to be able to even hear all the important
transmissions, as the aircraft microphones
picked up every sound.
“During my second tour, I was the
squadron CO and its quali ed ying instructor
[QFI]. Aircraft commanders had a difficult job.
Sitting up front they monitored the co-pilot
and ight engineer, listened to the aircraft
radios set on air eld, air traffic and ghter
controller frequencies and weather forecasts,
and really doing about seven tasks at once.
“They couldn’t do all that from day one,
but gradually over time, through experience,
acquired the capability. Aircraft captains had
to hold everything together. Additionally, they
had to think outside the box, about the wider
picture, while the rest of the crew concentrated
on their individual tasks. It was fascinating.
“By then the Shackleton really was an
awful aeroplane, yet we all loved it because
I think it forced us all to get on together. It
helped that we operated as constituted crews,
so you were ying with the same people
regularly [which] improved effectiveness.
“Over time, their skills and crew co-
ordination developed to perform extremely
well and just made things work.”ERA ENDS
Despite the eet reduction, the remaining
aircraft managed to soldier on into the 1990s- after the Nimrod AEW programme was
expensively and embarrassingly abandoned
in January 1987.
In the very twilight of the Shackletons’
service, tragedy struck. On April 30, 1990,
WR965 struck a hillside on the Isle of Harris
in the Outer Hebrides on a training exercise,
killing the ten personnel on board.
On June 30, 1991, the squadron nally left
its Shackletons behind. David Greenway’s
observations about the AEW force say a lot. He
describes it “as way too long in the tooth. But it
was amazing because the crewmembers really
got stuck in and made it work, and it performed
well, totally contrary to some popular opinion.”
Another tting accolade came from an
unnamed USAF exchange officer with 8 Sqn
during the Shackleton AEW era, who said:
“This squadron does more, with less, than
any other ying unit I know.”
Not bad for an outdated, ‘interim solution’.SENTRY ON DUTY
The arrival of the rst of seven Boeing E-3D
AEW1 Sentry jets for the RAF in November
1990 represented a quantum leap in capability.
The E-3Ds differed externally from their US
counterparts, being powered by four SNEMCA
CFM56 turbofans and carrying wingtip-
mounted Yellow Gate electronic support
measures. They also feature an external
in- ight refuelling probe while retaining the
original US ying boom receptacle.
No.8 Sqn re-formed on the E-3D at
RAF Waddington on July 1, 1991 and was
declared to NATO and integrated into its
Airborne Early Warning Force on August 5,- The unit deployed operationally for
the rst time to Trapani Air Base in Sicily in
July 1992, where it supported UN-mandated
operations as Yugoslavia disintegrated.
The cornerstone of the E-3D’s capability is
the ‘S’-band Westinghouse AN/APY-2 radar.
Capable of operating at much higher altitudes
than the Shackleton, at 30,000ft the radar’s
range is restricted only by the curvature of the
Earth and it can see hundreds of miles and
more altitude only increases the range. And,
unlike the Shackleton’s radar, the AN/APY-2
provides target height information. It can also
function in Doppler and non-Doppler modes
and be used for maritime operations to detect
sea-surface targets. The system’s heart is
built around two IBM 4 Pi CC-2 computers,
while nine Hazeltine high-resolution
Situation Display Consoles (SDCs) with 19in
colour screens are in stark contrast to the
Shackleton’s three 7in screens.
The Sentry’s communications systems
are far better than the Shackleton’s too, and
include three Rockwell Collins ARC-165 HF,
two ARC-166 VHF and six ARC-171 UHF/
SATCOM transceivers plus two Magnavox
ARC-187 secure UHF transceivers. It also has
secure data links including Link 11, 14 and 16.
A crew numbers 17 – two pilots,
navigator, ight engineer and two
technicians plus a mission crew of 11
comprising a tactical director (mission crew
commander), ghter allocator, three weapons
controllers, surveillance controller, two
surveillance operators, data link manager,
communications operator and an electronic
support measures operator.
Ironically the E-3Ds arrived as the threat
to the UK’s air defences evaporated with the
collapse of the Soviet Union. However, the
type’s exibility and capabilities have been
demonstrated many times on operations
since it entered service.
http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 33Gp Capt David Greenway OBE ew many versions
of the Shackleton in the maritime role, including
the MR.1, MR.2, MR.3 and T.4 before the AEW.2.
As a squadron leader, he became 8 Squadron’s
Flight Commander Operations from 1973-75.
Later, as a wing commander, he returned to the
squadron as its Officer Commanding (OC) from
1982-84, ultimately accumulating more than 5,000
ight hours on all versions of the ‘Shack’.Above: The Nimrod AEW.3 was intended as
the Shackleton AEW.2’s replacement but was
cancelled in favour of the E-3D Sentry AEW.1.
British Aerospace
Bottom: Shackleton AEW.2s were eventually
replaced by E-3Ds on June 30, 1991. Key
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