If we can all band together under an international tankers organization, then perhaps the manufacturers will listen to us. When they see the number of tankers out there, I think they will be surprised. If we get one of the 3 or 4 main producers to listen, then that is a foot in the door, and the others will eventually follow suit.

I would foresee an international organization that accepts clubs and individuals, with a broad guideline for tank competitions, just a general outline of what can and can not run. Exceptions of course should be made for first timers, as they are usually at the beginning of the learning curve. I would suggest a simple speed chart of max on road speed as the allowable speed for each tank, and a simple equipment test, IOW test the emitter and receiver, and how many hits the tank takes to die. Rivet counting as to 'your Sherm has upgraded armour as a field mod and therefore you have to reduce your speed by 1.3362 MPH' don't cut it. We have to be reasonable and fair to all. On the other hand, if your Tiger 2 does an honest 70 KPH uphill with a head wind, then something needs to be done to reign him in a tad.

As we know from the other thread addressing competitions, there's a lot of controversy out there about tanks that are too fast, spin shots, various tricks to shield the apples etc. With an international organization, you would get the best brains amongst us (I'm not included in the brain trust for sure) to develope upgrades to our electronics and motive systems.

International competitions would be interesting to say the least. If one was held in Moskau for instance, you would have tankers from Ukraine, Byelorus, possibly Krim (finding a baby sitter and house sitter for 7 children is difficult for sure!), and EU. If held in EU, I'm sure the Russian and Krim contingent would attend if humanly possible, amongst others. In USA, it's a long drive for us in former SSSR, but it's still possible some of us can make it.

Bottom line, this is something for us all to think about. I'm not talking of an organization with draconian rules of membership and competitions, but more of an umbrella organization for all of us. Putting us together, we may well be able to get some action out of the manufacturers. Alone, we have not a chance.

Sev