Chieftain fits, thus he sits

That's how to fit the Chieftain: Make a head shaped bubble on top of the vehicle.

The French probably had a rule that de Gaulle had to fit in all their tanks (he was 6'5").

Every time the Chieftain tries to fit into one of those rather small vehicles, I imagine him popping out of one of the hatches and yelling "Are you not entertained?". Just like Russell Crowe in that infamous Gladiator scene.

These 40k models are getting more and more realistic every year.

Exposed exhaust manifold = "Oh bugger! The Chieftain is on fire!"

What of a unique combination of a tank, a medieval armor and a torture chamber!

That lid reminds me of Rick Moranis in spaceballs.

A heated commanders compartment for the winter - such a nice touch 🤣🤣

If this got hit in combat I don't think the crew will be 'around' to worry about getting out.

It looks like it would be fun to drive... for a person of 5'8", or, under.

For a future episode of this, you could try the German Wiesel AWC. Its tiny, its fast and it is very cute.

Thought "well that's not so bad" then had a real good chuckle at the steering levers ramming into your legs. Thank you for sharing

And now the Universal Carrier doesn't look so bad.

Well, this was a "cute" little nightmare machine I had never heard of... What were they thinking leaving the engine like that? A ventilated set of thin sheet metal covers to keep injuries to minimum shouldn't be that hard to install. Be fun to see what he finds next.

You missed an interesting feature of the UE. Beginning at 2:02 you can see a semicircular toothed wheel on the side of the engine, that my friend is your auxiliary starter in case the electric starter malfunctions. So imagine you're taking fire, your engine has stalled and your electric starter malfunctions, hopefully you have the upper body strength and adrenaline to hand crank a four-cylinder engine

In many ways the French Army was more mechanized than the german, this armored and tracked logistics vehicle being a good example. It was intended for general use to bring ammo to the front line

Makes my knees cramp by proxy.

"Testicular fortitude"... loved it! I love the cuteness of this Chenillette. I had a model of on when I was 12, and though I managed to assemble it, I never finished painting it!

Recently tried to fit a 1/35th torso and head in Tamiya's kit of the thing and it took a lot scalpel work for that one to fit. I'm glad for Chieftain's sake that he is at least more flexible.

All I could think of was the Dark Helmet character in Spaceballs.

It's honestly a cute machine

Another classic case of the person that designed something probably never having used it. If the engineer in charge had been told once built "now drive it from Paris to Leon" would have I think made some changes on arrival.

I would guess that there were asbestos curtains covering most of the more dangerous parts but long removed before the museum got it.

I've been waiting for this for 10 years! The exhaust probably had some asbestos wrapping originally, making it "safer"

That is exactly the Level of in depth armour Research I am here for ! 🙂

Operator Lottie?? Does that mean, you're at the Australian armour and artillery museum! I just discovered their KZfaq channel a month or two ago. Had no idea we had even half of those vehicles here in Australia!! It's unreal. Their restoration series' are great too.

Remember the time the Chieftan got stuck in the tank :-) Great video

...I like how you get into this basically like you would an open-wheel racecar cockpit. well, on the driver's side anyway. On the other side it has one as well but with added danger. Y'know, just in case being crammed into a tight space isn't uncomfortable enough, here's an exhaust and some accessory drives to get your attention.

whew watching you cram into these tiny tanks is one of the few times i start feeling claustrophobic.

I saw one of these in the paris war museum, and I had a moment where I thought it was a small scale replica before I read the placard

A new species . . . first came the turret monster . . . French Island Dwarfism has produced the Chenillette monster! Charles Darwin wants to know your location.

I recommend the Chieftain also discuss tankers' helmets from World War II to the present. Looking forward to that video.

UE might be too small which was its downfall, but I always liked its trailers. That's basically half the advice I'd give to any country that bought Carden Loyd tankette - design a series of good cargo trailers for it. Second half of advice would be to upsize it as much as you can(especially in terms of width) before starting license/copy production proper and make it have open cargo space in the back. Yes, second part is basically "copy Universal Carrier". For many countries and instances that would be ideal AFV for WWII era and onwards;) Heck, even nowadays you can't go wrong with having capacity to produce those yourself. Unless you can produce Hilux instead... Edit: for some reason YT has this weird bracket around the comment and keyboard and makes it nigh impossible to edit. Also double post that Idk if it's on my side or it just posted twice. First time seeing these bugs.

I'm not to sure how id feel about getting a tank that has the equivalent of a jousting helmet protecting my head.

Nick is awesome.

"We'll pencil you in as a bomber pilot trainee until the full size flying tanks are ready." "Next !"

Watching the Chieftain climb into the Renault made me appreciate for the first time the obvious flaw of any type of future exo-suit armor. Your body is contained in seperate parts of a machine, that's got to feel like being trapped in a metal coffin. Makes me appreciate the more open cockpits of the Battletech mechs.

One of the local garages in Starbuck, Manitoba had a tow truck that was a CMP truck. As far as I know, the owners didn't use it much. And now I think I know why. Their tow truck is now at the Manitoba Threshermen's' Museum in Austin, just over an hour west of Winnipeg.

Chieftain does a pretty good impression of Dark Helmet when he lowers the “hatch”

Great video!

The Renault Chenillette (pronounce cheni-yet, traduction little or baby caterpillar) was a 2 persons light armoured recco vehicle usually equipped with a FM Châtellerault 24/29, machine gun model 1924 modified 1929 by Châtellerault Weapons Manufacture aka MAC, 7,5mm, 30 rounds magazines.

No 'Oh bugger, the chenilette is on fire'? Probably for the best, although I think that looks a little easier to escape in a hurry than some of the other vehicles Chieftain has done - Comet anyone?

This series really ticles my funny bone :-D Keep 'em coming!

Ian, Over at forgotten weapons will be pleased.😃 Oh and customs have been warned about a very tall gentle man trying to smuggle it out "It's for a friend who likes many things french".😂😂

Dude, you're awesome. I'm only 6'2" and I'd have trouble..

I love your stuff but i cant tell you how long ive waited to see this lol

I have very distant blurry video of you attempting to get into this vehicle on the track at Ausarmourfest. Sorry to hear you burnt your leg going in that sounds painful! Was waiting for a video like this to crop up aha

Well done, Sir!

I see the guy behind French iron sights was involved in making the viewing slit in the lid. I wonder how many folds of that bit of paper before it is too thick to fit through?

Hooray!!!!! Now I can sleep well knowing that the Chieftain can fit inside the Chenillette!!! Now are there still Lorraine 37 tractors out there?

I could use one here to plow snow and use as a snowmobile! 🤗

Yes, finally, I see the Chieftain and the Chenilette Renault UE, something I've been asking to see for ages. And I love the fact he had exactly the same experience and worries I had when sitting in one, including the exposed belt and exhaust. And let me tell you if you do decide to drop the cupola all the way, it's very difficult to raise it back up again, because it's fairly heavy, awkward and you can't fit both hands in front of your face to push it, as your elbows will strike the front armor plate... I would absolutely not want to be in one anywhere near a front line.

Nice video, very interesting

He's pulling the "helmet" down and my first thought was Rick Moranis in Space Balls

great video

Well done sir. That passenger seat need the song "let's get ready to die" with Warhammer 40,000 orks playing in the background. Joking.

The Chieftain does cat roleplay: "If I fits I sits"

I would say the Chieftain KINDA FITS. As far as I'm concerned, he would have to fit in either side to count as 'fits' in. That said I agree with, declining for safety reasons, his decision to not ride in the passenger side.

I'd love to drive that anywhere... except into a battle.

I cannot explain adequately how much I love the fact that mr. Moran has decided to lean into this meme hard instead of trying to ignore it. Brings a smile to my face to know that a tall, sarcastic Irishman is out there roaming the earth on a quest to fold himself into ever smaller armoured vehicles for science, and our enjoyment.

Seems like on these small interwar tankettes & things they put more effort in to figuring out how to squeeze a guy properly in to them than on some of the wartime full sized tanks. Aside from that passenger compartment being a little dangerous the average sized person of the time shouldn't have had too much trouble.

This is such a cool vehicle 😍😃

0:08 Hi, Frenchman here ! Quick tip on the pronunciation of "chenillette" : Chieftain actually pronounced it almost perfectly, with the exception of the "ill" part. In French, "ill" is *usually* pronounced like a "y" would be in a word in English (don't ask me why). I say usually because there is notable exception like "ville" (city/town) which is basically pronounced like a the English word "ill" with a "V" in front of it.

Amazing what was regarded as proper armored vehicles in the interwar period and the accomodations provided for the crew

Its been so long since I've seen a track tensioning or an "Oh bugger the tanks on fire" I am going into withdrawl.

Hooray! Chieftan fits inside the Sontaran tank! 😊

Even at a much more "compact" 180cm/5'11'', the idea of climbing into this thing is still nearly as scary as the idea of going into actual combat in it.

An answer to a question I had ever since I saw Walst from Honnest Gamming ram every UE they meet in game.

haha Cheers Chief. I needed a laugh tonight.

Those "head bubbles" remind me about that one episode in Top Gear, where Clarkson attempted to design a compact car, and ended up basically with a wheelchair combined with a suit of armour. Every time he hit a pothole on the road, he smacked his head against the helmet. Correct me if I am wrong, but I could see how riding this through the terrain could end up in a serious concussion

Thank you.

The franch at the time where smaller and tankers were choosen on the small ones. Also they have a helmet and a leather jacket. So no risk of burn. The chenillette is only a truck like tank, not made to fight, made to bring supplies to the first line.

I saw the one that's at Bovington. Interesting vehicle.

Well.... It is not an fighting vehicle, it´s purpose was to bring fresh ammo to the front, nothing more nothing less. The driver didn´t had to leave his `armoured` protection to unload. Just pull the lever and the ammo was dump out of the back. It doesn´t even has an pistol port so no 1st LT would get the idea to use this vehicle to support some grand idea for glory and fame...😅

I think it's safe to assume that viewers would like you to try to get into more French tanks.

You need to be like Mythbusters. Does the Chieftain fit into... can be answered by Confirmed (Yes), Plausable (Caveats), and Busted (No). I would definitely say that "Does the Chieftain fir Into... a Renault UE?" would be answered by, "tres mise en garde." (with much caution)

This is one of my most favourite tanks

So he fits in the same way that I'm dating Scarlett Johansson - more theoretically than practically.

Guaranteed the crew never closed all that armour in use. Most tanks that saw action rolled around with every possible hatch open to prevent overheating.

Chieftain: you prove to us that you really love tanks so much

Yep figured you could, since I remember you fitting into the TKS

I recognise the flag in the background. Is this Cairns Tank museum?

Such a cool little vehicle.

It appears that Chieftain's knees are at approximately a 90deg angle, so the drivers of the chenillette were probably selected for the physical attribute of "Chieftain's inseam" * .707 (as a 1st approximation.)

"Hope I can get out of this afterwards...." Oh bugger the tank's on fire!

" Does Chieftain Fit Into..... a Renault UE?" .. Me: " does he have to be of one piece? "

You know, that looks like a perfect offroad toy imo, renault should do a second gen, it would be pretty popular.

I thought they wouldn't need to have an engine in such a small thing, just give to co-driver a set of pedals and a bicycle horn

Nomenclature: Maiden, Iron, Self-Propelled, Lightweight & Driver's Guillotine MkII Mod 0

this is SO claustrophobic!

I am 6' tall, here in Berry, I am a giant, many of the older houses have doors that are lower than my head. The average Berrichon would have no trouble in that 'tank'.

Health and Safety meant something else in those days!

Shirtless, covered in burns Le Chieftain climbs out of Renault UE's passenger seat...I can only imagine.

At the time crews also were issued leather jackets If I remember correctly. Must've been a dilemma in summer, roast or suffer the burns and arm-eating belts of the interior.

Imagine trying to get out of the passenger's side if the tank was on fire. Would be a bit more than your leg getting burned I'd imagine...

Do "The tank is on fire" drill without seriously hurting yourself 😂

I'm just picturing my head bouncing around inside that steel bubble.

At 6' 5" myself I am always amazed at how the Chieftain fits into anything. He's an inch or two taller than me and I don't seem to fit into many things. I guess for me I want to be at least somewhat comfortable and be able to function properly. LOL Can't wait to see what he classifies as "doesn't fit".

Welcome to Australia Chieftain, Soooo World of Tanks getting some Aussie bits and pieces soon?