Shackleton tri-cycle undercarriage
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Those familiar with the Mk.2 (which I am not) would remember the cocked
tailwheel problem, when such a condition post take off would result in the whole
undercarriage assembly failing to retract
Another way to stop the undercarriage operating was to throw chaff out of the flare shoot in the fuselage floor. Apparently. it would suck up into the rear wheel bay and foul the electrics. (We had to resort to throwing the chaff out of the beam windows).
...the Napier Nomad - allegedly so efficient that it couldn't be got to run....
Nomads did run, but were rather temperamental. Such a heavy, complex combined piston diesel and turbine design was soon superseded by the rather simpler turboprop.
It used to be said that no other engine ever achieved such an impressive specific fuel consumption as the Nomad. But I wonder what on earth it sounded like? Particularly all 4 running flat out, had the proposed Shackleton MR4 ever entered service.
Incidentally, 220 Sqn at RAF St. Eval received its first MR3 in 1957. The Sqn was renumbered as 201 Sqn and moved to RAF St. Mawgan in 1958. RAF St. Eval closed in March 1959. Shackleton MR3s were converted to Phase 1 in late 1959, to Phase 2 in 1963 and to Phase 3 in 1965.
Last edited by BEagle; 23rd Feb 2013 at 08:06.
Hi Beags,
All my shots of the ,unflown, Nomad trial installation on the Shack Mk.1 ( ex-Haraka snr who went to Napiers' for a while) were donated, along with a load of other material indirectly ( via the Medmenham Club) to Shuttleworths when I left U.K. . They might still be at Old Warden.
All my shots of the ,unflown, Nomad trial installation on the Shack Mk.1 ( ex-Haraka snr who went to Napiers' for a while) were donated, along with a load of other material indirectly ( via the Medmenham Club) to Shuttleworths when I left U.K. . They might still be at Old Warden.
Hi Haraka! Yes, the only photo I've been able to find of a Nomad installed in a Shack is this one from 1955:
I gather that 2 airworthy Nomads were fitted to a Shack at Luton in 1954, but never flew as the project was binned.
I gather that 2 airworthy Nomads were fitted to a Shack at Luton in 1954, but never flew as the project was binned.
Indeed Beags.
They were and it was IIRC.!
I did see it as a little lad at Luton ( along with Jean Batten's Gull, the P.74 helicopter, the Eland Convair Liner, etc.etc.)
They were and it was IIRC.!
I did see it as a little lad at Luton ( along with Jean Batten's Gull, the P.74 helicopter, the Eland Convair Liner, etc.etc.)
...the P.74 helicopter...
The original non-flying pig?
Last edited by BEagle; 23rd Feb 2013 at 15:38.
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Oddly enough was looking at a picture of the HP.72 ? of late, had a sad end Beags, eventually laid down to die. At Luton as well, so wonder if that was were seen as a young lad by Haraka.
From
Your Favourite Control column stick/yoke/grip! - Page 7 - Key Publishing Ltd Aviation Forums
The control stick from the HP.72 was certainly the rarest that I have owned.
The scrap dealer gas-axed it off for me while I waited and I strapped to the cross bar of my bicycle and headed for home.
That would be Luton c.1958.
It was of tubular construction and looked like a sickle, about 2"diameter tube with a 24" radius with a dedicated grip and a push button on the top. It was painted in a light colour. Ring any bells?
I donated it to Newark Air Museum in the early 1970's...and it has never been seen since.
Mark
The scrap dealer gas-axed it off for me while I waited and I strapped to the cross bar of my bicycle and headed for home.
That would be Luton c.1958.
It was of tubular construction and looked like a sickle, about 2"diameter tube with a 24" radius with a dedicated grip and a push button on the top. It was painted in a light colour. Ring any bells?
I donated it to Newark Air Museum in the early 1970's...and it has never been seen since.
Mark
From
Your Favourite Control column stick/yoke/grip! - Page 7 - Key Publishing Ltd Aviation Forums
Last edited by NutLoose; 23rd Feb 2013 at 16:11.
P74
I don't want to create thread drift , however Hunting's got Ron Gellatly ( later of Rotodyne fame) to try to fly the P.74. It scared him Sh*tless.
The cyclic thrashed around like a demented coffee grinder and he tried desperately to restrain it from causing him physical injury. As he needed both hands for this , he couldn't get a hand free for a long time to switch the thing off. As Beags has pointed out - it simply wouldn't fly.
When all hope was lost the P.74 was finally towed back into the shed ,with the design team following behind in a column, heads bowed as in a funeral procession.
Now the Rotodyne on the other hand........
The cyclic thrashed around like a demented coffee grinder and he tried desperately to restrain it from causing him physical injury. As he needed both hands for this , he couldn't get a hand free for a long time to switch the thing off. As Beags has pointed out - it simply wouldn't fly.
When all hope was lost the P.74 was finally towed back into the shed ,with the design team following behind in a column, heads bowed as in a funeral procession.
Now the Rotodyne on the other hand........
Last edited by Haraka; 23rd Feb 2013 at 17:01.
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Unfortunately a lot were saved and a lot came to the museum at East Midlands, those that were difficult to move are those that remain, such a sad sight.
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Not quite thread drift, I think but as this may have the attention of a fair number of Shackleton fitters/riggers, how easy or difficult would it be to connect the aileron circuit to function in the wrong sense? ie anti-clockwise spectacles giving right bank.
Cocked tailwheels
For Haraka, Wensleydale et al:
The cocked tailwheel on the Mk 2after take off was easy to discover (no u/c retraction), and fairly easy to remedy with the patented Avro Tailwheel Straightening Tool - clipped to the side of the fuselage just next to the Elsan. Unfortunately it could also happen after selecting u/c Down but before touchdown. Most times you wouldn't know anything about it, since the usual slight bounce on touchdown was enough to straighten it anyway; however, sometimes you could do a really immaculate landing:-
The Skid (note all the way down the centreline until the tower shouted I was on fire !!!!)
The end result -
A Friday afternoon at Coningsby, just after a taceval survival scramble by the F4 fleet. We closed the runway, and the only div was Leeming (a very long bus ride away). We were not popular!!!! Particularly since there was an extra special dining in night that night with lots of veterans etc in attendance.
The cocked tailwheel on the Mk 2after take off was easy to discover (no u/c retraction), and fairly easy to remedy with the patented Avro Tailwheel Straightening Tool - clipped to the side of the fuselage just next to the Elsan. Unfortunately it could also happen after selecting u/c Down but before touchdown. Most times you wouldn't know anything about it, since the usual slight bounce on touchdown was enough to straighten it anyway; however, sometimes you could do a really immaculate landing:-
The Skid (note all the way down the centreline until the tower shouted I was on fire !!!!)
The end result -
A Friday afternoon at Coningsby, just after a taceval survival scramble by the F4 fleet. We closed the runway, and the only div was Leeming (a very long bus ride away). We were not popular!!!! Particularly since there was an extra special dining in night that night with lots of veterans etc in attendance.
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
Cocked tail wheel for landing seemed to be more common IIRC. And Coningsby should have invited 8 to the dining in 
What year was that? I think is was '82 that I was at Coningsby for a Priory.
What year was that? I think is was '82 that I was at Coningsby for a Priory.
Hi PN
April '75, and we were declared persona non grata by the staish, so went to hide in the pub in the village - flew out wheels down and locked following day back to Lossie thanks to hard work by GC's who drove down overnight.
April '75, and we were declared persona non grata by the staish, so went to hide in the pub in the village - flew out wheels down and locked following day back to Lossie thanks to hard work by GC's who drove down overnight.
Shackleton/John Elias
The Long Marston aircraft is a good reminder of the fantastic job being done at Coventry with WR963. Here she is in the late 1970s/early 1980s.
Does anyone know if John Elias is still with us?
Does anyone know if John Elias is still with us?
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
Hi Mike, according to Search for People, Businesses and Places - 192.com he is on the electoral register for 2013.