WOW659 Avro Shackleton

Description

WOW659 Avro Shackleton MK 2.  205  Sqn [White Knuckle Airlines]

The Avro Shackleton was a British long-range maritime patrol aircraft which was used by the RAF. It was developed by Avro from the Lincoln bomber, which itself had been a development of the famous wartime Lancaster bomber.
Developed during the late 1940s as part of Britain’s military response to the rapid expansion of the Soviet Navy, in particular its submarine force. Produced as the primary type equipping RAF Coastal Command, the Type 696 as it was initially designated, incorporated major elements of the Lincoln, as well as the Avro Tudor airliner, and was furnished with an extensive electronics suite in order to perform the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) mission, along with much-improved crew facilities due to the long mission times involved in patrol work. There were 185 built and the type was named Shackleton, after the polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton.

The Shackleton entered operational service with the RAF in April 1951 and was used primarily in the ASW and MPA roles, but it was also frequently deployed as an aerial search and rescue (SAR) platform and for performing several other secondary roles such as mail delivery and as an ad-hoc cargo and troop-transport aircraft. The intended replacement, the British Aerospace Nimrod AEW3, suffered considerable development difficulties which culminated in it being cancelled in favour of an off-the-shelf purchase of the Boeing E-3 Sentry, finally allowing the last Avro Shackletons to be retired in 1991.

This Shackelton, White Knuckle Airlines, first flew on November 6, 1953 and was delivered   to the RAF on December 31, 1953.   It served with RAF Coastal Command, including 228 Squadron, and was later transferred to 205 Squadron motto is Pertama di Malaya (First in Malaya).

205 Squadron operated the Avro Shackleton, from 1959 until the squadron’s disbandment in 1971. The squadron used the Shackleton for reconnaissance, including patrols over Borneo, as part of its Cold War operations while based in Singapore.

This 1/32 scale model is priced at $1600 plus postage. Aviation Club members can buy it for $1450 plus postage for the next 3 days. If you insert your ‘discount’ code at checkout you will receive a further 10% discount taking the model to just over $1300 plus postage, surely a bargain for such a great looking iconic model.