Surely, this is the scooter with the highest firepower, ever.
Unless someone ever mounted a Davey Crockett on a scooter.
And, it was AIRBORNE! Five parachutes would carry the two-man gun crew, weapon, ammunition, and two scooters safely to earth, and the men would load the weapon on one scooter and the ammo on the other, then ride away. More impressively, the recoilless rifle could be fired effectively on the move by the best of the gun crews. Total cost? About $500 for the scooter and the recoilless rifle was war surplus. Were they successful military machines? Well, the French Army deployed about 800 armed scooters in wars conducted in both Algeria and Indochina."
Found at Dark Roasted Blend (see history and more photos there), via Hell in a Handbasket, via Defense Tech.
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Two things ACE would want added: Elevation and traverse adjustment and a .50 cal. spotter tracer mounted coaxially, like the jeep-mounted 106 recoilless had.
ACE had an Army Surplus Airborne Cushman as a kid. Bought it for $25 out of a front yard. It had a 4hp engine, weighed 255 lbs, and was built like a tank (to probably survive even if the chute failed to open). Didn't arm it. Just delivered newspapers from a metal basket mounted on the back. It had a cracked carburetor. It sometimes took longer to get it running than to deliver the papers, but it was my pride and joy.
Another photo (with parachute) of the Model 53 US Airborne Cushman from HobbyTech.com. Better still. The Army bought 4734 of these beginning in 1944. See Cushman timeline.
Illustrated Cushman history shows Airborne ad.
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