Richard Hammond's Crash Course

Richard Hammond crosses the USA to learn how to drive some of the biggest and most deadly machines on the planet. He travels to Fort Bliss in El Paso to learn how to be commander, gunner and driver of an Abrams M1A2 tank in a three-day crash course.

Richard heads out to try out the dangle head processor, the feller buncher and the log loader in a bid to become a lumberjack.

At the Denver Regional Landfill site, Richard Hammond operates a bulldozer, a compactor and a scraper in a mountain of stinky rubbish.

The Striker fire engine is the most powerful in the world. Based at Dallas Fort Worth Airport, Richard Hammond undergoes some gruelling training to be a fireman.

Richard Hammond masters the track hoe, demolition machine and wrecking ball - or does he? He soon learns that it is a far more delicate job than he first thought.

Richard Hammond gets to grips with the big cranes that are used in salvage yards in Louisiana. However, some of the machinery proves uncooperative.