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Avro 696 Shackleton
 Shackleton
The Shackleton was designed to a 1946 requirement for an all-new long-range maritime patrol aircraft for use by the Royal Air Force Coastal Command. Derived from the Avro Lincoln bomber, The Avro was initially known as the Lincoln ASR.3 and would later become known simply as Type 696 Shackleton (named after English explorer Ernest Shackleton). The Shackleton featured a similar (though all-new) fuselage design and was the first British bomber to feature contra-rotating propeller blades. First flight was achieved on March 9th, 1949. The Avro Shackleton featured a slender straight-sided fuselage with the aft end extended out past the tail plane. The tail plane also featured twin vertical fins in much the same way as that of Lincoln design. The Shackleton was also fitted with a low-wing monoplane with two engines to a wing and each engine was fitted with two three-blade propellers in a contra-rotating fashion - the first such British four-engine aircraft to do so. Power was delivered by 4 x Rolls-Royce Griffon liquid-cooled in-line engines. The Griffons were noted for requiring a great deal of attention during the aircraft's career. The undercarriage was retractable tricycle, wth twin wheels on each unit. The main wheels retract forward into inner nacelles and the nose whels retract rearward. Armament in the Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) role consisted of 2 x 20mm cannons mounted in the nose while internal bombloads could consist of torpedoes, mines and bombs as needed.
The Shackleton MR.1 first flew on 9 March 1949.
 Shackleton M.R.1
This entered service in April 1951 with No 120 Sqn, based in Scotland, as the Shackleton MR.Mk 1, which was soon complemented by the Shackleton MR.Mk.1A and a production run of 77 Mk.1 and Mk.lA with wider outer nacelles. The radar of the early Shackleton was inadequate, and the Shackleton MR.Mk 2, of which eight examples served with the South African Air Force, introduced a new forward fuselage which retained two 20-mm cannon but relegated the radar from a chin radome to a semi-retractable “dustbin” under the fuselage behind the bomb bay. Additionally, the MR.2 featured a reinforced undercarriage, a lengthened nose and tail section and redesigned tail planes. The first of 69 MR.2 came into use in the UK and Malta in 1952.
Issued in 1957, thirty-four Shackleton MR.Mk 3 introduced tricycle landing gear, a larger fuselage, sleeping galley for the crew on long flights, a revised wing, improved cockpit canopies, dorsal turrets deleted and wing tip-tanks (giving a 24-hour endurance) and, as a retrofit, extra power from two 2,500-lb (1,134-kg) thrust Rolls-Royce Viper Mk 203 turbojets in underwing nacelles, these being noted by their designation of MR.3 "Phase II".
 Shackleton 3
Eight were delivered to the South African Air Force. South African models were in service up until 1984.
In 1964 there were plans to install a pair of Viper 11 jets of 2500 lb thrust in wing pods to improve take-off performance of the Mk.3s.
Production totals for each model type numbered 77 for the Mk 1 series, 70 for the Mk 2 series and 34 for the Mk 3 series with a further 8 of that batch for use in the South African Air Force.
MR.Mk 1
Engines: two Griffon 57 and two Griffon 57A.
Wingspan: 120 ft
Length: 77 ft 6 in
Height: 17 ft 6 in
MR.Mk 1A MR.Mk 3
Engines: 4 x Rolls-Royce Griffon 57A inline piston, 2,455-hp (1,831-kW)
Wing span 119 ft l0in (36.52 m)
Length 92 ft 6in (28.19m)
Height 23ft 4in (7.11 m)
Wingarea 1,421.0 sq ft (132.01 sq.m)
Empty weight 57,800 lb (26,218 kg)
Maximum take-off weight 98,000 lb (44,452 kg)
Fuel capacity: 4248 Imp.Gal
Maximum speed 302 mph (408 kph) at optimum altitude
Service ceiling 19,200 ft (5,850 m)
Range 4215 miles at 200 mph at 1500 ft
Armament: two 20-mm cannons and up to 10,000 lb (4,536 kg) of bombs
Crew 10
Engine: 4 x 4 x Rolls-Royce Griffon, 1800kW
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