donthaveone's pic of WL 796 with 1, 2 and 4 shut down looked familiar and made me scramble for a publication resting beside my desk. Found it. This limited edition book, compiled by a gentleman named Harry Holmes and was presented to those of us lucky enough to attend Woodford for the 40th aniversary of the Shacklebomber in March 1989.
On page 20, there is a pic of WL 796, complete with Saro Mk 3 airborne lifeboat, flying along the the Farnborough display line with 1, 2 and 3 feathered...and no more than one wingspan (120 feet) above the ground. Test pilot Johnny Baker is credited as the driver.
In the mid 80's, we were honoured to have a student from the US Naval test Pilots School come and have a play.
How this works is thus: the student gets towards the end of his course. The final task is to carry out the complete flight test regime on a type of his choice. This chap decided to try something completely different. An AVRO Shackleton. The Boss agreed to the request, and the student, complete with supervising Instructor arrive and go through the whole nine yards. Starting with basic measurements of aircraft, turning circles, mechanicals, etc, etc. The student has to build the Flight Manual for this aircraft of his choice. Strictly speaking, he is not allowed to look at the published Flight Manual. Well, that would defeat the object of being a Test Pilot for a new type, wouldn't it?
Onwards to ground handling, brake performance tests, turns without scrubbing the inboard main, etc.
Then flying. Straightforward stuff to start with. Take off and climb ahead, gentle turns etc. Approaches and go-arounds.
Then landings. We all stood out to watch, as the ol'e Grey Lady was intolerant of ham-fisted and lapsidaisical misshandling.
Now, before you start shaking your heads, remember that an experienced Flight Engineer was manning his post, and the Squadron QFI was also on board.
This colonial upstart made everyone's jaw drop. I never saw one bouncer. Nor did I see any sideways scrubbing. All of this from a young, conventional (i.e. nosewheel) trained pilot who would be completely unfamiliar with operating a 42 ton, four-engined taildragger. Bear in mind, due to the radome housing the AN/APS 20 radar scanner, all landings had to be three-pointers. Of course, I didn't see all his landings. But, maybe, just maybe, these US Naval types are a bit good at what they do.
As the testing continued, certain, normally avoided parts of the flight envelope were approached. For instance, deliberatly shutting down and feathering both one one side, and then exploring yaw inputs.
The only real stopping input the QFI made was 'NO SPINNING'. The loss of the Mk 3 prototype during spinning trials lay the ground rule for this decision on all Shacks.
From the feedback I heard, the student graduated with top marks plus.
It is nice to know that a a 1950's airframe with a 1940's radar system that, 20 years after it was originally withdrawn from service, was employed into the 1990's in the primary defence of the Realm, and in the process helped to contribute to modern flight testing for the worlds largest naval air arm.
camlobe