Couple , hopefully , quick questions. 1- there is a pipe that runs from the right of the drivers hatch to the edge of the hull. What is it? (Relief tube , so the crew can take a piss from inside?) 2- When did the BDR start requiring the whoopie lights on tanks. (I understand it is a fed requirement for them when on public roads, same as farm equipment, for road safety. Flashing when MILES gear gets tagged was just a bonus) NOTE TO WEBMASTER: 10 letters for topic requirement is HS. Most tank designations are no where near that long.
@staff_Jim
I have noted the 10 letters requirement, I think it was even longer in the beginning.
Maybe 5 would be sufficient as a lower limit.
The word question or questions usually bulk out the topic to get above the 10 letter limit
Usually any descriptive title should be longer than 10… Personally I tend to ignore topics titled like “question” or “tiger” with no more detail.
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If I’m not mistaken the tube is a vent for the crew heater. I’m sure someone will chime in with the answer.
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Hmmm… well imagine you do a search for “M48A2” and get 20 topics with that result. Wouldn’t you rather have a little more to go on if you were looking for something more specific like “M48A2 engine details”. I think that is the general idea of asking people to take 10 more seconds to think of a few more words to add. It’s staying at 10.
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And it really should have been longer to include a hint at your question. That’s how forums work best.
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One of my peeves with the old forum was actually the limited length of the title.
Sometimes it was tricky to fit the necessary info into the limited length.
A “relief tube so the crew could take a piss inside” you sir, need to become a tank designer. I flew on 47’s in afghanistan, and lord would i have loved a “relief tube” rather than a Gatorade bottle. No doubt a tanker buttoned up for 12 hours would love a “relief tube” as well!
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One would think you’d be able to baptize the Taliban from the rear ramp on the “Shit Hook”. But things are never as easy as they seem. Airstream going by makes a damn good brick wall. (like hitting water from a hundred foot up. ) What unit were you with over there? Our NG Unit lost an H47 over there with the crew. Viva Mustang 22!
Hey, Robin. Guess this gets filed under “damned if you do … damned if you dont…” 
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The light for the MILES gear is a separate light, and it looks different than the whoopie light.
Ken.
Sluff, I was with B Co 6-101 GSAB from the 101st Airborne out of a rocket-magnet called FOB Shank. We used to throw the piss bottles off the ramp as we flew. Accuracy improved as airspeed diminished.
Story I read related to this was written by a waist gunner on a B24. His partner had a raging case of the quick step and had to GO. Did his business in a cardboard box their goggles came in. He decided to get rid of the offensive package. He wound up and threw the box at the waist gun opening. It hit the 200 mph slip stream and exploded. The poor bastard pulled his goggles up so hhe could see. The writer said he looked like a racoon … By the by, I used to get to fly on the H47’s dad.
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Ah. I though they were one in the same. Would make sense, wire the MILES into the existing light. But, Then again we ARE talking the Army. Any clue as to when the Germans started requiring the light be on when out on public roads? Working on an M48A2GA2 and wonder if it would need the light for manuvers. (It is from just before reunification, so I think yes.
The light goes back to at least the 1970s, maybe earlier, they were old in 1981 when I got there. Early ones were just a standard rotating light, later they switched to strobe lights. They are mounted/stowed on the vehicles at all times.
The kill light for the MILES comes with the kit and is only used with MILES.
On my M60A2, we were issued a boxy rectangular light.It had a flashing orange light, and we would strap it down on our improvised “back deck boxes” (empty 152 ammo box). It was battery operated, and for us, was only used when on a road march.
It’s called a RAWL. Rotating Amber Warning Light. The whoopie light was for the MILES.
A relief pipe? How could piss raise up to the level of the hatch?
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Capillary action…
Well trained crew, could start working as acrobats if they ever quit driving tanks …