It’s ironic, but post retiral, weren’t these the two most likely to fly in civilian hands, prior to WL790 going to the States? This just shows that the way they were auctioned to make as much money for the MOD, instead of being tendered to people who would look after them did not guarrantee the long term future of these aircraft. Both WL747 and WL757 were used as display aircraft in the latter years of 8 Sqn Shack ops. From what I have seen, Savvas Constantinides has done nothing to preserve these important aircraft.
There is only 3 other complete AEW 2 / MR2 Shacks left, and 5 Mk 3’s in the UK, as well as a handful of Mk 3’s in South Africa and the AEW 2 in the states. Surely something should have been done earlier, before their numbers dwindled and the condition of the remaining aircraft deteriorated.
Is the memory of Vulcan XL391 disappearing from people’s minds too fast, or are we just going to worry about things after they are gone, or was the Shackleton just not ‘sexy’ enough for a larger body of people to look after….?
At least the Paphos Shacks seem to have a reprieve, the time to do something is now…..
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