RR Griffon 65

[Richard Woods]

Peter,

I would hazard a guess that I am one of the few people in the UK that can say that this weekend I was fitting propellers onto a Shackleton. I wish you still had some of the prop parts as its been a devil of a task to track some parts down.

Anyway, I have the prop manual for the Shackleton at the side of me as I write this, and this is what it has to say..

AP 102P-001-1 Propeller Hawker Siddeley Dynamics Types DF178/334/1/2 and DB229/336/1 for Shackleton Aircraft

Chap 3 Para 2

The blade assemblies differonly in the swept diameter, which is 12 ft 4 1/2 in for the rear propeller and 13ft for the front propeller, the difference is partly due to difference in blade lengths and partly to a different relation of the blades to the propeller axis

Here's a shot of WR963 taken a few weeks ago, showing the difference.



Just to be sure we didn't get them on the wrong way, here's as she arrived at Coventry back in 1991. A new prop had been fitted on No 3 engine just before she left RAF Waddington.



I also thought we had the very last engines, as "penultimate", and "the last" are still in our store just outside Coventry, and they are marked as such on the engine dishpan fronts.





There were about 40 Griffons overhauled just before the sale of the Shackletons, along with a number of other spares. We got quite a bit, but another large portion went with the other Shackletons. It still amazes me where this stuff turns up.

Kind Regards,

Rich W