17 Dec

Short work day today, mainly because I’m back at Coventry tomorrow. However we did get the pannier collected and fitted into stations 4 – 6 in the bomb bay. It speaks volumes for the build of the Shackleton that with a little persuasion with WD40, the carrier points behaved as if they had last been used yesterday. The pannier engaged with a rather satisfactory ‘clunk’ then with the latches locked in the bomb bay floor it was solid as a rock…. so suitable for our purpose – which is to put the weather covers in.

Success always makes you that bit more eager – and with December being about deliveries – we decided to add the bomb carriers I mentioned a while back. These are the first of some presents that were arranged for WR963 at the night run. Again, they fitted perfectly with no extreme effort required. We’ll see if they still operate when our electrician is back after Christmas.

It’s nice to be getting to the point where we can concentrate on giving long redundant parts of the aircraft some life, rather than major parts. There are a couple of other systems that require attention that will be getting worked on before long. There’s no reason why we can’t wake up some of the navigation systems and the galley.

I was also pleasantly surprised to see a couple of boxes of familiar propeller parts, and six blades in the hangar today. I’m told the rest will follow shortly.

Regards,

Rich

I’ll have to have a poke around in our library/archive and see if I can find anything. There’s stuff in there from the last 12 or so aircraft, including a couple of bits of paperwork for WL795.

Hi Rich I just wanted to thank everyone for last nights engine running your lady did you proud. I thought you may like a few pics of the evening.

Ian,

Thanks for the compliments, and the photo’s. They’re smashinG!

10 Dec

A very cold Coventry greeted us… patches of ice everywhere which caused some concern, but all had a determination to see the day go well. In between de-icing WR963, we helped the GST erect barriers and get the other Night Run participants more or less where they needed to be. A big well done to all involved in organising the event, and carrying it out.

We had arranged to do a short run on WR963 around midday, as that would let us get the pre-oiling out of the way and rectify any small snags that might show. The outside air temperature was showing barely 4 degrees, so we had to pre oil for four minutes on each engine… several of our crew are now happy that they no longer require a diet before Christmas. :diablo:

Happily the midday run only showed a couple of lights that were out, and a problem with the external intercom. The radiator temperatures took forever to come up, as the pneumatics for their shutters are supplied from the compressor on No 2 engine.. :rolleyes:

We got the intercom sorted, and the bomb bay lights, then got ready for the run at the end of the night. Watching the other aircraft do their bit under moonlight was magical, the Meteor T7 in particular impressing me.

At 6.30pm, the lights were on us, and we started No 3 engine at precisely 6.40pm, right on schedule.Most of the run went without a hitch, apart from the last couple of minutes when No 1 engine cut out at low revs. We expected a bit too much from it at low temperatures, and it showed its discontent when we attempted to restart it, producing a good sized exhaust fire from the excess fuel. We kept it turning to blow the fire out, but decided it was best to shut down rather than provoke it further.

The photo’s and video I’ve seen of the whole event look to show it was a good one, and we enjoyed it. Even better was letting members of the public see a Shackleton lit up inside, and taking on board two veterans from 120 Sqn Coastal Command for the run ups.

Back to normal next week..

We’re going to try and get the pannier on, and get all the covers fitted to keep 963 dry and well over the Christmas/New Year break.

Regarding the armaments… we’re collecting bits from here, there, and everywhere. We’ve been talking to several organisations, and have found some bits, others are being more elusive. The intent is to fit the aircraft with nose cannon, and a mid-upper turret.

I’ve also been told that we have a scanner dustbin on the way, to help put 963 one step closer to her old MR2 state. We’re going to have to have a little think in the new year about how far we go – we set out to represent an MR2 with WR963, but with more and more parts coming to light we might be able to get her a lot closer than we originally thought.

Kind regards,

Rich