Page 29 - Aviation News - September 2017

The Shackleton had a second career
as an airborne early warning aircraft
with the RAF. Peter R Foster

David described a number of differences 12 aeroplanes were converted to AEW
between Shackleton variants. “I’d own MR.3s con guration and we kept another two for
for some years, which were lovely to handle. circuits and bumps.”
They ew beautifully for the pilot and had good No.8 Sqn re-formed on January 1, 1972
controls, even if it was underpowered. as part of 11 (Air Defence) Group at RAF
“When I went to ying the AEW.2, I honestly Kinloss, Moray, before moving to nearby
rst thought the ailerons were jammed. On Lossiemouth on August 14, 1973 where it
the MR.3s we had an auto instrument landing remained until the type’s retirement on June
system, but not on the AEW.2s. Anyone 30, 1991. Its previous aircraft had been
coming to y the Shackletons for the rst time Hunter FGA9s, based in Aden and Muharraq
had major problems working out how to y the in Bahrain.
aircraft until they got used to it.” David explained how 8 Sqn gained its
In addition to internal modi cations, unique markings on the Shackleton: “When
the most obvious external changes were we looked at pictures of the Hunters they
removal of the retractable fuselage-mounted had squadron yellow, blue and red coloured
air-to-surface vessel ‘dustbin’ radome and bars either side of the roundel painted on
nose-mounted 20mm gun. The AEW.2’s AN/ the fuselage, so we did the same on the
APS-20F AEW radar was meanwhile housed Shackleton.
at the front of the aircraft. “Nobody told us to remove them so we just
These radars had been stripped from 849 The then Wg Cdr David Greenway was OC of carried on using them. These are still carried
Sqn Fleet Air Arm (FAA) Gannet AEW.3s, 8 Sqn from 1982 to 1984. Crown Copyright on the squadron’s E-3Ds today.”
having become surplus as the carrier force The individual Shackletons soon assumed
ran down. Early version AN/APS-20 radars using their radar, while not betraying the names of characters taken from the Serge
had rst been installed in US Navy Grumman Shackleton’s own position. Danot-inspired Magic Roundabout, a popular
Avengers during 1945, although the ‘F’ The aircraft carried APX-7 IFF children’s TV programme aired in the early
version was a signi cant development over [Identi cation Friend or Foe] equipment and 1970s which gained adult ‘cult’ status.
the original model. a suite of radios including two PTR 175 VHF/
“It’s remarkable when you look back now UHF, two R52 UHF and two Collins 618T MORE TASKS
that between 1973 and 1991 we were really single-sideband HF sets. An airborne moving It didn’t take long before other tasks were
using a 1940s radar strapped to a 1949 target indicator eliminated some sea clutter added to 8 Sqn’s list of duties, including
airframe,” noted David. from the display but did not perform brilliantly. responsibility for mainland AEW as well as for
The AEW.2s were tted with the distinctive, Electrical power for the radar was provided the Fleet, plus controlling air defence ghters,
if antiquated, ‘spark plug’ of the Orange by the Shackleton’s Rolls-Royce Griffon reporting movement of surface vessels and
Harvest passive ‘S’ band and ‘X’ band radar engines: numbers one and two had to be run directing maritime strike and attack aircraft.
warning receiver on top of the fuselage. It at 2,175rpm for their AC generators to deliver As the AEW2s’ radar could detect ships,
gave bearing information, displayed on the required current. they ew many sorties operating as ‘orange’
screens, of surface vessels and submarines David recalled: “In the early days, forces, directing Lossiemouth’s 12 and

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