12 May 2012

St. Bernard of the Sky

The Avro Shackleton MR3 was used in the South African Air Force as a maritime patrol aircraft from 1957 to 1984. The SAAF ordered eight of these huge aircraft, with their unique contra-rotating propellers. Today, 4 are on static display throughout the country, one is lying in the Sahara Desert ("Pelican 16"), and Pelican 22 is the last of its type still in (relatively) serviceable condition, though it is unlikely that she will ever take to the sky again. 1718 crashed in 1962 near Rawsonville.


I last saw and heard a Shackleton in 2006, and had missed every ground-run of 1722, "Pelican 22", based at AFB Ysterplaat. Due to technical issues, the ground-runs were put on hold, and she spent her days looming over Impala's and Mirage's in 4 Hangar. So imagine my joy when I heard that her 4 Griffon engines were to be fired up once again.


On 12 May 2012, Pelican 22's 24 propeller blades sped into life for the first time in many, many months. What a sound and sight!
Her engines were run for over 20 minutes (with a cough and splutter here and there, and one engine deciding that this whole "running" thing was just far too much work, so she acted up a bit). Once the cobwebs were cleared out, she was shut down and given a wash. Enough talking, here are some photos...


Thumbs up for the start

One...


Two...


Three...


Four...


All the Griffon's growling


Water salute



Being towed back to the hangar


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