Mr Mac Henry Was she the last one flying ?

[bdk]

Pointless aeronautical trivia and digressions off topic? Here I am. Sorry, I was away.

The fairground roundabout pre-dates the road intersection, so I'd assume the name transferred from the entertainment one to the one that's just entertaining watching N Americans try.

Thank goodness James, Mike has let me down in a big way!

I realy enjoyed the roundabouts in the UK. I can see why the Brits were such sports car fanatics. I seldom got honked at in the roundabouts, but that time I mistook a dual carriageway for a single carriageway...

[JDK]

Thank goodness James, Mike has let me down in a big way!

You can't get the Expats.

I realy enjoyed the roundabouts in the UK. I can see why the Brits were such sports car fanatics.

You understand! Just had long discussion with a Canadian over here, where we have a) roundabouts and b) a lot less traffic, which makes them c) much more entertaining to run right. We also have signs on the dual carriageway just for Boeing engineers that read: "WRONG WAY. GO BACK."

Seems clear, eh? Every six months or so, someone's caught going the wrong way...

[bdk]

We also have signs on the dual carriageway just for Boeing engineers that read: "WRONG WAY. GO BACK."

Seems clear, eh? Every six months or so, someone's caught going the wrong way...

Must be the language barrier! Those Aussies/Brits/Kiwis (in alphabetical order) sure talk funny...

[Griffonvp293]

It was the last ex-RAF Shackleton still flying. There is still one MR3 flying in South Africa (nosewheel version, with booster jets in the outboard engine nacelles)

A point of clarification. The SAA Shackleton Mk.3 a/c were NOT fitted with the VIPER jet engines. The RAF modified their Mk.3s to a Phase 111 standard which included the two jet engines in the oputer nacelles. The Phase 111 mods included the fitting of improved radar and electronic equipment and as a consquence the overall T/O weight increased to 108,000 lb. The Viper engines were needed on take-off and at other critical tiimes in the flight due to the increased operating weights.

One additional poiint. I was one of the 5-man crew that ferried N790WL (WL790) from Midland to Davis-Monthan on the 16th December. Total flight time wheeels to wheels was 2 hrs 37 mins. Initial cruise was 160 to 165 knots, which was increased to 180 - 185 knots during the second half of the flight. We reached 212 knots on the final approach to D-M. I took a video of the flight and preparations at Midland. Hope to get if out for viewing in due course

[Griffonvp293]

All the Shacks in 8 Squadron were named after characters in a British newspaper comic strip called the Magic Roundabout, Mr. McHenry was one of those charcters.

info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magic_Roundabout

Magic Roundabout and the RAF
The RAF's 8th{sic} Squadron's Avro Shackleton air-sea rescue aircraft were named after characters from The Magic Roundabout and The Herbs:

WL741: PC Knapweed
WL745: Sage
WL754: Paul
WL756: Mr Rusty
WL757: Brian
WL790: Mr McHenry (later renamed Zebedee)
WL793: Ermintrude
WL795: Rosalie
WR960: Dougal (Now in the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester in England)
WR963: Parsley (later Ermintrude II)
WR965: Dill (later Rosalie II) (sometimes referred to as Dylan)
http://www.clydeshipping.co.uk/aircraft ... essage=795
http://8squadron.co.uk/history_1972-1991.php

The first Shackleton a/c to be named after a character from Magic Roundabout was Mk.1 VP293 based at RAE Farnborough 1964 to 1975. VP293 was called ZEBEDEE. This tail wheel Shack was difficult to land smoothly and in the hands of many Royal Aircraft Establishment Test Pilots - trained on nose wheel jets - usually landed the Shack in a series of uncontrolled bounces, hence the connection to a springy cartoon characte called Zebedee. A picture of Zebedee was painted on the tail of VP293. 8 Sqdn AEW 2 Shacks (1971/72) initially had Magic Roundabout/Herb characters painted on the nose slightly ahead of the cockpit, but this was later changed to text only only the mid 1970s. The character names were maintained on all 8 Sqdn Shacks through to the changeover to Boeing AWACS a/c in 1991