AEW Shackleton Flying Past
The Avro Shackleton was a British long-range maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) which was used by the RAF and the South African Air Force (SAAF).
It was developed by Avro from their Lincoln bomber, which itself had been a development of the famous wartime Lancaster bomber. A total of 185 were built and served from 1951 to 1991. It was powered by Rolls-Royce Griffons driving contra-rotating propellers which easily be made out above.
The Shackleton was used primarily in the ASW and maritime patrol roles, but it was also frequently deployed as an aerial search and rescue (SAR) platform and for performing several other secondary roles such as mail delivery and as an ad-hoc cargo and troop-transport aircraft.
During the 1970s, the Shackleton was replaced in the maritime patrol role by the jet-powered Hawker Siddeley Nimrod, however 12 of the RAF's existing Shackletons received extensive modifications in order to adapt them to perform the AEW role. The type continued to be used in this role until 1991, when it was replaced by the Boeing E-3 Sentry AEW aircraft.
I took the image above at the International Air Tattoo at RAF Greenham Common in June 1979. Scanned from a negative.
AEW Shackleton Flying Past
The Avro Shackleton was a British long-range maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) which was used by the RAF and the South African Air Force (SAAF).
It was developed by Avro from their Lincoln bomber, which itself had been a development of the famous wartime Lancaster bomber. A total of 185 were built and served from 1951 to 1991. It was powered by Rolls-Royce Griffons driving contra-rotating propellers which easily be made out above.
The Shackleton was used primarily in the ASW and maritime patrol roles, but it was also frequently deployed as an aerial search and rescue (SAR) platform and for performing several other secondary roles such as mail delivery and as an ad-hoc cargo and troop-transport aircraft.
During the 1970s, the Shackleton was replaced in the maritime patrol role by the jet-powered Hawker Siddeley Nimrod, however 12 of the RAF's existing Shackletons received extensive modifications in order to adapt them to perform the AEW role. The type continued to be used in this role until 1991, when it was replaced by the Boeing E-3 Sentry AEW aircraft.
I took the image above at the International Air Tattoo at RAF Greenham Common in June 1979. Scanned from a negative.