat belt worn. Also when travelling as a passenger in the front seat I will always say clear left at junctions, as in the Landy with someone sitting there, you could never see clearly enough to the left.
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Someone mention Land Rovers at Stanley?
My farewell gift from ATC may, indeed, have been from that vehicle ... along with a reminder of the speed limit on base
Last edited by MPN11; 30th Jan 2016 at 14:59.
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" Very sad as I'll bet many will have possibly first learnt to drive on a Service Land Rover let alone taken their Airfield Driving Test in one " .
Very true....however....it did become a shade problematic when, as always, authority chose to become involved.
One felt, that, Landy driving at Valley when working the weekends as duty crew supplemented my training....... under instruction elsewhere on the scenic isle.
It's always the paperwork that causes authority to get agitated.
Very true....however....it did become a shade problematic when, as always, authority chose to become involved.
One felt, that, Landy driving at Valley when working the weekends as duty crew supplemented my training....... under instruction elsewhere on the scenic isle.
It's always the paperwork that causes authority to get agitated.
Seeing as over 70% of all Landrovers EVER built are still in active use, I think they will be around for the foreseeable future.
As to an eventual replacement, very strong rumours of a brand new factory in Coventry to build up to 250,000 of the things a year!
As to an eventual replacement, very strong rumours of a brand new factory in Coventry to build up to 250,000 of the things a year!