I have a barely legible serial number painted on a Green Satin radar unit here and wondered if anyone could suggest an aircraft that fits. The number appears to be ?R*6/8*75 (i.e. -R-75), with the third digit appearing to be a 6 or 8 with the upper half worn off). I was wondering if something along the lines of WR875 ever existed?
Regards, Robs.
By: Peter Mills - 23rd February 2009 at 12:40
Whilst Blue Silk was a development of Green satin there was no physical commonality, the T/R, Tracker units, aerial and indicators were all different.
One LRU could have been fitted to almost any aircraft, over the life of the airframe/equipment it would be most unusual for any unit to remain in the aircraft it was originally fitted to. Line Replaceable Units were not assigned to individual aircraft serials, they often acquired a label or sticker when removed temporarily from an aircraft undergoing major servicing etc.
By: pagen01 - 23rd February 2009 at 12:28
I was wondering wether it might not be the aircraft serial.
Also never say never when it comes to what kit is fitted to aircraft, there can be all sorts of exceptions for differing reasons
By: Airspeed Horsa - 23rd February 2009 at 12:24
Apologies for the delay,
Unless the number has no connection at all to an airframe then… A plaque states production serial number 599… any way of guessing age/aircraft type? Would Marconi still have records?
Were there any components common to both Blue Silk and Green Satin? As I understand it, only the indicator and recieving side would need to be changed?
Apologies for more questions!!
Regards,
Robs
By: Peter Mills - 21st February 2009 at 08:50
Aerial is quite correct, Green Satin was never fitted on Shacks, the only outside possibility is WR972 used for trials throughout its life. Blue Silk was the standard fit, it was a development of Green Satin and was designed to improve on Green Satins performance over water. All marks of Shack used Blue Silk.
By: Arabella-Cox - 20th February 2009 at 21:54
WR175 Vampire.
WR275 to 875 Venoms.
WR975 Shackleton MR3 (the most likely).
XR175 was a Northrop Shelduck.
XR275 was an Army drone.
No 375.
XR475 Whirlwind
No 575
XR675 Jet Provost.
No 775.
XR875 another Shelduck.
No 975.
Hope this helps,
Jim
By: Aerial - 20th February 2009 at 21:13
I think (and am open to correction) that Green Satin was the “high speed” version of Blue Silk and it was the Blue Silk equipment that was installed in Shackletons, certainly Mk2 phase 3s and Mk3 phase 3s. I’m pretty sure that Green Satin was used in Canberras among other fleets.
A couple of links: http://www.john-dillon.co.uk/V-Force/green_satin.html
This next one seems to contradict what I had left open for correction! http://www.skomer.u-net.com/projects/radar.htm
Here, also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNaoZlqg04A Look at the more info at the top right hand corner.
Despite the contradictions to my recollections, I still think that my facts are correct. In the last link, the author says about his Green Satin equipment “This version could track speeds up to 750 knots …” and you wouldn’t need that capability on the Shack.
For my contribution on possible airframe serial, try XR?75.
Aerial
By: pagen01 - 20th February 2009 at 20:53
Sounds like MR.3 WR975, scrapped at St Athan in the early ’70s. I think it’s is the only Shack serial that fits.
Edit, I can’t find a WR875 or WR675 at all.
By: Arabella-Cox - 20th February 2009 at 19:25
WR875 was allocated to a Venom NF2 which was never built.WR*** Shackletons are WR951-990
Jim
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February 20, 2009 at 7:06 pm