Thanks for the detail. And, wow. $3,500 to drive a little while and fire one round. I would not have guessed it to be that high, but when you break it all down and include maintenance, it makes sense.gregthehand wrote: ↑Thu Sep 28, 2023 9:22 am As cool as that place is, I was worried it wouldn't ever make it. The cost to operate those machines and actually fire a round is just too high to really generate a steady flow of customers. Add in travel for people that don't live in the area, and it gets even more expensive. I'm sure a tank round (not sure if their tanks have the 75mm or 76mm gun) is really dang expensive. Then add in the $200 tax stamp for each round. Then add in the fuel to drive the tank around. Then add in the crew and other costs to operate such an endeavor. I bet the tank is $1000 an hour to operate without firing a single shot. Actually.... I went ahead and looked it up and then circled back.... It's $3500 to drive and shoot one round from the tank. https://www.drivetanks.com/tanks-tracks/.
Also, last I saw, they don't let you fire the tank from inside the turret due to insurance reasons. They run a lanyard through the pistol port and you stand about 20' away from the tank and yank the lanyard. You get to see the muzzle blast and impact, but you're not in the tank. Having fired and been in tanks (Abrams) when they fire, not being inside the tank just robs a lot from the experience. I've also fired smaller howitzers (M116) and it's fun. But, they want a lot to do it.
And, yeah. Even if the only plan was to try to break-even with as a hobbyist pastime, ya gotta wonder what the business model looked like.