Moore’s Manoeuvres
Light, portable yet highly uncomfortable, the Loyd two-man airborne light tank is profiled by Craig Moore
On October 10, 1942, Vivian Loyd submitted his prototype Loyd two-man airborne light tank to the Fighting Vehicles Proving Establishment (FVPE) at Chertsey for reliability and performance tests. The testing team found some minor faults that could be rectified, but no major defects occurred during the trial that could not be fixed.
The unladen weight of the tank was three tonnes 5-cwt and it measured 3.25m long, 1.96m wide and 1.79m high. On the 100-mile road run, it loggd an average speed of 35mph and an impressive fuel economy of 5mpg. It also had a total road range of 200 miles before it needed to refuel.
The testing team made a few suggestions for changes before it went into production. First, there were no provisions for a starting handle, so it was recommended that a shielded hole be provided in the rear plate. Slight overheating of the engine was caused by an excessive restriction in the air exit vent in the rear armour, which was subsequently widened. The covered air intake on the top sloping plate and the driver’s vision port needed better protection from small a…
