01. 04. 12

Hi all,

Work continues on finishing the snags we have on number four engine and the front inlet plugs. The tyres are being mounted on the new hubs, so we should be good for the mainwheel change that’s now rapidly approaching. Most parts and equipment are in place, about the only thing missing is a decent supply of choccy eggs to keep the workforce happy given the time of year! 😀

As you know we’ve been looking after the nose of T4 VP293 and turning up the drawings to fabricate parts have resulted in some interesting stuff being found, and exciting new ideas. In light of this negotiations have been ongoing to see the extreme forward section of VP293 grafted onto WR963, to create (in visual aspect only) an approximation of an MR1. The tailwheel area has already been assessed and a Hastings unit has been acquired which should suffice.

We are aware that this may be controversial, but we feel that given the heavy discussions over this topic covered not so long since on this forum, that it is a vital missing piece of the Shackleton story. That and it gives certain types of people more to focus on than just the anti-glare panel being the wrong colour….

In other news, word has reached us from our prop builder, and the No 2 engine’s rear prop should be back with us toward the end of the month – something we’re all looking forward to.

Regards,

Rich

Hi Hooter,

Which ones did your father fly on? There’s still a few other Shackletons left in the UK, one of them might be one of ‘his’.

Regards,

Rich

10 Mar

Well, the hangar time is drawing ever closer so the work to get a mainwheel pair has been stepped up. We’ve spoken to people about the loan of suitably rated jacks, and our tame ex-Fleet Air Arm engineer is happy to supervise the jacking.

The main effort of the day was to get some mainwheels to the front of the store. The original plan was to pick the two best looking units – but it was quickly evident that even the best pair would need stripping after 20 years in storage. They were also too heavy at over 800lbs each to move by hand around the delicate obstacle course that is the store.

A new plan was arrived at. We’ll build up two units from new old stock components.

Two new Dunlop mainwheel tyres were picked off the banded pile, the newest ones we have. Two brand new Dunlop inner tubes. Two brand new axles were located, still in the boxes. The crate of brake units has been raided and the best of the components selected.

That left us looking for the all important hubs. Walking around the store, we noticed a pallet on which sat a large hub sized, bundle wrapped in polythene marked “Shack”. We carefully unwrapped it and our suspicions were confirmed, we had found 1 x brand new Shackleton wheel hub, without a hint of corrosion on it. Our search intensified. A packing box was located with the all important numbers on the side.. another new hub!

Back on WR963, progress is still being made on fitting the new spark plugs. The inlet plugs are always more difficult being underneath the inlet manifolds, and this has slowed us down somewhat. We’ve also got a couple of niggles to fix on No 4 engine – the crankcase pressure warning switch failed on the last run, and a nasty bit of corrosion has been spotted on the base of the coolant tank which needs immediate attention.

We’ve also had the delivery of two new wingtip navigation lights, so we can repair the broken starboard lamp. This means persuading yet another stubborn access panel open, but it will be one more item off the list, and one more of the 600 odd access panels unseized and fitted with new screws.

More of the same next week…

Kind regards,

Rich

63 years ago today, the first test flight of the prototype Avro Shackleton took place at the hands of Avro’s Chief Test Pilot J.H. “Jimmy” Orrell.

🙂