Cheers for the compliments guys, its very much appreciated.

I have to say it wouldn’t have been possible to get VP293 this far without several kind donations made; some from members on here.

I’m really pleased VP293 is getting back to health, and that we can get the nose around to shows. There’s several people on our team (me included) got interested in Shackletons partly through Norman Thelwell and Tony Raybole taking the nose around airshows, so its been a pleasant task to work on this aircraft. There’s still more to do, but that will come in time.

We were hoping to have it presentable in pilots/copilots area ready for Wellesbourne Wings and Wheels, then a supreme effort by the guys over the bank holiday made it available for Dawlish.

Regarding the panels we need making; Engineers panel, and a couple of other small ones in the same area. We have the drawings, so its just a matter of finding somewhere to have them made. I know a few people on here do panel projects, so was wondering if anyone had any recommendations.

Regards,

Rich

ps. Just had a phonecall saying VP293 has just arrived safely in Dawlish. The crew are now looking for well deserved refreshments.

Awesome!

They do look to be the same (apart from the mudguards), though we all know appearances can be deceptive. I’m going through the Dowty Equipment part numbers for the Shackleton in the hope I can confirm it for sure.

Once the old one is off, its going for repair. We’re also investigating the possibility of having a sleeve fitted over the lower portion where the crack starts in order to beef it up a bit.

We’ve been checking through various manuals today, and it looks as though the hardest part will be swapping everything over to the new casting.

Regards

Rich

2 June

Poor weather meant a lot of today was spent in the hangar. We’re despearately trying to prepare the nose section of MR1/T4 VP293 for its first show in a while which is (hopefully) Dawlish this coming weekend. Shortly after that it will be heading to Wellesbourne – both times as part of the Classic Aircraft Trust’s publicity/recruiting drive. A lot of work has gone into this, with replacement yokes, seats, and work done to the trailer. We still have the engineer’s position to do but that will come with time.

Over on WR963 – she has been pulled forward away from her usual position alonside the Nimrod against the fence, and took up a position near the access road from Shackleton House down to the Airbase hangar.

The reasoning for this is due to the slipstream she generates during running, and the effect it may have on parked aircraft. Normally, not a problem as there’s rarely anything parked behind us, the Atlantic Flight Training chaps tend to park a little further up. However, this Saturday (9th June) there will be a lot of aircraft around due to Project Propeller 2012 being held at Airbase, Coventry.

We did a brief test run and found at low power she still has a nice growl, yet won’t blow light aircraft all around the field. I was rather happy, as the engines are starting to respond to the increased amount of servicing, and whispers of venturing over to the engine test pan for some higher power runs have been heard… there’s a few more bits to do on the Griffons before that yet though, such as those worn cams on No 3. Remember them?

All that will have to wait a little while though, as one more rather important problem made itself known. On putting the towbar back in position after shutting down, a dark line was noticed running up the back of the tailwheel leg casting.

Its cracked. :((

The moving about done by the tug must have spread it.

We have a spare unused casting, so in around 14 days time we will be reaching for the jacks and getting it replaced. This means we’ll be closing WR963’s door to the public for the first time in a few years while it gets changed.

Regards,

Rich

May 26

Today was a day was one of those days where no matter what, you were going to get dirty. We have started working our way through the many oil filters on the Shackleton. First up has been the constant speed unit (CSU) filters, as we have noticed that the No 4 propeller has been a little slow to respond to being asked to come back into fine pitch.

This is the mess we found in there –

So we put a couple of our team on each engine and got cracking. Thankfully the weather was pleasant, though the scope of the work means there’s still lots to do, and plenty of mess.

The other CSU filters weren’t much better, but they’re all clean now. We then moved on to the scavenge filters, including the large mesh filter high up at the back of the engine. Its sits just behind the panel under the exhaust.

Ron Thompson is seen here cleaning around, as we don’t want too much oil residue escaping onto the ground, or inside the cowlings.It just makes life difficult for whoever’s in there next, and for spotting any leaks or problems.

Here’s the mesh filters during cleaning. Its about the size of a pint pot.

More of the same next week, hopefully it will ensure WR963 will be feeling fit and well for the 9th June when Project Propeller 2012 is hosted at Coventry.

Regards,

Rich