Warbird Information Exchange

Lovely and very evocative evening sunset footage of the 2 x Lancs + Hurricane & Spit taken at RAF Coningsby during their display workups the other week.

The ending footage of the landings against the backdrop of the setting summer sun is

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_Ww6QHPqxg






Oh, and I got to see the two Lancs display at Little Gransden show yesterday - what a magical sight and sound.

Rode up there on the Harley, and stopped off outside the old airfield at Bassingbourn - home of the 91st BG (which is on the road to Little Gransden) to remember those that didn't come back to that airfield, especially as I've flown in Collings '909 which is in 91st BG markings.

Interesting when seeing the two together that there are a number of very obvious difference. The BBMF Lanc has a Lincoln tail and rudder which from this picture are very obvious. Also apparently PA474 has an undercarriage from a Lincoln and main tires from a Shackleton, which are both related to the Lancaster. I was surprised to learn a nose wheel tire from a Airbus A340 has been used for the tail wheel.

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“Try to fly in the middle of the air. The edges are filled with mountains and oceans and rocks and it’s much harder to fly there.”

PA474 was fitted with the larger Lancaster MkIV (Lincoln) rudders when she was being used to evaluate the aerodynamics of the Folland Midge wing at Cranfield in 1958 (presumably because they gave better directional stability to the a/c for the trial). They were never replaced.

I believe the main wheel tyres are now correct Lancaster types, there was a post last year about Just Jane where they had taken delivery of some brand new tyres courtesy of Dunlop making a fresh batch of correct Lancaster tyres from the original moulds for the BBMF. (CWH may have also been in on the deal given the close ties with BBMF/CWH/JJ)

Certainley in years gone by when the RAF still operated Shacks, PA474 did use as many Shack parts as possible that were interchangeable, as these could be taken from RAF stores.

The only Lanc tyres made now are the 26" hub version, which is the same tyre used on Lincoln and Shackleton. They are made infrequently and in batches so most Lanc groups join in if they need them. Once we have depleted our new old stock tyres for the Shackleton we'll probably chip in too!

The wheels on PA474 may be Shack items as they do fit, the only difference being in the brake drum. There is a modification process to solve this where the drum is machined down as the Lanc only has one brake set in either side of the wheel, whereas the Shackleton has two either side. BBMF recently purchased a few Shackleton wheels from us at Coventry to NDT test and use as necessary.

Rich W
Shackleton Preservation Trust

It looks like FM213 had some starboard side engine trouble today and a Merlin may need to be replaced. The BBC is reporting that a Merlin engine is being shipped to The Durham Tees Valley airport from the Lincolnshire Aviation Museum. Could that be a power plant earmarked for Just Jane? I know that the three Lancs are due to appear together sometime in the near future.

Double post

CWHM says they are replacing #4 intending to be ready for Tuesday's 3 Lancaster gathering in East Kirby.

Yes, has been confirmed elsewhere, that one of the zero timed Merlins earmarked for JJ is being shipped up to Middleton St.George for fitting over the weekend.

I'm so glad I'd made the effort to ride up Little Gransden to see the 2 x Lancs last weekend 'just in case' as my prime event for seeing them was due to be this weekend at Shoreham.

A friend of mine (who's not into airplanes that much) told me the media is telling people to stay away from that event and it sold out all its tickets pretty early. I could imagine how cool that'd to see three of them running and two in the skies (clearly, all three in the air would be best, but this is pretty good anyway, I envy those who will be attending).

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Life member, 91st BG Memorial Association
Owner, 1944 Willys MB #366014
Former REMF (US Army, O3)

An English innovation that I am glad we have not imported: the sold-out, don't-bother-coming airshow.

August

The 3 x Lancs event isn't really an airshow as such, and East Kirby is quite small as a venue, so numbers have to be limited.

That's why, such was the demand for tickets, they are doing it twice, and both events are sold out.

Post on BBMF website this afternoon.

RAF Helps Canadians with Lancaster engine.

Engineers at the Royal Air Force Battle of Britain Memorial Flight have been working hard to find a solution to a unique problem. When the visiting Canadian Lancaster Bomber VERA suffered an engine loss on Friday at Teeside airport, it grounded the aircraft and put a three week display programme in jeopardy. Half way through her six week visit, VERA has been appearing at a series of airshows across the UK flying alongside the BBMF's Lancaster, the first time in a generation that two Lancasters have flown together. These are the last two airworthy Lancs in the world and spare Merlin engines are not readily available, but as soon as the problem occurred both the RAF and the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre (which operates the taxiing Lanc Just Jane), began to consider what assistance could be provided.

Determined to try and help, all options were considered and, after close investigation, RAF engineers at the BBMF found that, with some adaptation, their spare Merlin 500 type engine could get the Canadian Lanc airborne again to enable the tour to be completed.

Done and Dusted!
Group Captain Johnny Stringer, station commander at RAF Coningsby said: "This aircraft is three and a half thousand miles away from home and, in order that it can continue to be part this unique tribute to the men and women of bomber command from across the commonwealth which is the tour with the BBMF Lancaster, we have made an arrangement which will allow the Canadians to have loan of a Merlin engine on a "power by the hour" basis.

Canadian Warplane Heritage Centre engineers are now working on the fit and looking forward to air tests which could see VERA back on the display circuit within days.

Squadron Leader Duncan Mason, OC BBMF said: "Being the operators of the only other flying Lanc in the world we naturally want to assist if needed. It has been a milestone in the BBMF's history to fly with VERA on this visit and, of course, we are keen to help if we possibly can. The RAF has a long tradition of assisting people in all sorts of ways, but this has to be one of the more unusual!"

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Roger W.

I'm sure they had a contingency plan for this possibility/probability, sorted out months ago. And that's what we're hearing about.

I hope the UK CAA is helpful in this case. There is potential for the opposite.

Dave

As the engine is a "loaner," will the broken engine be fixed and hung back on the aircraft before she comes back across the pond? Or will they replace the engine once she's home and ship the loaner back to England?

Speaking of her trip home, I can't help but wonder if that will be affected by the current volcanic activity in Iceland.

SN

It seems that the plan is to repair the damaged engine and refit it prior to the return flight to Canada at the end of September.