Avro Shackleton WR963

An update on a moment in history!

Since our last review of activities, a lot of work has been ongoing in the background by our incredible volunteers. Months of planning came to fruition on Saturday April 9th when we made a little bit of history when we carried paying passengers onboard WR963 for not one, but two taxy runs carried out by our Chief Pilot Jon Corley assisted by our highly experienced onboard crew.

Prior to this momentous day, preparations had included a big wash day to remove accumulated algae and residue which had settled over the winter period and changed the white surfaces into a slight camouflage appearance! Much work has also been carried out on the engine issues which had bothered the team recently, with magneto and fuel pump niggles to overcome particularly on No.2 engine. Luckily for us, not only do we have spares available, but our own knowledgeable ex-Shackleton Chief Engineer Druid Petrie able to pluck essential data from his memory as if it was yesterday, rather than 1991 when he last had the pleasure of engineering outside in all the weather that Scotland could aim at him and his colleagues....

Several test runs of all engines were carried out in the weeks prior to the big day, and all seemed good for us to have a special reason to enjoy our moment!
Not content with dealing with just the aircraft, huge strides had been made by our illustrious chairman Dave Woods at meetings with the Airport Management at Coventry who have helped us enormously since the demise last year of the resident “Airbase” and “Classic Air Force” operations. We not only received sponsorship from the airport which is helping financially towards the costs of being on site, but we were also offered the use of a large portacabin which had previously been the Visitor Reception for Airbase! The airport’s help means that we finally have somewhere undercover to act as a welcoming visitor centre and shop, but also a crewroom for our hard working team to have a much needed brew....

Saturday 9th April finally arrived, and the arriving volunteer team who had travelled from far and wide were greeted with pleasant sunshine! We were busy right from the moment of arrival with a quick set-up of our new shop and crewroom facilities, as well as starting to prepare the aircraft. Well that should have been the plan, but your ever-busy publicity officer had other ideas, and made everyone stop and stare by arriving in our brand new support vehicle which has been loaned to us by our other new partnership with SsangYong GB. The pick-up truck is complete with sign writing and will appear at events towing our Shackleton nose section amongst other duties!

After a crew briefing, we all set about preparing WR963 to be towed out onto the concrete ready for her performances later on, and also greeted the visitors who had started to arrive for their unique experience...
Part of our plan involved pairing up public with key volunteers so that they could take an active part in some of the vital pre-taxy preparations themselves! That was hugely enjoyed by all, and gave a small insight into how hard we work to achieve just one day in the life of our aircraft!
The next stage was another unique treat – lunch with some of our crew onboard the resident DC6 Diner which has recently re-opened as both a cafe and formal diner! The public really seemed to enjoy chatting to us whilst gazing out across the airfield and eating a fine meal...

After lunch, the pace quickened as we finished off a few tours onboard, and finally got the teams mustered prior to start for the first of two taxy runs! All seemed to be going well until one of our crew spotted a broken brake hose, which couldn’t be changed right away, and so was capped and isolated from the rest of the system to the satisfaction of our pilot.

The crew may have been nervous inside, but showed little sign of that as they climbed onboard with our first group of public. As soon as Jon Corley had obtained clearance, it was time to start those mighty Griffons! All went well, and after clearing the start crew and equipment away, Jon eased WR963 out onto the taxiway and trundled slowly down to Bravo Apron, turned, and then came back! Of course we couldn’t just leave it there, so whilst alongside the “Airlock” gate adjacent to the old Airbase hangar, Jon stopped, and opened up the throttles for a few minutes of “Griffon Growl” resonating across Coventry, and shaking the ground where our groundcrew stood....
Once back at our allocated parking area, the aircraft was shut down for a brief rest, and once the entire onboard crew and public were disembarked, a group photo was taken in front of the star of the day!

The crew carried out a turnaround check on the aircraft whilst the public passengers went off to get their souvenir certificates and have a brew with the rest of our team.
Second group were mustered, crew found from their hiding places near the tea urn, and it was time for the second taxy run, or so we thought!
Once we had got everyone onboard and secured the door, Jon started going through the usual pre-starting checks.... only to pause when it came to requesting our usual fire cover from the airport’s fire station only a few hundred metres away. After what seemed like an age, the welcome sight of a fire truck who had been rather busy on a tea break meant that we could carry on with our rigorous checklists.
Engine start seemed to go ok on the starboard side, but when it came to the port side, No.2 engine was reluctant to start! Knowing that we may have faced a ‘hot start’ situation with a small risk of exhaust fires, we were being extremely cautious with this second start. After starting No.1 engine whilst resting the starter motor on No.2 engine, this was tried again, and finally came to life, albeit with a resounding backfire that gave a brief scare to our crew-chief standing only a few metres away on the comms lead....


With all four running, it was time to go for another trundle around the taxiway, which followed the same pattern as the first, almost! On the return stop by the airlock gate and the higher rpm blast – the watching team wondered why No.2 Engine seemed to be running slightly rougher than the others, which soon manifested itself into a premature shut-down of that engine! With due consideration given by the team onboard to the prospect of slow taxying being made difficult with asymmetric power, it was decided to also shut down No.3 engine too, leaving both outboard engines to provide the means to taxy back the short distance to the parking area...

Once all had gone quiet again, the entire onboard crew and public posed once more for the group photo, and the public made their way over to our crewroom as the weather had declined somewhat during the late afternoon. This left the crew to debrief with our pilot on the engineering situation with our beloved aircraft...
Typically for aircrew, the engineers gave him a near perfectly serviceable aircraft to go and play with, and it came back with a list of ‘snags’ which aircrew expect to be easily fixed in time for their next sortie...... but we really like our pilot so we are only too happy to get dirty once again and repair the issues, test it all again, and get WR963 ready for her next starring role!


To summarise the issues left with us as our pilot made his way home:
No.2 engine ignition issues to be investigated as not only was it reluctant to start, but ran rough on the second run, before finally shutting down completely.
No.1 engine seen to develop a small oil leak underneath, which needs investigating by closer inspection with the cowlings off.
One brake hose to be changed
Hydraulic system to be investigated as we found that the handpump handle locating bracket had sheared off and caused the handpump handle to strike an adjacent hydraulic pipe resulting in a breakage and subsequent total loss of the hydraulic system.


Anyone familiar with aircraft will know that these engineering challenges are just part of what we expect when dealing with a 62 year old airframe, and we will just fix her up and carry on smiling as usual!

After an exceptionally long day, the last few team members left the site after 8pm leaving WR963 resting in her usual parking position on the grass. It took a few days for most of us to recover from this one, but we would do it all again without question!

By creating this event, we hope to have given an insight into just what is involved in maintaining our Shackleton, and given the paying public a real hands-on experience that they won’t forget in a hurry! Every single person onboard went home smiling, despite the weather change in the afternoon, and some are coming back for more now that they have experienced the appeal of the Avro Shackleton close up!

Without doubt, the day was a success, and raised vital monies towards keeping WR963 alive and moving towards our long-term goal of return-to-flight! We are fully aware that she needs to be run on a regular basis to keep all systems healthy, and are already planning more events like this throughout the year! Our website and social media will give more on these as soon as we can!

Finally, and on a nice note to finish with, it was especially wonderful to see Richard Woods pay is a visit to see how we were getting on! Richard had been a vital part of the team for many years before personal circumstances meant that he had to take a break from the constant travelling to Coventry, but couldn’t resist a return to see how the old girl was behaving!


George Aldrich by Pete Buckingham, on Flickr


Andy Rowlands 1 by Pete Buckingham, on Flickr


George Aldrich 4 by Pete Buckingham, on Flickr


George Aldrich 2 by Pete Buckingham, on Flickr


Aaron Hiscock 2 by Pete Buckingham, on Flickr


Ian Preece by Pete Buckingham, on Flickr


Andy Jones 1 by Pete Buckingham, on Flickr


George Aldrich 5 by Pete Buckingham, on Flickr


SPT Edit by Pete Buckingham, on Flickr



Hope you enjoyed this very brief review of our historical day, and we hope to see you all down at Coventry soon!

Regards

Pete Buckingham
Publicity Officer

 

One long month and one huge update!

Since our previous double taxi runs that took place April 9th, an awful lot of engineering work has been carried out by the amazing team of volunteers that work hard to continue the success of WR963’s public appearances!
Going back to the runs – we suffered a few technical issues which required careful analysis after the event which then required the following work:

The hydraulic handpump decided it did not like being part of the main hydraulic system and let go in spectacular style including shearing off its handle attaching bracket! The internal seals had ruptured and subsequent high pressure fluid flowed around the system before dumping itself overboard.
The Pressure Relief Valve and Handpump were skillfully rebuilt by one of our resident engineers Mark Ward who regularly surprises us with his ability to make old parts like new again!

Mark Ward 3 by Pete Buckingham, on Flickr

Mark Ward 4 by Pete Buckingham, on Flickr

Even Richard Woods assisted by dismantling the long-removed original handpump to find the same problem had occurred before....

Richard Woods 1 by Pete Buckingham, on Flickr

The system’s filters had been long suspected of being a culprit in this problem, and on subsequent removal they were found to be totally clogged up and unable to filter anything in the system at all!

George Aldrich 3 by Pete Buckingham, on Flickr

George Aldrich 2 by Pete Buckingham, on Flickr

Once the gauze / mesh filters were cleaned up (for now), fresh hydraulic oil was replaced in the system, and after a very long hand-pumping session the entire hydraulic system was bled through and systems checked to make sure they all worked again. This work involved some very long hours and extended beyond our normal Saturday work days too, with good weather helping some of the team who worked mid-week on the system too...

George Aldrich 1 by Pete Buckingham, on Flickr

Water ingress in the No.2 Fuel Tank has been another long standing issue to be dealt with, which was suspected of causing a premature shut-down of No.2 Engine during the taxy run, and on a subsequent test run too.... The fuel system is drained of water each time we attend to the aircraft, but the water ingress also crept into the fuel pump, so a suitable drain tap was installed to help us drain the water efficiently rather than continually having to dismantle the pump each time.

Water ingress may also be the culprit on the overhead panel above the pilot’s head, where the engine magneto switches are located. Previous corrosion had been found on the contact points of these switches which led to the belief that water was getting in – more noticeable after a downpour!
On the taxy runs, it rained between the two runs, and we then experienced problems on start-up for the second run. In the long term, we will need to replace the bank of switches of course (if anyone happens to have an example as illustrated that they wish to donate then please get in touch!), but we also need to address the water ingress itself. Our Chief Engineer (the one and only Druid Petrie of ex-8 Sqn Shackleton fame) assures us that the correct method involves an application of Cellulose Dope around the Escape Hatches, so that is being looked into as we speak once we source the correct Dope of course....

5CW 1252a by Pete Buckingham, on Flickr

On various engine runs, the crew noticed that the Radiator Shutters were not working as they should on No.2 engine, so a replacement “Inching Controller” box has been installed to hopefully sure the problem. Another test run will confirm this.

Mario McLaughlin 1 by Pete Buckingham, on Flickr

Nitrogen... a vital gas to top up the pneumatics system used on the Shackleton to provide braking etc. Well despite the aircraft not having any major issue with its own system, our portable trolley decided it required attention as it was leaking badly from behind the inflation control panel.
So another of our intrepid engineers, Mario McLaughlin took the panel apart, sourced and repaired the leak, and even repainted the control panel while he had five minutes to spare! These trolleys were a common sight at any RAF Airfield, but never before did one look so shiny as ours does now!

Mario McLaughlin 2 by Pete Buckingham, on Flickr

On the subject of pneumatics, we had a brake hose fail on us, which was spotted before we taxied the aircraft. Suitably isolated to carry on the taxy runs, the hose was subsequently replaced with a newly manufactured one by Mark Ward once he had sourced the correct fittings needed.

Mark Ward by Pete Buckingham, on Flickr

Engine Ignition issues continued to give the team a good reason to keep checking the points gaps on all engines, which is no easy task when you compare the average family car engine with the huge Griffon V12 ones we have! Nevertheless, another job tackled by our team of course!

Not content with the technical items that formed quite a list of jobs to do, other work has been carried out on site.
The prominent red spinners on WR963 had started to look rather faded, so Andrew Clarke volunteered himself to polish them all up again with the assistance of young George Aldrich. They now look stunning in the sunlight again!

Mark Ward 2 by Pete Buckingham, on Flickr

“Zebedee” or VP293 our loaned Mk1 nose section received some attention prior to heading out on the roads for the first time in a long while! This season will see Zebedee appear at various events away from Coventry, so a good tidy up inside was in order, plus making sure the trailer he is mounted on was ready for the journeys ahead. There is ongoing progress with the nose section itself too, with more internal refit of original equipment to take place soon, which will get the interior looking more authentic as well as replacing parts which famously vanished during a period of storage at another venue before we took charge of the nose on behalf of the owner on a permanent loan basis. Keep an eye out for a Shackleton Nose on the roads this year!

Dscf2685a by Pete Buckingham, on Flickr

And finally....

A personal touch to raise a smile or two.

Ongoing crew training has resulted in another person able to operate the Engineers Panel during ground runs / taxy runs, giving us more flexibility with crew availability, with another member currently in training....
However, the post taxy run banter amongst our crew deserves sharing if only to show that we are all human (friendly ones of course).
Our crew training has been undertaken by our highly experienced Chief Engineer who apparently knows a thing or two about Shackletons, and has accumulated many hours / years of sterling service on the aircraft up until the end of service with Number 8 Squadron up at RAF Lossiemouth. We are constantly amazed at the depth of his knowledge, and he teaches us all an awful lot, which gains him the respect he fully deserves!

So picture the scene when the first taxy run was completely successful with a slightly nervous newly qualified Engineer on the panel throughout....
However, on the second taxy run, our well respected Chief Engineer decides to have a go, and brought back an aircraft on two out of four engines running; a hydraulic failure; and a suspected electrical generator fault too!!!!
We thought he was trying to recreate the pressure the Squadron were under back in the 90’s when faced with QRA alerts on an old aircraft – whereas we were told this was just to test our ability to work under pressure


And then there is other BIG news too!

Number 8 Squadron (Royal Air Force) Reunite with The Avro Shackleton!

In the summer of 1991, the RAF said goodbye to a long-serving eye in the sky when the Avro Shackleton bowed out after 40 years of operational service – the last 19 years of which were with Number 8 Squadron at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland. Replaced by the state-of-the-art Boeing E3-D “Sentry AEW MK1, Number 8 Squadron continues to serve our country to this day.

July 9th 2016 marks two special anniversaries which we are happy to announce!

25 years ago to the day, our Shackleton WR963 flew in to Coventry Airport for preservation, and in the same month, it has been 25 years of operational service for Number 8 Squadron’s Sentry AEW MK1 aircraft!

The Trust were delighted to hear from a representative from Number 8 Squadron recently, and even more excited when hearing that the current squadron wanted to establish a formal working relationship with us, as we are looking after one of their old airframes!

Number 8 Squadron themselves have a long history, first forming on 1st January 1915 as part of the Royal Flying Corps as a Fighter Squadron. Over the years, the Squadron have operated many aircraft types ranging from the Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2c, through De Havilland Mosquitos, Hawker Hunters, and of course the Avro Shackleton.

Despite operating a high tech aircraft in the current RAF, Number 8 Squadron have always acknowledged their long history, to the point of having an Number 8 Squadron Hawker Hunter as their current Squadron “gate guard” outside their HQ at RAF Waddington.
Our own Shackleton served with the Squadron right up to the end in 1991, and we do our part to keep its history alive too.

Our partnership with Number 8 Squadron means a lot to us, and the Squadron will be coming over to Coventry on July 9th to help take part in our special 25th anniversary celebrations, although sadly we can’t fit a Sentry AEW MK1 into Coventry Airport.... Members of the squadron will see for themselves their old aircraft, and we cannot wait to show them around! Despite being some 60+ years old, I’m sure our volunteers will delight in highlighting that the Shackleton could still perform the AEW task today if things got serious
The Squadron are also offering to help us with providing manpower if possible during any intensive engineering times such as our anticipated NDT strip down checks this coming winter. Of course this will be subject to operational circumstances, but any assistance from their crew will be most welcome indeed at any time!

There is much more besides the above to formalise, but we really do look forward to establishing a great formal partnership between our two organisations!

Looking in to the future, and our own return-to-flight status, it goes without saying that 8 Sqn’s base is definitely on our own bucket list, which I’m sure will be a much anticipated event when that happens!

Bringing an element of Number 8 Squadron’s history alive is a unique and exciting prospect, and one that we, the Shackleton Preservation Trust will endeavour to accomplish with great pride!


Website Logo by Pete Buckingham, on Flickr

WR963 Waddington 1991b by Pete Buckingham, on Flickr

JR7b by Pete Buckingham, on Flickr

JR4b by Pete Buckingham, on Flickr

8 Sqn 25 Years b by Pete Buckingham, on Flickr

 

Update on our BIG event coming up on July 9th!
We are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the last flight of WR963 which departed RAF Waddington and touched down at Coventry Airport on this very day in 1991. This marked the start of the next era in the life of this Avro Shackleton with the airframe being purchased at auction as one of a pair (the other airframe being WL790) by the late David Liddell-Grainger. The intention was to fly one of the airframes in civilian ownership with the other acting as a spares source.
After a few years of struggling with bureaucracy in vain, WL790 was flown out to the USA where she operated under FAA rules for 14 years until retirement into Museum life...
WR963 had been the chosen spares ship for WL790, and as such had been a test-bed airframe and stripped of many parts. In 1997 the Shackleton Preservation Trust took over looking after this airframe and set about returning the airframe to working condition as best they could...
Eventually, in 2008, a taxy run was achieved down the runway at Coventry which proved the viability of continuing to work towards returning WR963 to full working order once more!
In 2012, after a huge amount of careful research and gathering documentary evidence, the CAA was approached again to gain approval for a “Return to Flight” status... Amazingly, this time it was approved, and the hard work really began for the team!
In recent years WR963 has proved she wants to fly again with several taxy runs taking place, many ground runs, and an influx of dedicated volunteers increasing the ability of the team to overcome all the obstacles in our path!

Interest in our project soon reached higher places, with the recent surprise announcement that WR963’s old squadron (Number 8 Sqn Royal Air Force) wished to forge a unique working partnership with us to push forward this project! On July 9th they will be coming back to see their old aircraft for the first time in 25 years as a result, and we want you to be there too!


We will not only be welcoming the Royal Air Force at Coventry, but also have members of 8 Sqn Association attending too! Several VIP guests will be coming, who have been involved with WR963 in various ways over the years.
There are plans to have some airborne visitors too (though sadly not a current Sentry aircraft due to operational circumstances)
The entire team at the Shackleton Preservation Trust would love you to come and see what we have achieved and what our plans are for the future!
To celebrate this special anniversary with us, our Chairman has even discounted the admission price especially for this event too!


Public entry will be just £15 per person for the entire day’s activities where you can take a close look at our aircraft, meet the team, witness WR963 perform on the day, and be part of an historical occasion!
We do ask that if possible you book your place online via our website, and remember to include a message with paypal payments telling us that the payment is for “July 9th 25th Event” please!

http://www.avroshackleton.co.uk/latest-news.html

You will not get an actual ticket, but your name(s) will be on a list at our gate as proof!

We will allow admission on the gate too, but it helps us to know who is attending if we know in advance!


You will be on a live airside apron at Coventry Airport for this event, so our team will be looking after you at all times for your own safety and airport security too of course.


Light refreshments will be available in our Cabin, but we would also recommend the adjacent DC-6 Diner for great value food too, although pre-booking a table might be advantageous as we expect them to be busy on this day!
DC-6 Diner can be contacted on: 07944 512305 or 02477 459020

Website Logo by Pete Buckingham, on Flickr



8 Sqn 25 Years b by Pete Buckingham, on Flickr



Dscf2685a by Pete Buckingham, on Flickr

 

Just a quick reminder to you all about this Saturday's special celebration event at Coventry!!!

£15 special reduced price to come and see us celebrate 25 years in preservation of our Avro Shackleton WR963...

Gates open 10am

Full Ground Run 2pm

Day finishes 5pm

Tours of our aircraft will be available during the day, and our neighbouring Nimrod is also being opened up by our friends who look after her too!

Chance to meet our team, and of course members of Number 8 Sqn Royal Air Force who are also bringing along some momentos to sell...

Our own freshly refurbished shop will be open - offering a range of our own merchandise and rare model kits which all go towards our fund-raising of course....

We hope to spring a few surprises during the day too

Click here for online booking:

http://www.avroshackleton.co.uk/latest-news.html

 

A quick post to get the word out on an event being planned for 10th September which needs the word spreading as soon as possible!

More info on this will be shared once confirmed, and of course there are other SPT updates coming very soon with regards recent work and the results of our 25th anniversary event....

Keep an eye out too on our website which is undergong a transformation as I type following the addition of another web editor Aaron

Wheels At Coventry Poster by Pete Buckingham, on Flickr

www.avroshackleton.co.uk

 

Best laid plans etc.... we were scheduled to have a ground run this Saturday 20th, but the Met forecast puts the winds outside of safe operational limits, so here is a message from our Chairman:


Hello everyone, due to safety concerns arising from the forecast adverse weather conditions due on Saturday, the Shackleton Preservation Trust have decided to cancel WR963's engine run this weekend. This run will be moved now to Monday 29th (bank holiday Monday) at 2pm. Entry as always is by the West gate CV8 3AZ We are sorry for any inconvenience caused and thank you all for your support.

The Chairman

 

URGENT UPDATE FROM THE TRUSTEES

Due to unforeseen administrative circumstances, the Shackleton Preservation Trust has been forced to cancel the programmed public engine run on Bank Holiday Monday, and the Wheels event on the 10th of September. Unfortunately, we are also unable to allow public access to the aircraft at this time. We ask for your patience while we work through this situation, and we will update you all as soon as we possibly can. As I have said above, it is an administrative situation, and is not due to any form of incident.I appreciate many of you will have made plans to attend either or both of these events, and on behalf of the Shackleton Preservation Trust, I hope you will accept our apologies to you all for this very short notice.
Druid Petrie
Trustee
Shackleton Preservation Trust

 

Lord, this does take me back! According to one description, "Ten thousand loose rivets closely accompanied by ten thousand built-in leaks"; and, in another, "ninety-six 18mm spark plugs flying in close formation"!
(two plugs per cylinder, twelve cylinders per engine)

I was at RAF Siggiewi (Malta) from 1969-71, when 203 Squadron was flying Shackletons out of RAF Luqa - though as the CommCen I worked in was about 100 feet underground, I only saw them in my time off.

They were noted for how often they'd come back from patrol flying on three engines. The Griffon engines themselves rarely seemed to cause problems (apart from the damage to the aircrews' hearing!); what usually conked out was the gear train and shaft along the side of the engine which drove the counter-rotating propeller. Which leads directly onto this little tale . . .

Once upon a time, when I was in Malta, a friend of mine bagged himself a free ride on a Shack, which was on patrol towards Gibraltar. They were well out over the Med when he heard an 'orrible graunching noise from the port side; looking out, he could see the props on one engine shuddering to a stop, before the blades were feathered. "Oh, well", says he; "everyone knows a Shack can stay up on three engines."

The Shack rumbled on over the wide blue sea, until the Rock appeared over the horizon. Friend not having seen Gib before, he took a good look as the Shack swung round on final approach, and noticed that the runway at Gib is in the only place you could fit a runway there - across a spit of land. Across a distinctly narrow spit of land. With the sea so close to each end of the runway that it appeared to be almost lapping at the landing lights . . .

Friend becomes rather thoughtful - and even more so when he hears another 'orrible graunching noise. Also from the port side. Yup. The other engine on the port wing was shuddering to a standstill, and the blades were being feathered.

Friend gulps, but decides that questions like "Am I going to die?" from an AC Plonk in the back seat would not be welcomed in the cockpit, where - no doubt - the crew were sweating blood in order to at least crash as gently as possible, and preferably to stop before they slid into the Atlantic . . .

So the Shack came flying into Gib, with the nose slewed well over to starboard to counteract the thrust of the two remaining engines which were trying to spin her in a circle. This meant friend (who was on the port side) was able to look straight down the centre-line of the runway - not something most passengers are able to do. Or even want to do.

At the very, absolutely last possible by any stretch of the imagination moment, the pilot kicked the rudder violently, and the wheels touched down in line . . . and they stopped. Not bursting into flames. Not drowned. Not dead

Friend suddenly realised he didn't know how long he'd been holding his breath - but, from the way he started gasping for air, it had been some time. Finally, he turned on his intercom, only to hear the pilot and co-pilot in the middle of a very heated argument - which had clearly been going on for some time - about the respective chances of Liverpool and Everton in the FA Cup!

Shackleton crews; cool as an iceberg? Or daft as a brush? Take yer pick!

Jack

 

Seems the owner is very unhappy with the antics of the "preservation society" and has taken his toys home with him if various Facebook posts are anything to go by.

 

does this mean the Society may have to find a new home ? or is it that Coventry airport has changed owners recently andd the new owner is not in favour of other that core activity?

 

If the owner doesn't want anyone to "play" with his Shackleton, where the Society is basd would seem to be irrelevant.

 

Was there not a formal agreement in place between the Trust and the Owner before the project started, covering what was to be done?

Steven

 

sorry i did not realise it was the owner of the aircraft, who was being difficault, i thought the trust owned the aircraft ?

 

I'm only going by a post on Facebook by the guy who claims to be the owner. If a) he is the owner and b) what he said is true, it's not a case of being "difficult" but more like protecting his investment. Haven't seen the other side of the story though.

 

That interpretation seems to be backed up by a post on the Key Publishing forum:—

http://forum.keypublishing.com/show...on-WR963-Project-Thread&p=2334554#post2334554

Sad state of affairs, but understandable from the POV of the owner.

 

In the ensuing 2 years, it seems there has been a major falling out and a new organisation has now gained the registration documents and are resuming engine runs etc, but as far as I can tell its members only, I'm assuming this new operating charity is one formed by the owner, but that to restore to flight is still very much on , so I'm still hopeful that before I die, I might still see a three ship formation of 2 Lancaster's and a Shackleton here in the UK.