OT: Once in a Lanctime

[Dixie]

As some of you may be aware, the CWHM have brought their Avro Lancaster over to the UK for 6 weeks to fly alongside the RAF's Lancaster. Today was the big day of her arrival after crossing the Atlantic via Iceland, a traditional British summer day in fact! This was the scene just before 1400 when the decision was reluctantly taken to officially scrub the BBMF Lanc sortie [:(]


P.S. It's not my title! Don't blame me...

[Dixie]

And this was the scene a bit later, the rain cleared almost exactly as 'Vera' came into view through the murk and overcast. Here she is after trekking back past Coningsby's runway and into view.

[Dixie]

Unfortunately, with our Lanc not flying today and being scheduled to go up tomorrow it had to be moved so the Canadians could get their Lanc in and closer to the hangar to be oput to bed tonight. I managed to shotgun the brakeman duty so got to stay in the (relative) dry of our Lanc whilst everyone else got wet! [:D]

[Dixie]

The long taxy back from the runway unfortunately took its toll on Vera and she suffered from some brake fade. So instead of trying to come in under her own power and run over a crowd of people she was shut down and pushed into place instead.

[Dixie]

The guests of honour were approx. 100 RAF veterans, mostly Bomber Command, of whom several were awarded a long overdue Bomber Command clasp to their WW2 service medal. We had several come onto PA474 to reminisce and show their families where they sat etc.

I can't remember them all, but a few stand out for various reasons. A Polish rear gunner who (despite how they were treated post war) was full of admiration for the Western Allies and their aid in fighting alongside Poland. He was also a member of the Guinea Pig club.

It's easy to forget that these elderly gentlemen who often walk with difficulty were once young men in their late teens and early 20s who were not that different to us at their age. I was reminded of this by a former aircrew member who struggled over the Lancaster's notorious rear and main spars with difficulty. In the space between the spars on the Lanc is the rest bunk and as he passed he looked at it and then turned to me. Then he said he remembered the rest bunk well as he used to sneak young ladies up there to 'search foe Golden Rivet' [:D] [&o][&o]


I also spent well over an hour chatting to a former WOp. He did a tour of operations with 50 Sqn flying from the base that was swallowed by the housing estate where I grew up. His pilot was future Marshall of the RAF Michael Beetham. He flew on the Nuremburg raid and 10(!) trips to Berlin including three in five nights. They came back on three engines on a fairly regular basis, once got bombed by another Lanc which they didn't realise until they got home and found a big hole and missing fuel tank. After another trip they landed and heard a strange rolling sound followed by a thunk from the rear of the aircraft. At first they thought a lorry had driven into them, but it turned out a hung-up 1000lb bomb had come loose and rolled down the bomb-bay! Sadly most of his crew was lost on a training sortie over the UK [:(] I've got a copy of his book, so it should be a great read! And even after 70 years he could spell my name quicker in Morse code than I code with the alphabet!

[Dixie]

I also managed to get a quick nosy around the Canadian Lanc.

[Dixie]

The veterans [&o]

[dr.hal]

Fantastic report and pictures...thanks ever so much for sharing.

[JeffroK]

[&o][&o][&o]

For the W/OP [:)]

[Trugrit]

Thanks. [&o][&o][&o][&o]

[PaxMondo]

[&o][&o][&o]

[Chickenboy]

Excellent, Dixie. Thanks for sharing. [&o]

ETA: You lucky bastard! [;)]

[warspite1]

Dixie - how long can these beauties keep flying? Presumably there is an end date for the airframe?

P.S Let's hope not.

[Dixie]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Dixie - how long can these beauties keep flying? Presumably there is an end date for the airframe?

P.S Let's hope not.

It's a rolling 20 year (iirc) or 30 year endex for the BBMF Lancaster. So at least 2034, next year it'll be 2035 and so on. The BBMF Lancaster is due for a major servicing at the end of next season, the tail spars are due for renewal a couple of years after that. The main spars were done back in the 90s so they should be good for a while yet.

IIRC, C-GVRA had an issue with her centre section a long time back and so they used the centre section from a Lancaster which had flown ops with Bomber Command which is pretty damn awesome.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Dixie

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Dixie - how long can these beauties keep flying? Presumably there is an end date for the airframe?

P.S Let's hope not.

It's a rolling 20 year (iirc) or 30 year endex for the BBMF Lancaster. So at least 2034, next year it'll be 2035 and so on. The BBMF Lancaster is due for a major servicing at the end of next season, the tail spars are due for renewal a couple of years after that. The main spars were done back in the 90s so they should be good for a while yet.

IIRC, C-GVRA had an issue with her centre section a long time back and so they used the centre section from a Lancaster which had flown ops with Bomber Command which is pretty damn awesome.

warspite1

I had assumed there came a point where they would HAVE to be retired. That is great news indeed. Beautiful, beautiful aircraft [&o]

[Jellicoe]

The only thing better than the sound of one Merlin is the sound of four Merlins and the only thing better than that is the sound of eight!

Look forward to the fabulous pictures of a pair of Lancs flying in formation!

[Nikademus]

lovely.

The Lanc is a beautiful plane.

[Chris21wen]

ORIGINAL: Dixie

The guests of honour were approx. 100 RAF veterans, mostly Bomber Command, of whom several were awarded a long overdue Bomber Command clasp to their WW2 service medal. We had several come onto PA474 to reminisce and show their families where they sat etc.

I can't remember them all, but a few stand out for various reasons. A Polish rear gunner who (despite how they were treated post war) was full of admiration for the Western Allies and their aid in fighting alongside Poland. He was also a member of the Guinea Pig club.

It's easy to forget that these elderly gentlemen who often walk with difficulty were once young men in their late teens and early 20s who were not that different to us at their age. I was reminded of this by a former aircrew member who struggled over the Lancaster's notorious rear and main spars with difficulty. In the space between the spars on the Lanc is the rest bunk and as he passed he looked at it and then turned to me. Then he said he remembered the rest bunk well as he used to sneak young ladies up there to 'search foe Golden Rivet' [:D] [&o][&o]


I also spent well over an hour chatting to a former WOp. He did a tour of operations with 50 Sqn flying from the base that was swallowed by the housing estate where I grew up. His pilot was future Marshall of the RAF Michael Beetham. He flew on the Nuremburg raid and 10(!) trips to Berlin including three in five nights. They came back on three engines on a fairly regular basis, once got bombed by another Lanc which they didn't realise until they got home and found a big hole and missing fuel tank. After another trip they landed and heard a strange rolling sound followed by a thunk from the rear of the aircraft. At first they thought a lorry had driven into them, but it turned out a hung-up 1000lb bomb had come loose and rolled down the bomb-bay! Sadly most of his crew was lost on a training sortie over the UK [:(] I've got a copy of his book, so it should be a great read! And even after 70 years he could spell my name quicker in Morse code than I code with the alphabet!

Life is a bitch. Survived all those raids only to succumb to a stupid training exercise.