Once again thanks Pete Smythe, been contemplating which one to do my class 1 in , drawbar or artic ?
So last week I went for an assessment in both, I had me Smythe himself,
I see myself on artics/tankers
(at some point) that’s the dream for me however sad it may sound to some,
We went out in the artic first, Pete took the (big red one), generally feels bigger due to the sleeper model and flush with the side of the trailer unit,
So out the yard and Pete pulled over a few miles out, we swopped over and on pull off I managed to stall the auto !! Great start !! Ha ha,
But after I had managed to actually get going and a change of underpants with other artics and buses flying past it wasn’t too bad, kinda what I expected, much more responsive than I thought, but on the whole ok, not bad, we survived !! … 
Had a bit of reversing on entry back in the yard, Pete talked me through it, but strange on direction left means right and right means left lol, but ok,
Generally artic felt good just like anything after practice and experience will become normal and more comfortable etc,
Coupling and uncoupling seems fairly straight forward but obviously will require practice many times,
Drawbar now, didn’t stall this time he he, straight away felt more at home in this, for a couple of reasons, the turn in is very accommodating, and very nice it just goes where you go basically obviously with a bit more angle added on certain corners but not too much, and I trained in a very similar truck for my class C so it generally felt more comfortable and I was more confident with it,
Reversing was ok too, Pete just said pop it 3 ft from the parked one and kinda watched me go back and it was ok, felt good,
The coupling/uncoupling a bit more tricky just with the lining up etc but still shouldn’t be an issue with practice,
So the verdict …
It has to be the drawbar for me, my heart says artic but my head says artic,
I don’t see why I should make it more difficult for myself for the same licence and also the artic conversion course is something I will do if I pass,
And also both assessments were free as I booked the class 1 , I think they are around £30 each otherwise, but well worth it for your peace of mind on choice of vehicle, for me it’s drawbar but I’m sure others will go for artic, just whatever you think yourself really, 
So my class 1 is all booked for June, thanks again Pete it was good to get your years of advice and pointers, and you didn’t kill me so that’s a positive start !!
Cheers.
