Thanks Lloyd and Shogun! We now know these beautiful old gals are WL747 and WL757 identities, respectively, thanks to one of your links, Lloyd (which confirms the same info I found on another aviation site).
Happy in Cyprus wrote: ↑Wed Apr 19, 2017 12:42 am
... Considered opinion is that they would have suffered so much corrosion over the years (esp. with the sea air) that most major components would be unusable. PS: I learnt to fly at Luton Airport in the late 70's.
Reading backwards, Lloyd, would that have been at Luton Flying Club, perchance? In the early 60's (when I was in the Air Scouts), LFC had a DH Dragon Rapide fuselage parked outside, that my mates and I could climb into and be pretend pilots, LOL!
As regards corrosion on the two Shacks over the years, having been 250m away from the Med, I strongly believe that the aviation boards and their experts have a totally wrong take on this!!! Perhaps Max and Devil can lend a helping hand on this one, climate-wise, please?
I've always understood that the Cyprus climate is the
perfect place to keep any man-made form of transport, be it a 1975 Vauxhall Viva, or a 1951 (retired 1991) Avro Shackleton. Which is why we still see old British classic cars from the 50's through to the 80's traversing the roads of Cyprus to this day, with not a spot of corrosion on them anywhere! Back in the UK, 99% of these cars long since became rust buckets and were consigned to the crusher, sadly...
Either because of the amount of gritted salt laid on UK roads through a hard winter, and/or parking in the open too close to the sea. (The 2006 Astra my Grandson bought that had one previous owner, an old lady who lived in Dundee, on the Firth of Tay, had been parked in the open there for its first 8 years of life. Never seen so much corrosion under a car in all my life!!!)
I reckon the two Shacks at PFO are NOT in the dire straits that people think they are, to be honest... Where they were
originally parked, they had TWO lines of defences from the sea. First, a tall stand of trees that collects most of the salt-laden sea spray (then deposits it on the cars parked below when it next rains, LOL!)- and second, some large hangars affording the parked aircraft some shelter from the incoming salt-laden moisture...
If they were in such bad condition, then HOW on earth did they manage to move them both diametrically opposite to the other corner of the airport? Wouldn't it be nice if RAF Akrotiri sent a team out every couple of months to at least fire up the four RR Griffon engines in each Shackleton, to keep them in fine fettle, at least?
@Lloyd: One of your links mentions a Jet Provost parked at LCA. That was another frequent take-off from LTN in the 60's, as Hunting Aviation was also based there. I think the RAF used to use it as a jet trainer, before the Hawk was introduced?
Happy memories! Cheers- AL (in anorak mode)
