Coventry Shackleton to Fly?????

[Chris558]

Isn't it 963 that needs a new spar, or was that 790? (in the USA). If it does, it will need the backing of BAe systems (who inherited the design rights) and they don't seem to want to get involed.

Would love to see it fly though!

[Chris Trott]

The Shack has as much chance of flying as I have being called back to active service in Afganistan Until a year or so, there was a perfectly air worthy Shack that had to fly in the USA (thanks to the CAA banning her from the UK ) and was grounded when not enough stateside airshows wanted to pay to see her. This was because hardly anybody knew what a Shack was! The best chance this one has.....is as a stop gap stand in for the new Nimrod!!!

Trev, I'm not sure who sold you that story on WL790, but that couldn't be further from the truth. There were more than enough interested airshows and more than enough people and organizations interested in supporting the aircraft, but one person (and only one person), Markgraf, grounded the airplane. He fought hard to convince Air Atlantique that the upcoming prop overhauls would not be worth the money (they all have about 10 hours left before overhaul) and they bought it over the protests of multiple organizations. Mr. Markgraf has what unfortunately amounts to a vendetta against the aircraft's caretakers over the last decade (the Commemorative Air Force) and was determined that if the plane wouldn't be able to go back to the UK then no one was going to fly it despite several offers of both financial and volunteer support from not only the CAF but several outside organizations. The CAF several years ago even offered to enter into a partnership and take a large financial stake in the aircraft but again was foiled by one man.

I'm glad that Gary Austin and several others were able to convince Air Atlantique to send the plane to Pima for permanent display, but it was a last resort that came about not because the airplane wasn't financially viable or unwanted, but because one man decided that he didn't want it to fly anymore.