FUSELAGE CREATION AVRO PAIR (LANCASTER / SHACKLETON)

Description

A bargain double set!
Fuselage Creations Lancaster and Shackleton tags.

GET BOTH RELEASES FOR £99, NORMALLY £120 WHEN BOUGHT INDIVIDUALLY.

LANCASTER:  Fuselage Creations team is happy to present to you yet another of our great finds – the Avro Lancaster, which is one of the most iconic heavy bomber aircraft of the second World War and, no doubt, the pride and glory of the British Aviation. Over 7,300 Lancaster aircraft have been built over the years.  They played a vital role in the success of the allied forces defeating Hitler’s army, with many of their flown missions becoming legendary.

The piece in your hands is the original metal which belonged to KB976, a Lancaster built in 1945 at Victoria Aircraft Works in Ontario, Canada. ‘976’ was among the first batch of the 430 units in total which were built in Canada. The bomber has a very interesting and eventful history. Originally delivered to the UK in May 1945, it briefly served with the 405 Squadron of the Royal Canadian Airforce. KB976 finally retired from RCAF in 1964, when the aircraft was purchased privately. In the early 1970’S the aircraft spent some of its time serving as the Fire Bomber aircraft. In 1975 the aircraft was flown to the UK and that flight remained to be the last transatlantic crossing by the Lancaster bomber until August 2014, some 39 years!

The aircraft remained in the UK until 1993, when its sections were sold and shipped to Florida, USA. However, some of the aircraft sections remained in the UK. Our team was fortunate enough to obtain and upcycle some of its metal after the completion of the damaged rear-most section repair. We are proud to be part of preserving yet another iconic aircraft, which now remains on display in the UK. 

SHACKLETON:  The Avro Shackleton is a British long-range maritime patrol aircraft which was developed from the famous Lancaster bomber.

The Shackleton first flew on the 9th of March 1949 and entered service in 1951 with the Royal Air Force and in 1957 with the South African Air Force. In the fast developing post World War 2 world, it did not take long for Shackleton to see first operational deployment – 1955 in Cyprus. Less than a year later, first combat deployment to the Suez Canal, participating in Operation Musketeer. In the following years, the Shackleton saw operational use across many countries of Africa and Asia which formed the British Empire! A total of 185 aircraft of all variants were produced, until production ceased in 1958.

The tag in your possession is crafted from Shackleton MR.3 with RAF registration WR971, which first took the skies on 28 of May 1956. WR971 was delivered to 120 Squadron and coded ‘E’. 

‘E’ was one of the few Shackleton’s to be fitted with six engines. As well as the usual four Rolls Royce Griffon piston engines it was also fitted with two Viper 203 turbojets to improve take-off performance. 

WR971 remained in active service with the RAF through the years, before it was offered for sale in 1988 and purchased for display. 

Currently, sections of the aircraft are being restored at the Morayvia Museum in Scotland,  where Captain Paul Gibbs, founder of RAWTAG was able to obtain material directly from the museum. Fuselage Creations teamed up with RAWTAG to create this beautiful edition for aviation enthusiasts around the world to enjoy!

A donation from every tag sold will be made to Morayvia to help them continue their restoration work on Shackleton ‘E’.