I was an aircraft technician based at RAF Brize Norton back in the late 70's and we had 6 Shacks on detachment with us for a month. AWESOME watching them taxi out and do 'mag drops; at the end of the runway before taking of one after another with a glorious ROAR. I do miss these aircraft and was proud to have refuelled them and to have been lucky enough to see 'the last of the few' - in their AEW days. Sad they are now gone THOSE WERE THE DAYS thanks for sharing!!
The sound of those 16 contra rotating Griffon engines is music to the ears. We had one in the airfield training hangar @ RAF Cosford when I was doing my airfield training phase in 1979, ah the characteristic smell of old aircraft and climbing over the main spar just like the Lancaster. I did actually marshall one in on a cold wet dark rainy night @ RAF Kinloss in 1988, that was an experience I'll not forget as those 4 contra rotating Griffons bore down on me.
I used to love watching the Shackletons flying over the Black Isle as I was growing up. The sound you could hear for miles, and so distinctive to the other aircraft that was flying at that time ;)
I miss Woodford Air Show it was just around the corner for me I worked on the fire suppression systems and my uncle was a sparkie fitting them out good days loved it there
I was a weapons controller on the EC-121 Super Constellation (the USAF counterpart to the Shackleton) and managed a flight as an observer on an 8th Sqd Shackleton intercept training mission out of NAS Keflavik back in 1978. The crew was incredibly gracious (as always), and the only negative about the flight (which is actually funny now) was when those smart ass Brits opened the starboard window so that I "could get a better picture of the F-4's"... I was surprised how quickly I could put a seatbelt on with the "wind blowing through my hair". 😆😆Windows didn't open on the Connie.
Hi I served on 205 Sqdn at Changi from 1969 to 71 and flew several sorties in WL 790 in 1970. The shortest was 5 hour live gunnery practice and the longest was a 11.40 hour close support mostly at night. I was a Flight Sergeant Air Electronics Operator. Converted on to Nimrods in 1972. Happy days
Great video, my dad was on 8 sqdn 79 - 84 as chief tech, I used to cycle to the end of the runway near the golf course with friends to watch them come in
RAF Kinloss 1960-1969, the shacks of MOTU and 120 sqd'n were a pleasure to be acquainted with, fond memories of my Fire Service career, on the Airfield night shift, from 5 at night till 8 in the morning in my early 20s, but still swapped shifts completely knackred, yes they were happy memories!
Amazing testimony for the durability and effectiveness of this design that these piston powered taildraggers survived into the 1990's. Love that sound of contrarotating props, the An-22 and Tu-95 are two other planes high on my list, but the added bonus of Griffons makes the Shackleton even better.
True,we will never see a sight like this again,the Shackletons have gone,and now so has Woodford,the home of Avro,there is a museum being set up on the site thankfully,I used to enjoy the Woodford airshow back in the day - thankyou for sharing this wonderful footage with us.
I lived by R.C.A.F. Langar in Leicestershire as a Kid and Sunday afternoons my dad would takes us up there to watch the Shackletons come in to land for servicing.
I’ll never forget that day. I was doing some work in the Upper operations room at RAF Buchan, Northern Sector when I heard one of the SAC scopies say that it had been just confirmed that a Shackleton out near Benbecula had disappeared from radar.
There's a shackleton parked up at paphos airport been there for years .some wrangle with the Cypriot government over duty .it was still there last year but it's been towed over to the other side of the air field wit a smaller twin engine vintage aircraft.
I lived in Elgin as a kid and remember them flying about from either RAF Kinloss or Lossiemouth , although the Nimrod took over their AEW job. Memories .
Over 40 years of active service in the RAF, more in the South African Airforce. A beautiful aircraft descended directly from the Avro Lancaster. A true beauty and a trophy of British aviation.
The 8th had courtesy cards with the saying "8 screws are better than two blow jobs" ! My wife swapped a patch for one when they visited Keflavik.in the early '80s.
Wow that's wierd, we have the same name. Mind you, different opinion on the filming. It's an amateur video from 30 years back ffs, what do you expect? I was at Kinloss through the 80's and 90's and saw these every day - amazing, not least for their ability to spend all day not getting very far on occasion!
I was an aircraft technician based at RAF Brize Norton back in the late 70's and we had 6 Shacks on detachment with us for a month. AWESOME watching them taxi out and do 'mag drops; at the end of the runway before taking of one after another with a glorious ROAR. I do miss these aircraft and was proud to have refuelled them and to have been lucky enough to see 'the last of the few' - in their AEW days. Sad they are now gone
THOSE WERE THE DAYS thanks for sharing!!
Great reliable aircraft of its time - I was on crash rescue and did a few flights with crews on my day off - I was based at RAF Kinloss 1959 to 1963.
The sound of those 16 contra rotating Griffon engines is music to the ears.
We had one in the airfield training hangar @ RAF Cosford when I was doing my airfield training phase in 1979, ah the characteristic smell of old aircraft and climbing over the main spar just like the Lancaster.
I did actually marshall one in on a cold wet dark rainy night @ RAF Kinloss in 1988, that was an experience I'll not forget as those 4 contra rotating Griffons bore down on me.
I used to love watching the Shackletons flying over the Black Isle as I was growing up. The sound you could hear for miles, and so distinctive to the other aircraft that was flying at that time ;)
I miss Woodford Air Show it was just around the corner for me I worked on the fire suppression systems and my uncle was a sparkie fitting them out good days loved it there
I was a weapons controller on the EC-121 Super Constellation (the USAF counterpart to the Shackleton) and managed a flight as an observer on an 8th Sqd Shackleton intercept training mission out of NAS Keflavik back in 1978. The crew was incredibly gracious (as always), and the only negative about the flight (which is actually funny now) was when those smart ass Brits opened the starboard window so that I "could get a better picture of the F-4's"... I was surprised how quickly I could put a seatbelt on with the "wind blowing through my hair". 😆😆Windows didn't open on the Connie.
RIP Tim my old friend, now you can fly in tranquil skies! Sqn Ldr Robert (Tim) Cherry MBE Shackleton Air Crew!
I was at Farnborough in the mid-1950s and witnessed the amazing sight of a Shackleton on a low-level fly-by on one engine.
Wish I did know. I do know that my father, Group Cpt Dave Hencken was flying Zebedee (WL790) that day - I just checked his logbooks!
Hi I served on 205 Sqdn at Changi from 1969 to 71 and flew several sorties in WL 790 in 1970. The shortest was 5 hour live gunnery practice and the longest was a 11.40 hour close support mostly at night. I was a Flight Sergeant Air Electronics Operator. Converted on to Nimrods in 1972.
Happy days
Great video, my dad was on 8 sqdn 79 - 84 as chief tech, I used to cycle to the end of the runway near the golf course with friends to watch them come in
Amazing post, thank you for sharing. I love the sound and profile of these aircraft. RIP to the brave men who were lost on WR965.
RAF Kinloss 1960-1969, the shacks of MOTU and 120 sqd'n were a pleasure to
be acquainted with, fond memories of my Fire Service career, on the Airfield night
shift, from 5 at night till 8 in the morning in my early 20s, but still swapped shifts
completely knackred, yes they were happy memories!
did you know any of the MK6 drivers there as my dad was there up till 1967 -68...
Amazing testimony for the durability and effectiveness of this design that these piston powered taildraggers survived into the 1990's.
Love that sound of contrarotating props, the An-22 and Tu-95 are two other planes high on my list, but the added bonus of Griffons makes the Shackleton even better.
50,000 rivets flying in close formation! Wonderful. I trifle sporting in that wind too!
The wind was so strong I could not keep the camera still (Sony 8 mm) & it was a real metal parrot!
Later in the lifespan "50,000 rivets flying in loose formation"
My dad served on 8 back in the 80s as ground crew doing avionics and electrical, he’s still got a soft spot for these old girls
True,we will never see a sight like this again,the Shackletons have gone,and now so has Woodford,the home of Avro,there is a museum being set up on the site thankfully,I used to enjoy the Woodford airshow back in the day - thankyou for sharing this wonderful footage with us.
Thanks for your comments, I used to go to the air show too, but they were never very lucky with the weather!
I agree,I've had many a soaking at the Woodford show - but happy memories nonetheless.
I saw these flying over guide bridge in a loose formation! Amazing sight.
I lived by R.C.A.F. Langar in Leicestershire as a Kid and Sunday afternoons my dad would takes us up there to watch the Shackletons come in to land for servicing.
The passing epoch. In the sound of motors-Songs of the soul!
WR963 Is still regularly run at Coventry airport and will, with a bit of luck, soon be flying again.
Daniel Bennett I hope they do! although it would be great seeing her in AEW2 spec as shown here!
I was working in Macclesfield that day and remember them flying over, Macc always seemed to be a very windy place.
I’ll never forget that day. I was doing some work in the Upper operations room at RAF Buchan, Northern Sector when I heard one of the SAC scopies say that it had been just confirmed that a Shackleton out near Benbecula had disappeared from radar.
Lived at Ballykelly,had these taking off and landing on the runway not far from our quarters.Loved the sound
There's a shackleton parked up at paphos airport been there for years .some wrangle with the Cypriot government over duty .it was still there last year but it's been towed over to the other side of the air field wit a smaller twin engine vintage aircraft.
That must have beeen absolutely spectacular to hear
Great pilots, great flying and BEAUTIFUL AIRCRAFT
I lived in Elgin as a kid and remember them flying about from either RAF Kinloss or Lossiemouth , although the Nimrod took over their AEW job. Memories .
Well done lads, all down safely.
British aircraft just make the best noise!!!
Over 40 years of active service in the RAF, more in the South African Airforce. A beautiful aircraft descended directly from the Avro Lancaster. A true beauty and a trophy of British aviation.
I remember this - they flew over my school. The noise was phenomenal.
I worked for EE/BAE, lovely sound of controrotating props
Fantastic sound
I was there because i worked there but i can assure you not a lot of work got done that day lol
Just amazing
Great comments on this
man those things sound evil on finals
Glad to hear that!
The 8th had courtesy cards with the saying "8 screws are better than two blow jobs" ! My wife swapped a patch for one when they visited Keflavik.in the early '80s.
The last 5 were retired from service in 1992 I believe. Four were sold to museums for preservation and the fifth was scrapped.
I think you need to check your dates, try 01st July 1991 as I was on Sentry Line Flight march 1991 when the first AEW E3D Sentry arrived.
4 V12 GRIFFONS @3000 h.p. per aeroplane and much more, a sight to be heard.
Rolls Royce Griffon 57A engines, 2455 HP EACH! Total power is 9820 HP per aeroplane!
Holy Drone, Batman!
Awesome beasties
I miss Woodford *snif*
We were the best in the world
Why choose such a miserable winter's day for such a super flypast? Anyway, weather aside, that was a good vid.
Not to insult anyone's fond memories, but just in the world of the hypothetical, how would these machines have fared fitted with Darts?
We must get this aircraft back into the air
Kde se tam vzal ten pátej Všakletoun?
Původně tam byli jenom čtyři. A nebo už blbnu.
My dad flew in those aircraft he's deaf as a post now !!!
brilliant plane
Such beautiful aircraft cheap to fly
They government then crushed the nimrod ☹
We certainly have the best
Time to go home, 🥺😢🥂🍾🍾🍾
The plural of Shackleton is Shackletons.
Gosh we will all die
Callsign 'Anyface' when on AEW duty
call sign Rockfist was also used on missions
Pretty damn cool aircraft, but they are as aerodynamic as a sheet of plywood…lol
Nice
Brilliant, if it ain't broke don't fix it. Long lived aircraft, Russians still use theirs
Uk is broken without shaks
Next scrap nimrods
Wonderful to see and hear all those Griffons flying in formation. Pity about the dreadful quality of the film, out of focus and blurred, very amateur.
Wah, Of course there were Loads of digital Camera around in 89. For whats its worth its pure Carefree Spotting Bliss.
Wow that's wierd, we have the same name. Mind you, different opinion on the filming. It's an amateur video from 30 years back ffs, what do you expect? I was at Kinloss through the 80's and 90's and saw these every day - amazing, not least for their ability to spend all day not getting very far on occasion!
Ukraine now, i told you so
What is wrong with uk government
Each engine a Merlin V12 producing 2,250 HP wow.
Except they were Griffins
Or even Griffons