Shackletons can still be difficult due to how fragile the tailwheel is.. it doesn't take much effort to break one, and they're not that solidly attached!
There are numerous photo's of MR2 aircraft sat on their tailfins without being towed, and looking through the paperwork both tailwheel oleo and the bearing blocks for the torque tube have an SI regarding stress cracking. Our WR963 split her tailwheel oleo leg from top to bottom last year, partly caused by getting stuck in a rabbit hole in the soft sand on the grass area at Coventry Airport.
As the tug moved the aircraft forward to go off the grass towards the ramp, the ground just caved in below the starboard mainwheel. Our tug is an old Fleet Air Arm deck tug, and as a result it isn't really equipped with tyres for the job, so we were very happy when Air Atlantique's old David Brown tractor took over and gently hauled her out of the hole.
The shear pin in the towbar didn't let go, but the tailwheel casting did.
