Post by flyingtrack on Aug 22, 2008 13:28:24 GMT 1
When he came to us in January 1964 he already was a veteran. He had been built when King George VI was still on the throne and his first task, as a brand- new Avro Shackleton MR.1, was to join No. 236 O.C.U. at Kinloss to train lots of new crews for the many Shackleton squadrons which were springing up in Coastal Command in 1951. He was a glistening white, then, with a grey top— and Kinloss put the grey code letters “C:U” on him.
After a stint in the cold north he was rewarded with a posting to an operational squadron, and warmer climes, when he went to join No. 224 Squadron at Gibraltar. From there he returned to the U.K. and served at St. Eval with No. 42 Squadron and then No. 206 Squadron. By now the days of the Mk.1 Shackleton were supposed to be numbered as the Mk.2 was fully in service and the Mk.3 was following on so VP293, for such was his airframe number, underwent conversion to a T.4 (a minimal internal modification) and returned to the hard task of churning out Shackleton crews with the O.C.U., now rejoicing in the grand title of Maritime Operational Training Unit (MOTU for short). By this time ‘Zebedee” had become trendy and reversed the colours being grey all over with a white top. The MOTU badge appeared on his nose and the letters “MOTU” in red on the side of his fuselage and “C” in red on the nose, all outlined in white.
This was quite an operational record for any self-respecting maritime recce. aircraft and doubtless it he thought at all he must have felt that to go on R. & D. work would make a nice rest in his old age. Well, he came to us in standard grey paint with a white top and we promptly daubed dayglo on his nose, wingtips, fins and tail fairing— Farnborough was dead keen to put dayglo on its aircraft in those days! His task was to supplement and replace another Shackleton, a young Mk.2 by the number of WG557, in Weapons Flight and very soon WG557 departed, retired, inscribed with “ROYAL NAVY” on the fuselage, the origins of which are best left in obscurity.
Soon VP293 acquired a reputation for always being ready and available; he was good on serviceability and all the time at Farnborough he has been a “get-up-and-go” aeroplane. One of the projects which both WG557 and VP293 were engaged upon involved equipment which had little springs on, and what with these and the fact that many pilots came on to fly the Shackletons after a tricycle-only career and, initially, would go on bouncing all down the runway when first meeting him, meant that very quickly Weapons Flight named its Shackleton “Zebedee”, being avid watchers of “The Magic Round about”. So it is that, after eleven years of solid R. & D. flying VP293 has become known universally as Zebedee”, or Zebbers”, and there are few aircraft that have been at Farnborough over the past decade so affectionately thought of.
Memories abound. For example, one remembers a cold January day and “Zebedee” had gone up to Bedford in the hands of a Naval Lieutenant. Having webbed feet he managed to taxi it backwards on the taxi track, snagging the tail wheel. A good half-hour later the O.C. Flying came across to find out why his taxi track had been fouled up so long by Farnborough’s Shackleton, only to find three men in flying kit (an
R.A.F. F/Lt., the Naval Lieutenant and Farnborough’s padre) all having a tug-of-war with the tail wheel while a Squadron Leader hit it with a hammer! Words almost failed him.
Much of “Zebedee’s” time has been spent at low level on various trials and one remembers a high summer day and the ‘Shack” sitting, like an ugly hen, amongst all the busy Hunters at Chivenor and then climbing out to dash back and fro across the Devon Tors— imprinted in one’s mind is the sight of a loving couple in the peace and quiet of a Dartmoor peak gazing up through the nose window as “Zebedee” roared across the top of them in no uncertain manner.
One also remembers the silky dark-ness of a Mediterranean night in 1970 and the twinkling lights of the towns of Cyprus as “Zebedee” droned round and round the island—it was peaceful and lovely up front while the boffins busied themselves about their kit down aft.
But although still sound in wind and limb, on 23rd May 1975 Zebedee” suffered the fate of many of his com-patriots in the R.A.F. and became redundant. No longer the gorgeous growl of Griffons stirred the aeronauts’ fibres around Farnborough (for the other Shackleton, a Mk.3, had been burnt to pieces by the Fire Brigade long since) and the last surviving Mk.1-type Shackleton was silent after a quarter of a century’s service. Suddenly, with horror, it was learnt that the noble “Zebedee” was sold for scrap—this could not be! After much effort and co-operation from many people, he was awarded the finest fate of all and, by the time this issue appears, will have flown north to Auchterarder to join the Flying Fleet of Strathallan, piloted by “C” Flight’s CO., S/Ldr. Rich Rhodes. “Vive Zebedee!”
Air Pictorial MAY 1973 " Merlin"
After a stint in the cold north he was rewarded with a posting to an operational squadron, and warmer climes, when he went to join No. 224 Squadron at Gibraltar. From there he returned to the U.K. and served at St. Eval with No. 42 Squadron and then No. 206 Squadron. By now the days of the Mk.1 Shackleton were supposed to be numbered as the Mk.2 was fully in service and the Mk.3 was following on so VP293, for such was his airframe number, underwent conversion to a T.4 (a minimal internal modification) and returned to the hard task of churning out Shackleton crews with the O.C.U., now rejoicing in the grand title of Maritime Operational Training Unit (MOTU for short). By this time ‘Zebedee” had become trendy and reversed the colours being grey all over with a white top. The MOTU badge appeared on his nose and the letters “MOTU” in red on the side of his fuselage and “C” in red on the nose, all outlined in white.
This was quite an operational record for any self-respecting maritime recce. aircraft and doubtless it he thought at all he must have felt that to go on R. & D. work would make a nice rest in his old age. Well, he came to us in standard grey paint with a white top and we promptly daubed dayglo on his nose, wingtips, fins and tail fairing— Farnborough was dead keen to put dayglo on its aircraft in those days! His task was to supplement and replace another Shackleton, a young Mk.2 by the number of WG557, in Weapons Flight and very soon WG557 departed, retired, inscribed with “ROYAL NAVY” on the fuselage, the origins of which are best left in obscurity.
Soon VP293 acquired a reputation for always being ready and available; he was good on serviceability and all the time at Farnborough he has been a “get-up-and-go” aeroplane. One of the projects which both WG557 and VP293 were engaged upon involved equipment which had little springs on, and what with these and the fact that many pilots came on to fly the Shackletons after a tricycle-only career and, initially, would go on bouncing all down the runway when first meeting him, meant that very quickly Weapons Flight named its Shackleton “Zebedee”, being avid watchers of “The Magic Round about”. So it is that, after eleven years of solid R. & D. flying VP293 has become known universally as Zebedee”, or Zebbers”, and there are few aircraft that have been at Farnborough over the past decade so affectionately thought of.
Memories abound. For example, one remembers a cold January day and “Zebedee” had gone up to Bedford in the hands of a Naval Lieutenant. Having webbed feet he managed to taxi it backwards on the taxi track, snagging the tail wheel. A good half-hour later the O.C. Flying came across to find out why his taxi track had been fouled up so long by Farnborough’s Shackleton, only to find three men in flying kit (an
R.A.F. F/Lt., the Naval Lieutenant and Farnborough’s padre) all having a tug-of-war with the tail wheel while a Squadron Leader hit it with a hammer! Words almost failed him.
Much of “Zebedee’s” time has been spent at low level on various trials and one remembers a high summer day and the ‘Shack” sitting, like an ugly hen, amongst all the busy Hunters at Chivenor and then climbing out to dash back and fro across the Devon Tors— imprinted in one’s mind is the sight of a loving couple in the peace and quiet of a Dartmoor peak gazing up through the nose window as “Zebedee” roared across the top of them in no uncertain manner.
One also remembers the silky dark-ness of a Mediterranean night in 1970 and the twinkling lights of the towns of Cyprus as “Zebedee” droned round and round the island—it was peaceful and lovely up front while the boffins busied themselves about their kit down aft.
But although still sound in wind and limb, on 23rd May 1975 Zebedee” suffered the fate of many of his com-patriots in the R.A.F. and became redundant. No longer the gorgeous growl of Griffons stirred the aeronauts’ fibres around Farnborough (for the other Shackleton, a Mk.3, had been burnt to pieces by the Fire Brigade long since) and the last surviving Mk.1-type Shackleton was silent after a quarter of a century’s service. Suddenly, with horror, it was learnt that the noble “Zebedee” was sold for scrap—this could not be! After much effort and co-operation from many people, he was awarded the finest fate of all and, by the time this issue appears, will have flown north to Auchterarder to join the Flying Fleet of Strathallan, piloted by “C” Flight’s CO., S/Ldr. Rich Rhodes. “Vive Zebedee!”
Air Pictorial MAY 1973 " Merlin"
