James : …”but don’t forget Hastings and Brit did end up in light aircraft grey undersides which replaced the silver.”
Oh did they…I can’t actually remember that. That must show how I drifted away from aircraft once I started working! I better pick up some more gen before spouting off in future.
I can become very boring when it comes to Canberra pics (from Singapore of course) but they were only RAF B2’s, PR7’s and Auzzie and Kiwi ones.
The kiwis had B(1)12’s which looked great with that ‘interdictor’ fighter style cockpit.
These are the Canberras that finally went to India.
Yes we should do a Canberra thread. I find it strange that UK bomber varieties, like other Bomber Command planes, had such big serials on their fuselages however the trainer versions usually didn’t. We then went all ‘atomic white’ on the V-Bombers with ‘faded’ serials. Made noting ‘the nos’ very difficult when they did that.
D
WL745: What an appropriate Avatar you have…I guess WL745 was an AEW2 when you flew in her?
Here’s WL745, newly arrived, down at the Maintenance Flight with a Hastings for company.
Very soon though she gets her 205 Sqn markings.
Here is an interesting shot, alas a rather poor pic. I couldn’t do decent flying shots with my little 35mm camera.
It shows the second Mk2c that arrived WL786 (obviously became ‘B’) and she has both engines out on the port side.
Now flying a Shackleton with 2 or more out was discussed in a thread on PPRune awhile ago and (if I may quote from another forum!)
‘Shack’ said:
As a QFI at Kinloss one used to demonstrate 2 engine circuits, always with Nos 1 and 2 feathered and as I remember the decision height was 600′.
The discussion had been talking about a Farnborough show where a Shack arrived with only one engine turning! Apparently though the trick was to be in a shallow dive at the time of arrival to keep your speed up.
Alas this same WL786, as I said earlier was lost in Nov 1967. It left Gan early morning with 10 man crew and 1 passenger. 5 hours later smoke issued from the starboard outer but it wouldn’t feather. The plane lost height and the fire intensified until eventually the engine dropped off and the plane ditched around midday. 3 survived and climbed into a dingy despite a couple of them being injured. Spotted by an Argosy, Lindholme gear was dropped by another Changi based Shackleton but they failed to reach it and the three were eventually rescued by a Navy ship.
David Taylor.
Twin Otter: I’ve emailed with Mo Botwood, but haven’t twigged that I’d get a magazine if I joined. Must do.
I can’t resist giving you some more Shacks, but will try not to duplicate those on a thread over on PPRune awhile ago.
We’ve had a Mk2c on the approach, so here’s a 1A doing the same.
If you went near Oz, which 205 Sqn did…you got painted. This is a 1A which also seems to have ‘scored’ some subs!
Mind you, you get them on your ‘derriere’ as well. WG553.
But then going near New Zealand was lethal as well.
Did the navigator control the front turret? We didn’t always see guns on the Mk2s, but this one has.
Finally, major overall time for an new Mk2c arrival.
A fantastic aircraft.
David.
Thanks John for the clarification. I never saw any with the ‘white spinnners’-until I saw a photo in ‘The History of Changi’ book, which was taken late 60’s. Obviously 224 had them like that though.
Twin Otter: Alas nothing on WR977. In fact no vositing Mk3’s whilst I was in Singapore. I had seen Mk3’s in the UK (Mildenhall Air Show 60 or 61) so it was a surpise to find 205 still working with rather clapped out Mk 1A’s.
The 2C’s that arrived had all the phase 2 mods though.
Anybody any nice pics of WL745 as an AEW2?
Another one I photographed, that went to be an AEW2, was the 210 Sqn aircraft WR960 which survives at the Manchester Museum. I’ll go along and say ‘hello’ again one day.
This one WL786, shown after it had recently arrived, unfortunately ditched in the Indian Ocean November 1967 coming back to Changi from Gan.
That’s the 205 Sqn dispersal in the distance with the Shacks on the ‘south side’. That was finally where the 215Sqn Argosy’s went. I can just see a Bristol Freighter of 40 Sqn RNZAF coming out.
DT
Oh another thing…
All the Shacklton’s at Changi in the early 60’s had ‘red spinners’ on their engines. Yours has white, which is certainly how they ended up in the later 60’s.
D
Can any of you knowlegeable guys tell me anything about this Prince then:
Shell’s Prince VR-UDC at Singapore’s Paya Lebar in 1962.
Here she’s enjoying a pleasant afternoon in the sun, with a dog taking an interest in the background I notice.
Wikipedia says ‘Brunei Shell Petroleum’ were an operator, so I guess she’s one of those but I can find nothing about VR-UDC’s history.
By the way dogs were pretty rare, certainly at Paya Leba and ‘Prince’s’ even more so.
DT
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