Bet you thought we’d forgotten about this thread eh? Not so.
The weather over the past few weeks put a severe handicap on activities, what with places on site at Coventry being several inches deep in water. However, it did start to clear last weekend, and this one has been great.
Last week saw a visit by a couple of the Elvington team (blue_2, and Ali), and they quickly donned overalls and got stuck in helping with a check of the spark plugs on No 3 engine. Several of them were found to have gaps that were in error, or not there at all, all of which contributes to poor running. I have to put my hand up here… there were several of us doing the task and I should have made sure the guys were sure of the gaps before they were put in.
Today (13th May) would be the test of the work… WR963 was due to run for the benefit of the MGC Register, who were holding an event at Airbase, Coventry. One visitor who came aboard was identified as Sqn Ldr Mike Rankin – a former Coastal Command Shackleton pilot. We couldn’t pass on the opportunity so asked him to join in, and during the run he was asked to get back into the pilots seat.
The engines all performed well. No overheating issues, and no misfires, and coolant temperatures staying at a nice cool 90 – 100 on the gauges. Maybe the regular running is starting to pay off. So much regular is the running that we’ve just had to request more fuel…. since this time last year, WR963 has used around 450 gallons.
In other news –
Purchase of the Boulton Paul front turret has been approved, now we just have to get it transported! WR963 will be getting rid of her false front armament and getting some proper equipment in there instead.
Parts search is ongoing for the various scanner parts, as we need the middle section and jacks.
The mainwheel build is progressing nicely, with blue_2’s help the first one was assembled, and is awaiting inflation and brake packs.
The archive –
We’re still intent on having a lot of this digitised, but as we will be moving it from its current room before long, we hope to catalogue it during the move. Working through more Shackleton stuff today turned up some old training boards.
More of the same next week, as the IPMS are coming to Airbase on 19 May and have requested a Shackleton ground run.
Kind regards,
Rich
Bet you thought we’d forgotten about this thread eh? Not so.
The weather over the past few weeks put a severe handicap on activities, what with places on site at Coventry being several inches deep in water. However, it did start to clear last weekend, and this one has been great.
Last week saw a visit by a couple of the Elvington team (blue_2, and Ali), and they quickly donned overalls and got stuck in helping with a check of the spark plugs on No 3 engine. Several of them were found to have gaps that were in error, or not there at all, all of which contributes to poor running. I have to put my hand up here… there were several of us doing the task and I should have made sure the guys were sure of the gaps before they were put in.
Today (13th May) would be the test of the work… WR963 was due to run for the benefit of the MGC Register, who were holding an event at Airbase, Coventry. One visitor who came aboard was identified as Sqn Ldr Mike Rankin – a former Coastal Command Shackleton pilot. We couldn’t pass on the opportunity so asked him to join in, and during the run he was asked to get back into the pilots seat.
The engines all performed well. No overheating issues, and no misfires, and coolant temperatures staying at a nice cool 90 – 100 on the gauges. Maybe the regular running is starting to pay off. So much regular is the running that we’ve just had to request more fuel…. since this time last year, WR963 has used around 450 gallons.
In other news –
Purchase of the Boulton Paul front turret has been approved, now we just have to get it transported! WR963 will be getting rid of her false front armament and getting some proper equipment in there instead.
Parts search is ongoing for the various scanner parts, as we need the middle section and jacks.
The mainwheel build is progressing nicely, with blue_2’s help the first one was assembled, and is awaiting inflation and brake packs.
The archive –
We’re still intent on having a lot of this digitised, but as we will be moving it from its current room before long, we hope to catalogue it during the move. Working through more Shackleton stuff today turned up some old training boards.
More of the same next week, as the IPMS are coming to Airbase on 19 May and have requested a Shackleton ground run.
Kind regards,
Rich
Sign In
