Shackleton Mk 3
 

Spent the day at Newark air museum many thanks to Brian who gave me a guided tour

Crikey, I can smell it still.

The very origin of my first "honkers stew", possibly not a Mk3, but it had a spark plug on top.

Smudge :ok:

Never worked on the Mk3 but still obviously a Shack, thanks for the clip.
(back on 204 we would always align the props though:))
Regards, Den.

Replacement LRMPA'? New Crew Boxes, give the seats a touch of leather restorer' and light the Vipers!

Some bugger's nicked the bomb aimer's mattress:{

Lovely … real kit, not some anodyne digital stuff. Danny42C would relate to that, even though not Kipper fleet.

You learn to make it 'sing' for you, not just leave it to a computer. Serious job satisfaction.

I thought that I'd better show the mission area of a proper Shackleton!

http://www.8squadron.co.uk/history_i...console_lg.jpg

May one admit to a damp patch? Seriously old kit, needing TLC and skill. :ok:

Had a trip in a Shack once, courtesy of Eric Peck. 8 hours into the sortie, wandering about with my book, I came across the steery bit (bridge?) and noticed a stream of water coming in through the window. The driver, or could have been the cook or cleaner, said - 'I know what you're thinking - no, it's not pressurised.'

..went back to the book, in the front bay window.

wets

Looks ready to start and taxi! Any plans to get the Griffons turning and burning?

Water usually flooded into the aircraft on the take-off run after it had been sat on the ground for a while at a wet Lossie. Sadly, the usual ingress in the mission crew area was directly over a cabinet called the "High-Voltage Power Pack" (top right hand side in the picture above) and had a suitable danger warning painted on it. Also sadly, in the event of radar problems (which could be frequent), one of the check list items was to check the fuse inside the said box: the fuse usually had to be prised out of its holder with a screwdriver, which wasn't much fun when water had been dripping over it for a considerable period. At least we didn't have health & Safety breathing down our necks in those days!

Wearing immersion suit usually kept most of the water out though!

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.n...88275588_n.jpg

That 'mission area' is of course of an AEW version, not a proper Shackleton at all. But you're right about the streams of water pouring in (whether on T/O or the cruise). Naturally when the modifications were done down at Bitteswell to put the AN/APS-20 and associated Gannnet rejects into the aircraft, only the RN specialists had any input, so nothing was done on/to the aircraft to improve 'crew comfort', including replacing the cockpit sealing and a number of other modifications that could have been done virtually for nothing as everything was being taken out and replaced.

You will find that the Mk 2 spent more time in service as an AEW rather than as the MR variant (17 years maritime: 20 years as AEW). Seems to me that AEW is therefore the most important role for the airframe (as also evidenced by SDSR but that's a different thread).

All of Avro's aircraft leaked badly. On 205 Sqn in Singapore, where crossing the ITCZ meant flying through very heavy rain, considerable amounts of water would enter the aircraft, and a local mod involved drilling holes in the floor to avoid excesive build up.
On ships, water shifting around inside the hull causes instability, usually laterally.(think Herald of Free Enterprise) Also google free surface effect.
On aircraft, the fuselage being long and relatively narrow, the worst effects are in the fore and aft. Those big bits you had to climb over in the Shackleton fuselage, and which they refer to as the main and rear spars, are actually nothing more than baffles to stop the water from rushing back and forth and making the aircraft uncontrollable in pitch.
It is not generally known that Avro built a prototype flying boat to compete for the Specification R.2/33 (which gave rise to the Sunderland). It was built in great secrecy at Woodford, taken in bits to a secret hangar next to the Manchester Ship Canal, and assembled.
Came launch day. It slid down the slipway into the water, and just went on going down, leaving nothing but a few bubbles. The whole thing was hushed up,and Avro never built another flying boat.

Thank you for reminding me of that mod oxenos - of course you also forgot to mention that it drained into the bomb bay! After ITCZ transits we had to ensure the groundcrew (and occasional senior officer) stood well clear when we opened the bomb doors after landing. The flood we released was known to wash small aircraft away.

Re length of service - I think the 60+ MR2s started Sqn life in 1952, and at least 2 were still flying on 8 when I left in 1976, whereas the 12 AEW2 only started arriving in April 1972 (our first AEW flight was 20 Apr) and the last 6 fiinished in '91.

I don't know when you were on 205, Shackman. In my time the bomb door seals were never that good. As for drowning senior officers - I wish.

Back on thread (I think).

I met an ex-Shack Mk3 AEOp, then a Vulcan AEO, who was one of the crews at a Farnborough air show that demonstrated the capability of the aircraft to fly for 24 hours.

On the first day a Mk 3 departed. On the second day another departed and the first returned having been airborne for 24 hours.

It had simply flown up and down the Channel at endurance speed. As he wryly observed, they could have flown to St Mawgan, had a few beers, been instructed not to shave, and flown back the next day, but they did fly for 24 hours.

This was in the mid-50s I believe.

PN, Do you know if they had the capability to top up from a tanker?
I have never seen one with a probe.

I had to have a second take of the picture (video) in #1. I thought that looked a rather modern flat panel display. I think it is a dehumidifier!! Duh..