<VV> Re: heavy motors/no Corvair, but air-cooled

[Mike Ioanes]

In 1975 thru 78 I was stationed at Ludendorff Kaserne, Kornwestheim, GE, 
between Stuttgart and Ludwigsburg.  My first task as a new PFC was to pull 
the pack out of our gasser M88.  We also had (some) gasser deuce-and-a-halfs 
and a Mack v-8 gas engined 10-ton tractor (to haul the M88 around).   Since 
I was in a DS Maintenance company, we might have had older equipment.  To 
make a long story short, we replaced the engine, fixed a wiring harness and 
sorted out the steering and shift linkage.  We then took it to the 
Boeblingen Maintenance plant for road testing and driver training.  We there 
got to replace the transmission.  Fortunately, there was an armor co or bn 
training there who had a pack sling.
When I went back in in 1982,the gasser M88's were converted to diesel 
M88A1's AFAIK
Unbolting the bolts on the PTO prop shaft was always a "before lunch" job.
I could tell "war stories" until you got tired of them.
What I learned about recovery was, book learning had little resemblance on 
real-world capabilities.
Mike Ioanes